LOGINPOV: EVEEve sat at her desk at Phoenix Talent, staring at her laptop screen without actually seeing anything on it.The quarterly reports were due. She had three client meetings scheduled for tomorrow. Melissa had left a stack of contracts that needed review.But all Eve could think about was what Dimitri had told her this morning.Antonio owns an illegal pharmaceutical company.The Covenant killed his mother with a virus Antonio helped develop.He's planning to overthrow his father and go to war.Eve pushed away from her desk, moved to the window.The city stretched out below her....millions of people living their normal lives, completely unaware that monsters like Antonio Valentino existed. That organizations like The Covenant were out there developing biological weapons and testing them on kidnapped victims.That the man she loved was planning a war that could get him killed.Her phone buzzed.Dimitri: How are you holding up?Eve smiled slightly, typed back: Distracted. Can't focu
Dimitri left the office feeling something settle in his chest.He had a plan.He had a partner he trusted.He had evidence to use as leverage.And he had a reason to build something better instead of just burning everything down.Now he just had to tell Eve.Tell her about his fsther's empire.Tell her about The Covenant.Tell her about the war he was planning.Tell her that the next year, maybe more....was going to be dangerous, complicated and bloody.And hope she chose to stay anyway.***POV: EVEEve woke to an empty bed.Again.She reached for Dimitri automatically, found cold sheets, and she frowned.He'd been doing this more often lately, disappearing before dawn, working in his office, coming back to bed with dark circles under his eyes and tension in his shoulders.Something was wrong.Eve had known it for days now. Had felt it in the way he held her too tightly at night, the way he watched her like he was memorizing her face.She pulled on one of his shirts, padded out to th
For the next three hours, they worked.Dimitri pulled up files Marco had compiled, organizational charts, financial records, intelligence reports on Antonio's operations in Rome.They identified key players. Made lists. Analyzed weaknesses.Antonio's Inner Circle:* Luca Santoro: Head of operations, loyal to Antonio for twenty years, unlikely to turn* Giovanni Ricci: Weapons supplier, mercenary, follows money not loyalty....POSSIBLE* Marcello Bellini: Territory manager, family man, might turn if offered protection....POSSIBLE* Silvio Dante: Enforcer, brutal, completely loyal....UNLIKELY* Paolo Russo: Lorenzo's cousin, connected to both families.....COMPLICATED"The Russos are a problem," Mike said, studying Paolo's file. "If you move against Antonio, Lorenzo's going to have to choose sides. His daughter was engaged to you. His alliance with Antonio goes back decades.""I know." Dimitri leaned back in his chair. "But Isabella's no longer engaged to me. And after what Antonio did to
POV: DIMITRIDimitri stood at the window of his office, watching the city wake up beneath him as dawn broke over the skyline.He hadn't slept.After going through Marco's files, after understanding the full scope of what his father had built, what The Covenant had done, what revenge would require, sleep had been impossible.His phone buzzed.Mike: You up?Dimitri smiled slightly. Mike always knew.Yeah. Office. You?Be there in 20.Dimitri set down his phone, moved to the coffee maker.He'd called Mike at 3 AM, woken him up with four words: "I need to talk."Mike hadn't asked questions. Had just said he'd be there at dawn.That was partnership.That was the kind of loyalty Dimitri needed for what was coming.Twenty minutes later, the private elevator opened and Mike stepped out....jeans, t-shirt, leather jacket, looking alert despite the early hour."Coffee?" Dimitri offered."Always." Mike took the mug, studied Dimitri's face. "You look like shit.""Thanks.""When's the last time you
Needed to take over as Don.Needed access to Antonio's networks, his resources, his partnerships.Only then could he infiltrate The Covenant.Get close enough to destroy them from the inside.Make them pay for what they'd done to his mother.But he knows that his father wouldn't hand over power easily.Would never willingly give Dimitri the keys to his empire.Which meant war.Dimitri pulled up the final file Marco had sent.Phantom Base.An offshore facility that didn't exist on any map.Owned by his father through Prometheus.Dimitri stared at the coordinates.South Pacific. Small island. Privately owned.Where his father was supposinly spending forty million dollars a quarter on something he couldn't even document in encrypted files.Something so illegal, so dangerous, that even his own records didn't mention it.Dimitri could imagine what that thing was.Human experimentation on a scale that would make Prometheus's test subject logs look tame.Viral weapons development beyond anyt
About the organization that injected her.About the partnership that made it all possible.About revenge that had been waiting twenty-four years to be claimed.Marco picked up his phone and called Dimitri.It rang three times."Marco." Dimitri's voice was controlled, but Marco heard the edge underneath. "It's late. This better be important.""Boss." Marco's voice was rough from exhaustion. "I found something. About the pharmaceutical angle. And..." He stopped, chose his words carefully. "About your mother's case."Silence.Long, heavy silence.Then Dimitri's voice, very quiet: "What about my mother's case?""I need to show you everything. The records. The connections. All of it. Can I come to you?""No." Dimitri's voice was hard. "Send everything to me, I want to go through it myself.""Boss, this is... this is big. Your father.....""I know what my father is," Dimitri interrupted, his voice turning cold. "Just send me everything. Now.""Sending it now. You should have it in five minu
She had. She really had."When?" she asked. "When do you think... when would you want...?""To marry you?" He smiled. "When the six months are up. When you've had time to truly know what you're choosing. When there's no doubt in either of our minds that this is forever."Four and a half months.Fou
The arousal was shameful and involuntary and made absolutely no logical sense, and it was there regardless, coiled low in her stomach alongside the shock, the two things existing in completely contradictory parallel the way they had since the warehouse.She heard the shower run.She heard it stop.
POV: EVEThree days after Mike left, Eve had started to believe things might actually be okay.Not perfect. Not simple. But okay.Mike had stayed for dinner that first night....had eaten Dimitri's pasta in near silence, had answered Eve's careful questions about London in short sentences, had looke
POV: EVEShe'd moved to the living room by the time the afternoon light started going golden, tucking herself into the corner of the large grey sofa with a different contract....one she was actually managing to read this time and a second coffee that had gone cold twenty minutes ago.Dimitri was in