Mumbai.
Blue Moon Hotel.
The nightclub on the top floor was alive with loud music, flashing lights, and the smell of perfume and alcohol.
But behind the club, through the quiet back door, a girl stumbled out—her heels shaky, her breath uneven.
"Black dress… mask… black dress… mask…"
She kept mumbling the same words, almost as if she was trying to remember something.
She walked down the empty gallery, swaying left and right, until she suddenly bumped into something solid.
Or rather… someone.
She lost her balance instantly.
Her eyes squeezed shut, waiting for the painful fall.
But the fall never came.
Slowly, she opened her shimmering blue eyes—eyes that looked like stars in the dark night.
A tall man stood in front of her, holding her in his arms.
If he hadn't caught her, she would have been flat on the floor.
Her lips parted, and the first thing she whispered was:
"Kidnap me…"
The man wore a black business suit and a black mask that covered half his face.
He stared at her quietly, his brows lifting slightly at her bold words.
His assistant and bodyguards standing nearby froze.
Their boss—cold, dangerous, feared—was holding a drunk girl in his arms… and she was telling him to kidnap her?
They looked like they had seen a ghost.
The girl blinked up at him, hiccuping softly.
"Look, mister… I know I'm very pretty… no, actually, I'm the most beautiful…"
Another hiccup.
"And I know you can't take your eyes off me. But if you came here to kidnap me, finish your work first… then you can stare at me all you want."
She even flashed him a bright, silly smile.
The man looked at her for a long moment.
Then a slow, unreadable smile appeared on his lips.
He pulled her up carefully, but when her legs wobbled again, he wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her closer.
Finally, he spoke—his voice low and deep.
"Do you really want me to kidnap you?"
She looked at him from head to toe, her drunken eyes traveling slowly over him.
Then she nodded, as if she was agreeing to something important.
The man gently brushed a strand of hair away from her face and leaned closer.
"If that's what you want, think again. If you come with me, you'll come by your choice. But once you leave with me, there is no—"
Before he could finish, she cut him off.
"Yes, I want it! And this is the deal, right? Don't waste my time. We need to go before someone comes."
She glanced nervously around the hallway, as if she expected someone to appear any moment.
The word "deal" made the man's eyes turn darker.
Much darker.
"What deal are you talking abou—"
But he stopped mid-sentence.
The girl suddenly lost consciousness completely and collapsed against him.
He held her tighter, then lifted her up in his arms without hesitation.
His assistant and bodyguards exchanged confused looks, but no one dared to ask a single question.
Not to this man.
Footsteps echoed from the far end of the gallery—someone was coming.
---
Some time later…
Eight to ten bodyguards hurried through the same gallery, calling a name again and again.
Their faces were filled with panic.
Their voice
s shook with fear.
They weren't searching for a criminal.
They were searching for her.