“I want to go home, please let me go,” Calista whispered, her voice breaking. “I swear—I won’t say anything.”The man in front of her smiled as he raised his gun. “You’re right,” he said coldly. “We’ll make sure of that.”“Wait.”The words weren't loud. But the effect was felt. Calm, Cold. Powerful.He stepped forward from the shadows—tall, composed, devastatingly calm. His presence silenced the room before he even spoke. Dark eyes, unreadable. A face carved by danger and control. He stood before her. Calista of on her knees.“Sir, please,” Calista sobbed. “I—I was just trying to get a passport. I don’t want trouble.”“Master—” one of the men started.A single raised hand stopped him.“Bring her,” the man said, already turning away. “She’s coming with us.”Hands seized Calista as panic tore from her throat.“No—please—let me go!”It was the last thing she remembered before darkness claimed her.---She thought running would set her free. Instead, Calista West runs straight into a city ruled by crime, blood, and power—and into the hands of Marek Thorn. Feared. Untouchable. Lethal. A man whose empire could erase her existence… yet who chooses to keep her alive for reasons that stretch far beyond mercy.As secrets unravel—about her family, her past, and the father she was told was dead—Calista becomes a living bargaining chip in a brutal game of mafia politics and vengeance. With her stepfather closing in and Marek refusing to let her go, she must decide what survival truly means when freedom is no longer an option.In a world where trust is currency, love is dangerous, and power always demands a price, running was only the beginning.CLAIMING CALISTA by Dyeeda SafariA dark mafia romance where innocence collides with obsession—and freedom may be the most dangerous illusion of all.