The sunlight poured in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a warm gold across the silk sheets that were wrapped around their bodies. Sera awoke first, her hands tracing over the bare chest of Valerio. She slowly blinked, watching the way the sunlight danced along his jawline, softening the sharp planes of the man who ruled a kingdom of darkness.She just watched him sleep for a moment.Peace was misplaced on his face. As if something borrowed, and not his. Dark lashes framing his cheeks, lips open, hair rumpled from their evening together. Unreal—this peace, this burn between them. But real. And hers. At least, for the time being.Her hand drifted down, resting on his heart.A steady, solid beat.He rolled beneath her touch. His eyes opened, slowly, as if the cloudiness of sleep and the shadows had fled with his meeting of eyes with hers. That look—like he was eager to see her most of all—set a blaze of fire within her belly."Morning, angel," he muttered.Sera smiled softly
Eros City never rested. But tonight, it drew a breath.Sera was propped up against the wall-to-wall window of Valerio's penthouse, watching the sea of lights below her. Her face hovered vaguely against the glass, a ghost of the girl she used to be. Valerio sat in front of her, still as stone, speechless, a panther sprung waiting for night.The silence between them was no longer oppressive with distrust or uncertainty. It was a breath. A gasp. The harbinger of a storm they both knew would erupt.Valerio shattered the silence finally. "I need to show you something."She turned, brows raised. "Now?"He nodded and stood, moving across to the other side of the room. He pushed on a wall panel and the panel clicked open to reveal a state-of-the-art black safe. With code and fingerprint, the door opened to reveal a velvet-lined box.Valerio opened it.Inside its depths was a necklace.Not just any necklace. This one was tiny, silver and black diamonds, but the pendant hanging from it made her
The storm didn't wait.Thunder exploded overhead as rain pounded the roof of the estate in waves, washing away years' worth of dust. The air inside the mansion turned cold, the kind that crept into bones. Valerio and Sera did not move from the drawing room, though. They stayed on the bench of the broken piano, hands still loosely clasped, the resonance of their bond suspended between keys.Valerio's voice broke the silence. "I used to sneak in here when I was a kid to avoid my father's. lessons. This piano was the one thing that I did not find intimidating."Sera looked at him, her throat constricted in her throat. "Lessons?A muscle flexed in his jaw. "His way of making me 'a man.' Violence. Power. Control. Made me fight bigger boys until I couldn't walk. Made me watch things a child shouldn't."She touched him, her hand tracing along his. "And you came back here to confront it?"He met her gaze. "I came because the ghosts only let up on their chase when you meet them head-on.".Ligh
The old Thorne mansion stood as a forgotten presence on the fringes of Eros City. Time had not been kind. Ivy choked the once gracious facade, and shattered windows glared like vacant eyes into the night. The gate screamed open on a metallic shriek as Valerio drove them through, headlights clawing across ruined stone and weeds that clawed their way up the entry steps.Sera sat stiffly in the passenger seat, her fists tight in her lap. "You grew up here?"Valerio didn't look at her. "I survived here. That's all."It smelled of dust and secrets inside. The grand chandelier above the foyer sagged, its crystals dirty. Sera ran her fingers along the peeling wallpaper as Valerio led her through halls that echoed with too much silence.He finally stopped before a wooden door. He pushed it open to reveal a study. Unlike the rest of the house, it was intact against rot. The desk was clean, papers piled neatly. Books lined the shelves, each spine as s
The ride to the estate was a long one, winding through deserted woods covered in mist. The further they went, the further back into the distance the city retreated, a memory fading into night. Sera sat next to Valerio in the rear of the bulletproof SUV, hands clasped in her lap, eyes flicking toward him every few minutes.He'd said nothing since they'd left the penthouse.Valerio stood at the window, his jaw clenched, a muscle beating at the corner. The silence was another form of weight now—not of anger or distance, but of ghosts. The sort that tugged at him from the past, hissing through the trees they drove by."You alright?" Sera asked at last.He didn't answer initially. Then, in a gravel-edged voice, he said, "I haven't been back here since the fire. Since I saw him walk away from the ashes like he hadn't just killed her."Her breath caught. She leaned in, her fingers closing around his delicately."Then why now?" s
The sun rose blood-red over the ruined estate, staining the skeletal remains of Valerio's childhood house in fire and gold. The smoke from the last battle still lingered in the air, curling like specters through the broken windows. Sera waited in the silence that followed, her pistol loose at her side, ears still ringing from the gunfire.Valerio crouched next to the body of the man who'd named his father."He's making a grab," Valerio growled, to himself more than anything else. "He waited so long to allow me to establish everything. so he could then attempt to steal it away."Sera stepped forward. "Then he's mistaken."He gazed up at her. There was pride in his eyes, but something more. Sadness. Grief. Not for the man he'd thought of as a father—but for what he'd lost because of him. His mother. His innocence. His peace."This house," Valerio said, standing slowly and surveying the wreckage, "was built on blood. It alway
Rifle fire cracked through the underbrush like a fury of vengeance, echoing across the destroyed manor. Sera winced, racing heart still within her, as Valerio shielded her body with his. His arms wrapped around her, driving her behind a blackened pillar as rounds spat stone and ash into the air."Down!" he bellowed, voice booming over the chaos.His men returned fire, moving as precisely as surgeons. The ambush hadn't surprised Valerio—it had merely reinforced what he already knew: there was a mole in his organization, selling information to the enemy.Sera clung to the icy stone, her breathing short and shallow. She could feel the shock of the gunfire through the floor, smell the bitter flavor of metal and smoke. But it wasn't fear that bound her.It was rage.Whoever had enough guts to come for Valerio—enough guts to disrupt what they were building—would regret it.Valerio whirled, dropped down beside her. His mask was streaked with dirt, eyes burning hot with fury. "You believe me?
The guns' noise had long since faded, leaving behind only the crackling of the blaze in the impromptu hideout Valerio's men had occupied. Darkness descended on the forest hideout, thick with silence and secrets. Valerio was at the window, his gaze trained on the trees as if trying to break through the shroud of treachery that had surrounded his organization.Sera slumped on the arm of the leather couch, covered in one of Valerio's warm jackets, dripping wet hair curving around her face in tender strands. Her mind spun from the chaos of everything they had just been through. The fight at the compound. The deception that ran deeper than they had expected. The shadow of what still remained out there, hanging in wait."I don't know whom to trust anymore," Valerio burst out, his voice low, husky. "Every time I think I've located the leak, someone else bleeds.""You trust me," Sera said softly.His head rotated toward her slowly, eyes obscured in the dark. "You're the only one I trust. That
The chapel smelled of dust, old incense, and secrets buried in stone. Beneath the crucifix and shattered stained glass, Valerio opened the crypt hidden in the floorboards. The darkness inside wasn't just physical—it was generational. Legacy. Lies.Sera was right behind him, flashlight clutched tightly in her hand as he descended into the area beneath the altar."Careful," she whispered."Always," he snarled, his voice gritty with the weight of everything he'd learned.He found it in a rusted lockbox, hidden beneath decaying fabric and family heirlooms. There were photos, ledgers, names written in ink that had blurred with time. Dario had told the truth—Lucrezia hadn't just orchestrated the fire. She'd bought loyalty in blood and in silence.And now she was building something darker.Valerio materialized, his jaw set, holding the box against his chest as though it might explode."We're not just taking her down," he snarled, voice low. "We're burning everything she's built."Sera steppe
The Verona villa had been their sanctuary for only a week, but Sera was already cognizant that tranquility was nothing but an illusion in Valerio's life.Morning sunlight streamed across the stone courtyard, bathing the ivy-walled rooms in gold. But the warmth in the air only managed to heat the storm raging within Valerio. He braced himself on the table with a black espresso cup, elbows sinking into the surface, eyes locked on the map of allegiances Dario had laid out the previous night.Sera moved soundlessly, her bare feet shod only in his massive shirt, which was short enough to fall just above her thighs. The silk clung to her curves in a way that once would have been distracting.Not today.Not after what Dario had discovered.Lucrezia hadn't simply plotted the murder of Valerio's mother. She had been positioning herself as the true queen of the underworld, eliminating those who stood in her way—one by one.“Talk to me,” Sera said gently, brushing a hand across Valerio’s shoulde
The cellar beneath the Verona estate was colder than Sera expected. Not from the stone or the shadows—but from the weight of memory that clung to every brick. Valerio led her, his torch casting uncertain light on vaulted ceilings and cobwebbed wine racks that had not seen a disturbance in decades.Dario's warning echoed in her head. "The evidence is under the chapel. Behind the pretend wall in the wine cellar."Valerio found the wall in an instant, eyes sharpened by revenge and memory. He knocked on the stone until a hollow knock gave it away. A breath thereafter, a panel creaked outward with the sound of a coffin lid.Behind the wall lay rows of metal drawers. Files. Documents. Photographs.Evidence.Valerio grabbed a thick file and flipped it open. His fingers froze. A photograph. His mother—smiling, unaware—circled in red ink. A second photo beneath it showed the same woman stepping into a car. Her death car. The date stamped in the corner chilled the air.“It was planned down to t
The chapel was wrapped in cold quiet. Dust clung to the air like secrets too heavy for speech. Valerio crept slowly down the aisle, every step echoing under the vaulted ceiling. Sera followed hard behind, her eyes scanning the candlelit walls, the worn frescoes of saints and martyrs who long ago had stopped listening.They reached the altar. Dario had been very clear. At the rear of the pulpit, under the seventh tile.Valerio knelt and pushed it open.Under the stone was a vacant space, and in it, an old metal box.He yanked it loose, his own breath ragging in the weight of it—not the physical weight, exactly, but the history that filled it. He set it on the floor and sprung the catch. The hinges shrieked loudly as the top groaned open.Inside were files, photos, letters written in hand—letters imprinted with blood and betrayal, stamped indelibly.Sera knelt by him, reaching out to grab a letter. It was to Lucrezia, in a bold, flowing hand.*"The fire is scheduled. The boy will surviv
Centuries-old secrets were whispered through the stone walls of the chapel as Valerio, Sera, and Dario descended the spiral stair under the altar. The air was thick with dust, its silence disturbed only by the echo of footsteps and the flickering light of the old oil lamp Dario held."This room hasn't been disturbed in decades," he said, the flames casting ominous shadows on his face. "My father said it was for prayer. He lied."Valerio ran his hand over the damp stone wall, his eyes slitting. "How many lies must we uncover before this war ends?"Sera remained close to him, her hand brushing against his as they went deeper into the earth. She felt the heaviness in him—the way he carried the weight of every betrayal, every loss, every flame that ever burned beneath his family's name.At the bottom of the stairs, they entered a narrow corridor with iron doors along the walls. Dario stopped in front of the third."This is it."He entered a code on a rusted keypad, and the door screeched
The cold of the Verona air followed them as they made their way to the chapel that Dario had told them about. It was at the far end of the estate, flanked by cypress trees that groaned in the wind, their shadows extending long and foreboding in the moonlight. The building was old, its stones weathered with centuries of secrets and sin.Valerio held Sera's hand tightly, the other wrapped around the butt of his gun. Even with Dario guiding them, trust did not come easily."How far down does it go?" Valerio ordered, staring at the chapel's weathered interior."Under the altar," Dario whispered, his eyes darting up to the worn crucifix that hung above. "There's a trapdoor, hidden by the marble. My father and I would use it when we had to. store things."Sera swallowed, her nerves tightening. The air was colder in here, unnaturally so. She felt it in her bones, in the way her skin prickled."You’re sure no one else knows about this?" she asked.Dario hesitated. "Only Lucrezia. But she beli
The gala vibrated with secrets and shadows, but none thicker than that surrounding Sera as she navigated the crowd. She wasn't herself tonight. She was Celeste D'Amour, an enigmatic heiress from the French Riviera with a taste for danger and champagne. It was a name devised by Dario, corroborated by a fleshed-out identity trail and whispered associations with power.Sera had never been so naked, and yet so masked. And that paradox vibrated beneath her skin.Valerio's voice was a soft whisper in her ear, grounding. "She's watching you. Play it slow."Sera took a sip from her glass, letting her eyes drift over the room briefly, bored, uninterested. But she felt it—Lucrezia's eyes slicing through the crowd like blades. Waiting. Hunting."She's moving," Dario murmured over comms. "Two guards with her. Coming up on your left."Sera turned, just a bit. Enough to appear interested, not set up.Lucrezia walked like winter—deadly, gracious. Her voice, when it came, was a dagger in silk."I don
The chapel just beyond Dario's grounds stood like a monument to having been forgotten by time—ivy covering the stone walls, broken stained glass windows, their former brightly colored hues now faded with age. It was lovely, haunting. A cemetery of secrets.Sera stood beside Valerio, flashlight in hand. The marble floors echoed beneath their steps as they walked toward the altar. The air inside was cold, still, too quiet—as if the walls themselves were holding their breath."You’re sure the evidence is here?" she asked.Valerio nodded. "Dario said under the altar. There's a hiding place beneath the ancient offering table. My mother used to say her morning prayers here. If she knew what was rotting beneath her feet."He did not go on. Instead, he knelt and pressed a row of intricately carved angel wings on the altar. There was a quiet click. The marble swung back with a creak, and a thin stairway descending into darkness was revealed.Sera looked down. "Of course there's a creepy crypt.
The aftermath of the attack on the safehouse left a thick tension hanging in the air, heavier than the smoke and blood splatters they'd all but escaped. It was early dawn, but Valerio's world had been rewritten. The game had new rules.He stood on the edge of a cliff, beyond the forest clearing several miles from the desecrated safehouse, the wind cutting through his coat and nibbling at him. Sera followed him, silent. The night was silent too, too silent. Out in the distance, there were owls hooting into the night, peacefully unaware of the war raging in silence beneath their branches."We have to go," she whispered.Valerio changed, his face carved from stone. "Where?""To whoever's next on your list."She kept pace with him, slipping her hand into his. He glanced down at the manner in which her fingers curled around his—tight, unyielding."This doesn't stop until we find the one pulling the strings," she continued. "Until you're free."Valerio's face twisted. "Then we start with Da