005 | Dinner with the Don

The black dress fit too well.

Aria stood in front of the mirror and stared at the girl looking back at her. The fabric clung in clean, sharp lines. It made her look older. Colder. Like someone who already belonged in this house.

She picked up the silver knife from the nightstand.

Light. Well-balanced. Meant for close work.

She slipped it into the side of her heel where the dress fabric hid it. Old habit. She didn’t know if she would need it tonight.

But she felt better knowing it was there.

At 7:55 she left her room.

The hallway was quiet. Soft lights glowed along the walls. Somewhere deeper in the house she heard the low murmur of voices and the faint clink of glass. Everything smelled expensive — polished wood, faint cologne, and something darker underneath.

A man in a dark suit stood at the bottom of the stairs.
He nodded once when he saw her.
Then he turned without speaking.

She followed.

The main dining room was larger than she expected.
Long table.
Dark wood.
Only two places set at one end.
Candlelight threw long shadows across the walls.

Dominic Vale was already seated.

He looked up as she entered. His eyes moved over her once — quick, assessing — then he gestured to the chair across from him.

“Sit.”

Aria walked the length of the table and sat down.
The chair was heavier than it looked.
She kept her back straight.
Hands still in her lap.

A server appeared, poured red wine into both glasses, then disappeared again without a word.

Dominic lifted his glass but didn’t drink.

“You cleaned up well.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet.”
He set the glass down.
“Tonight is not a welcome dinner.
It’s an evaluation.”

Aria met his eyes.

“I figured.”

The corner of his mouth moved the smallest amount.
Not quite a smile.

Food arrived.
Steak.
Vegetables.
Bread that looked too perfect to touch.

Aria waited until Dominic picked up his fork before she did the same.

They ate in silence for a few minutes.

Then Dominic spoke again.

“You don’t ask the usual questions.”

Aria cut a small piece of meat.

“What are the usual questions?”

“Why did you leave me in an orphanage.
Do you love me.
Are you going to send me back.”
His voice stayed flat.
“Sentiment.”

“I’m not interested in sentiment,” Aria said quietly.

That made him look at her longer.

“Good.
Sentiment gets people killed in this family.”

He leaned back slightly.

“You have my blood.
That means you have potential.
Whether that potential becomes useful is still undecided.
Starting tomorrow you will train.
Combat.
Strategy.
How money moves.
How people break.
You will learn until your body and mind catch up to the name you now carry.”

Aria kept her voice even.

“And if I refuse?”

Dominic’s eyes didn’t change.

“You won’t.”

The certainty in his tone made something cold settle in her stomach.
Not fear exactly.
Recognition.
This man did not make requests.

She nodded once.

“Understood.”

They continued eating.
The silence felt heavier now, but not empty.
Dominic studied her the entire time — the way she held her knife, the way she chewed, the way she refused to look away when their eyes met.

Finally he set his utensils down.

“There’s something else.”

Aria waited.

Dominic reached into his jacket and placed a single black-and-white photograph on the table between them.

Aria’s breath stopped for half a second.

It was Kael.

Younger than the version who had rejected her, but already wearing that same controlled expression. He stood with a group of other young wolves in front of a familiar pack house.

Dominic watched her face carefully.

“You know him.”

It wasn’t a question.

Aria forced her fingers to stay relaxed around her fork.

“I’ve seen him.”

“Interesting.”
Dominic tapped the photo once with one finger.
“The Nightshade pack has been making quiet moves lately.
Expanding.
Forming new alliances.
I don’t like noise near my territory.”

He leaned forward slightly.

“You’re going to tell me everything you know about them.
Not tonight.
But soon.”

Aria’s pulse was steady, but her mind was already racing.

He didn’t know the full truth.
He couldn’t.
But he was already connecting her to Kael somehow.

She kept her expression blank.

“All right.”

Dominic leaned back again.
The test in his eyes hadn’t faded.

“Finish your food.
Then go rest.
Five o’clock comes early.”

Aria took another bite even though she no longer tasted anything.

When the plates were cleared, Dominic stood.

“One last thing, Aria.”

She looked up.

His voice dropped lower.

“In this house, weakness is noticed.
And once it’s noticed… it gets used.
Don’t give anyone that opportunity.
Including me.”

Then he walked out of the dining room without waiting for a reply.

Aria sat alone at the long table for several seconds, staring at the photograph he had left behind.

Kael’s face looked up at her from the glossy paper.

Younger.
Untouched by the guilt he would one day carry.

Aria reached out and slowly turned the photo face down.

Her reflection in the dark window across the room looked pale under the candlelight. The black dress made her seem like she already belonged to this world of sharp edges and quiet threats.

She stood up.

As she walked back toward the staircase, the silver knife hidden against her heel pressed lightly into her skin with every step.

A reminder.

She was no longer the girl who waited to be chosen.

She was the girl who had already died once.

And this time, she was going to make sure the right people paid for it.

When she reached the top of the stairs, a soft sound made her stop.

A door at the far end of the hallway was open just enough for light to spill out.
Low voices drifted through the gap.
One of them belonged to Silas.

The other voice was quieter.
Harder to hear.

Aria moved closer without thinking.

“…she’s softer than she pretends,” Silas was saying.
“But there’s something wrong with her eyes.
Like she’s already seen the end of something.”

The second voice answered, too low to catch at first.

Then a single sentence came through clearly.

“Keep watching her.
If she turns out to be a problem…
handle it before the boss has to.”

Aria’s blood went cold.

She stepped back carefully, turned, and walked the rest of the way to her room with steady steps.

Only when the door was locked behind her did she let out a slow breath.

So that was how it was.

Even inside this house, she was already being measured for a possible grave.

Aria sat down on the edge of the bed, pulled the silver knife free, and laid it across her palm.

Her reflection in the blade looked calm.

Almost.

Tomorrow the real training would begin.

And she would make sure that by the time anyone in this house decided she was a problem…

it would already be too late to handle her.