All Chapters of The Tycoon’s Temptress - Red Flower’s Chase: Chapter 101 - Chapter 110

Valentina’s POV I knelt on the edge of the terrace, the jungle pulsing with heat and humidity around us. The garden shimmered like a fever dream. Petals the color of blood and flame swayed in the misty air—flor de fuego, the fabled “flower of fire.” I couldn’t look away. It was so beautiful. I reached up to brush a strand of hair from my face when my bracelet—an 18k gold filled stainless steel one slipped from my wrist. It was an earlier gift from Raffaele. I didn’t want to risk losing a real 24k one. “No—!” I gasped. It fell, tumbling into the bed of blossoms with a soft thud. Then came the hiss. A curl of smoke. The bracelet melted within seconds, falling tarnished and deformed into the petals as if swallowed by acid. My breath caught. “Oh my god…” The flower could really melt stone, and even metal! And this? This confirmed the myth. A breeze stirred through the clearing—playful at first, then sharp. It picked up the golden pollen and flung it into the ai

Valentina’s POV The mobile lab thrummed on the outskirts of Cusco in Peru, its sterile walls vibrating with the pulse of machines. Beyond the windows, the Andes loomed, their peaks slicing upwards towards a twilight sky. Inside, the air was thick with antiseptic and dread. All of them—Raffaele, Captain Hembapu, Tatekulu, Commander Kalenga, Chief Nangolo, Kaifeng Lei, Professor Calancha, and the two Bone Sons—lay motionless on cots, pale as death, IV drips still feeding into their arms. Their shallow breaths formed a haunting rhythm, each one fighting the red flower’s poison from Machu Picchu, the garden of madness. The orichalcum coin from Gilgamesh’s tomb glinted under the lab’s harsh lights, a relic of my father’s obsession—and my own. Matteo hunched over the spectrometer, his fingers darting across the controls. “The red flower’s serum bonds with orichalcum in a way we’ve never seen,” he said, voice tight with excitement. “It’s a chain reaction—exponential energy ou

Tariq Al Mansour’s POV “Miles!” I snapped. “Why the hell does she have to be deep in to the Peruvian jungle?” I flipped open the satellite phone, the heat from my fingers making the metal sweat. Miles wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “Their last traceable transaction was hiring a local guide. Not exactly what we wanted but...” The air was thick with humidity. The jungle reeked of wet leaves and decay, cicadas shrieking in a nonstop chorus that drilled into my skull. Birds screeched overhead, each one a fresh insult to my patience. “My buyer’s getting impatient,” I muttered. “And so am I.” “How is a spoiled princess like her still alive?” Khalid grumbled, ducking beneath a fallen tree trunk and stepping over a patch of sucking mud. “She’s got a Ricchezza backing her,” Miles said with a slow grin. “And a frankly absurd amount of luck. But as you know, Khalid… luck doesn’t last forever.” “We were so close,” Khalid sighed. “We almost sniped her in Denmark

Valentina’s POV I leaned heavily into Raffaele. The pain in my side pulsed with every step. I was dizzy, overheated, but I bit down and kept moving. “I don’t get it,” I seethed. “Camilla and Domenico—both of them hired the same fucking hitman? Tariq al-Mansour, out of all people?” Raffaele let out a bitter laugh. “I don’t know, Valentina. It’s just… strong suspicions. Too many threads point the same way.” Kaifeng Lei flicked his lighter uselessly in the humid air. “So, Valentina—who is this Camilla? What kind of woman holds a grudge so deep she goes full black market to get what she wants?” “She’s my stepmother,” I said flatly, like spitting poison. Kaifeng grinned. “What’s so fucking funny?” I snapped. “Shut up, Lei. You’re such an asshole.” “Me?” He pointed at himself innocently. “I kinda get where she’s coming from. A beautiful young daughter like you, táitài, stealing all of Daddy’s attention.” I burst out laughing. “At least you got something right. She did exactly that

Valentina’s POV “Shit!” I cursed, seething through my teeth. “Why did you have to wander off, Professor?” I asked pleadingly. “What do we do now?” I turned to Raffaele. He was always so composed and maddeningly pragmatic. “Let’s descend to the nearest village,” he said tiredly. “We can seek shelter. Hopefully they won’t pepper a whole village full of people.” “Don’t be too sure about that,” Captain Hembapu Zimmermann muttered. “Tariq has no morals. He always goes all out.” “That’s true,” Commander Kalenga added. “We’ll say we’re lost explorers—hungry, dehydrated, need food and water… maybe borrow a phone.” “You really think they’ll buy that?” I glanced sideways. “What if they think we’re cartel members and just shoot us?” “Well,” Kaifeng Lei said with a grin, flashing his machete, “they can certainly try.” I rolled my eyes. “You know, Lei, even if you’ve got a big knife… it doesn’t make up for what you’re lacking down there.” He narrowed his eyes, clearly annoyed. “Well, if