*Three weeks earlier*
The coffee shop in downtown Chicago was exactly the kind of place her uncle would choose - crowded enough for anonymity, generic enough to be forgotten. Elara sat in the back corner booth, her hands wrapped around a cup that had gone cold an hour ago.
She'd been waiting for twenty minutes when Victor Cruz finally appeared.
Her uncle looked nothing like her father. Where her dad was soft and broken, Victor was sharp edges and calculated movements. Expensive suit, silver hair perfectly styled, the kind of man who commanded boardrooms and back-room deals with equal ease.
"Elara." He slid into the seat across from her, his smile warm but his eyes cold. "You look tired, sweetheart."
"You said it was urgent." She kept her voice low, aware of the other customers around them. "What's this about?"
"Your father." Victor's expression hardened. "He's in trouble."
Her stomach dropped. "How much?"
"Two million. Plus interest." He leaned forward, lowering his voice. "He owes it to Dominic Moretti."
The name hit her like ice water. Everyone in Chicago knew that name, even if they pretended not to. Dominic Moretti wasn't just dangerous - he was death wrapped in expensive suits.
"How could Dad be so stupid?" she whispered.
"Because I helped him be stupid." Victor's confession was matter-of-fact. "I introduced him to the right games, the right people. Made sure he kept losing."
Elara stared at him, her mind struggling to process what she was hearing. "You... you set him up?"
"I set *you* up." His smile was razor-sharp. "Your dad was just bait."
"I don't understand."
"Dominic Moretti killed our father. Your grandfather." Victor's voice carried decades of buried rage. "Shot him like a dog and built his empire on our family's blood. I've been waiting twenty years to destroy him."
"And that moment is now?"
"That moment is you." He reached across the table, covering her trembling hands with his. "You're going to get close to him, Elara. Learn his secrets, his weaknesses. And then you're going to help me bring him down."
"You're insane." She tried to pull her hands away, but his grip tightened. "I'm not a spy. I'm a literature student. I can't -"
"You can. And you will." His voice turned gentle, which somehow made it more terrifying. "Because if you don't, your father dies. Slowly. While you watch."
The coffee shop noise faded to white static. "You're threatening me."
"I'm giving you a choice. Save your father and avenge your grandfather, or watch him disappear."
"Why me? Why not do it yourself?"
"Because Dominic knows me. Knows my face, my hatred. But you?" Victor studied her like she was a chess piece. "Perfect. Young, beautiful, innocent. Exactly what he'd want to cage and fix."
"I won't kill him."
"I'm not asking you to. Just gather information. Security details, meetings, habits. Let me worry about the rest."
Elara looked around the coffee shop at all the normal people living their normal lives, completely unaware that her world was crumbling in a back corner booth.
"What if he finds out?"
"Then you'd better make sure he doesn't." Victor reached into his jacket and pulled out a small device that looked like a hearing aid. "This records everything within ten feet. Wear it when you're around him. I'll retrieve the information."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then tomorrow morning, your father's body will be in the Chicago River." Victor's smile never wavered. "But you won't refuse. Because underneath all that fear, you want justice for what Dominic did to our family."
He was wrong, but Elara didn't correct him. She didn't want justice - she just wanted her father to live. Even if he was weak, even if he'd brought this on himself, he was still the only parent she had left.
"How long?" she asked quietly.
"As long as it takes. Weeks, maybe months. You'll need to make him trust you, maybe even care about you. Can you do that?"
The question hung between them like a loaded gun. Could she manipulate a dangerous man into caring about her while secretly working to destroy him? Could she lie convincingly enough to fool someone who'd built an empire on reading people?
"Yes," she whispered, hating herself for the word.
"Good girl." Victor stood, dropping a twenty on the table. "The debt comes due in three days. Be ready."