CHAPTER SIX

Ava's Pov

The rage was a live wire in my veins, vibrating, sparking, threatening to literally set my world on fire. ‘Cavallaro’. The name echoed in my brain, each repetition, a fresh betrayal.

My father. The man who scolded me for leaving witnesses, who’d insulted my mother’s memory because the Volkov operation wasn’t clean enough. He wasn’t just fighting Dante, he was also funding Volkov’s operation. He’d sent me, his own daughter, to burn the bridge he was secretly crossing. What was my hard work for? Was I just a pawn in his dirty little game? The humiliation burned hotter than anger.

I spent the day in a fog of fury, performing Sophia’s duties with robotic precision. I scheduled meetings I didn’t hear, filed reports I didn’t even read, all while my mind replayed that moment in the interrogation room. The prisoner’s terrifying confession and Dante’s suspicious gaze.

The sun had long set since when I found myself alone in the offic Dante had assigned to me. The mansion was deadly quiet. This was my chance.

The Volkov files. I’d helped create this digital monster, I had to be the one to take it down. And maybe, just maybe I could erase any trace of my Father’s name before Dante could find it. 

My fingers flew across the keyboard, bypassing the security protocols with a strong muscle memory that felt like a betrayal as well. I was hacking the Volkovs accounts again—but this time from inside the lion’s den. 

I was deep into their server, a web of encrypted files, when a voice cut through the silence. 

“Burning the midnight oil, Morales?”

I jumped, my hands instinctively slamming the laptop shut. Dante stood in the doorways, leaning against the frame, a crystal glass of golden brown liquid in his hand. He’d his suit jacket and a tie, faintly loose and the buttons of his shirt undone, ‘oh god, he looked even more divine like this’. He looked more dangerous like this, less of a king and more of a warlord that he now was.

“Mr. Moretti, I didn't hear you.” My heart hammered against my ribs. Did he see?

“I noticed.” He stepped into the room, his presence sucking up all the oxygen. His eyes flickered to my laptop. “Something urgent?”

“Yes sir,” I said, the lie smooth and automatic. “I was just cross-referencing the shipping manifests from the intercepted data with our own logistics. I wanted a clearer picture of Volkov’s operation before the morning briefing.” I forced a tight smile, a professional smile. “You did say to start immediately.”

He took another sip of his drink, watching me over the rim of the glass. His gaze, sharp. “Diligent. I appreciate that.” He paused, letting the silence stretch. “It’s a tangled web isn’t it? This Volkov business. Just when you think you’ve found a spider, you just realize it's just another fly.” 

My blood froze. Was he talking about my father? About the prisoner? Or about me?

“It seems that way sir,” I replied, setting my tone to be carefully neutral and turning my eyes away from his. 

“Loyalty is a very rare commodity, Morales.” He mused. Walking slowly around my desk. He stopped behind me, and every muscle in my back went rigid. I could feel the heat coming from him. :People betray you for money, others for power, for what they foolishly believe is a better deal.”

He placed his glass on the desk and leaned down, his hands resting on the side of the chair, caging me in. His voice was a lower, intimate whisper next to my ear, a horrifying echo of our encounter in the interrogation room flowed through me again. 

“What do you think would make a man that stupid, Morales? To bite the hands that feeds him, only to offer his throat to a hungrier, blood thirsty wolf?”

The question was trap baited. He was testing me, probing for a reaction, a tell, a confession. 

I kept my eyes straight ahead, on the dark cover of my laptop. I willed my voice not to shake. “Greed and arrogance sir, a deadly combination.”

Dante was silent for a long moment. I could feel his breath on my neck. Then he pushed away from the chair. 

“Indeed,” he said, his tone flat and unreadable, He picked up his glass. “Don’t work too late, Morales. I need you sharp. We have a lot ahead of us tomorrow.” 

He walked to the door without a backward glance. 

I didn’t move until long after his footsteps had faded away. Only then did I let out a shuddering breath, my hands trembling as I opened the laptop again. 

The screen glowed back at me, a map of my father’s betrayal and a mess I had to fix myself once again. I could still see Dante’s cold calculating eyes. He knew something was wrong, he was circling , waiting for me to make a mistake. 

This mission was no longer about me just proving myself to my father. It was about surviving the man I was sent to destroy. And the most terrifying part, I knew deep down that I couldn’t just do that to him but I couldn’t betray my father either.