The night was thick with tension, the kind that settled into your bones and refused to let go. Rain tapped against the windows of the safehouse like impatient fingers. Inside, the air was heavy with questions no one wanted to answer.
Dominic stood by the fireplace, arms crossed over his chest, watching the flames flicker. His jaw was locked, his thoughts spinning behind unreadable eyes. Across the room, Aria sat on the edge of the couch, cleaning the blood from a graze on her forearm, her movements slow and precise. Her clothes were still damp from the storm outside, her hair clinging to her neck, but she didn't seem to notice.
No one spoke for a while.
Not until Nico cleared his throat from the doorway. He looked rough, a fresh line of stitches across his brow and a bruise blooming over his cheekbone. But his grip on the rifle he carried said he wasn't backing down anytime soon.
"She's really alive," Nico said quietly. "Isabella. You're sure it's her?"
Aria looked up. "I'd know her face anywhere."
Luca leaned against the kitchen counter behind them, tossing a knife from hand to hand. "Last we heard, she vanished off the grid. No one could find her, not even Ricci, and he had eyes in every damn country."
"She didn't vanish," Aria said, voice calm. "She was taken."
Dominic's gaze shifted to her. "By who?"
Aria's eyes didn't flinch. "By Adrian."
The room went still.
"He's been playing a long game," she continued. "Getting close to me wasn't about control anymore. It was revenge. And Isabella... she was the perfect weapon."
Dominic pushed off the wall, walking toward her. "What makes you so sure?"
"Because she didn't hesitate," Aria whispered. "She looked at me like I was the enemy. Like she hated me."
Luca dropped the knife on the counter with a loud clatter. "So now we've got your ghost of a best friend working with our enemies. What's next? Ricci rising from the dead?"
"I wish he was dead," Dominic muttered. "At least then I'd stop hearing his name in every corner of this damn city."
Nico sat down beside Aria. "If Adrian has Isabella, and now Viktor's in the picture too, then we're looking at a full-on alliance."
Dominic nodded. "And alliances in our world don't end with negotiations. They end in blood."
Mara appeared in the hallway, wrapped in a hoodie far too big for her. She moved carefully, still shaken from the attack on the penthouse. Aria rose immediately and met her halfway.
"Did you sleep?" she asked gently.
Mara shook her head. "I had another dream. About Isabella."
Aria's stomach turned. "What kind of dream?"
"She was standing in a garden," Mara said quietly. "Wearing a black dress. She had something in her hand. I think it was a key."
Dominic watched her closely. "What kind of key?"
"I don't know. But she said something before she walked away. She said, 'He kept everything from you.' Then she disappeared."
Aria's hands trembled, and she didn't know why.
Dominic's voice cut through her thoughts. "That's not just a dream."
"You think Mara saw something real?"
"I think Isabella is trying to send a message," Dominic said. "The problem is, we don't know if it's a warning... or a trap."
Nico leaned forward. "So what do we do? Wait for her to show up again?"
Dominic turned to Marco, who had been quiet until now, standing near the window with a phone in hand.
"We track her," Dominic said. "If Adrian wants to use her, she'll leave breadcrumbs. Marco?"
Marco nodded. "Already working on it. She slipped through Prague an hour ago. One of our guys spotted her near the cathedral. No sign of Adrian, but the timing was too perfect."
Luca walked over to the map pinned on the wall and slammed his fist into the section marked 'Old Town.'
"She's dancing around us," he said. "And we're letting her."
Dominic looked at Aria. "We're going to end that. You said you wanted to learn."
"I meant it."
"Then your next lesson starts now."
Aria followed him into the weapons room. Shelves lined the walls, filled with pistols, blades, and boxes of ammunition. But Dominic didn't hand her a gun. He pulled down a small velvet box and opened it.
Inside was a necklace.
Aria frowned. "What is this?"
"It belonged to my mother," he said. "Carina Moretti. She wore it the night she died."
Aria swallowed. "Why are you giving it to me?"
"Because she died trusting the wrong people," Dominic said. "And I won't let that happen to you."
Aria reached out, fingers brushing the gold.
"It's beautiful," she murmured.
"She used to say it protected her," Dominic said, then added with a bitter smile, "Clearly, it didn't. But maybe it will protect you."
She fastened it around her neck, and something shifted between them. Not trust. That had already started to form. This was different. This was war.
Dominic's phone buzzed.
Marco again.
He answered, his eyes narrowing as he listened.
When he hung up, he turned to the room.
"New lead," he said. "Isabella checked into a private hospital. Under the name Eva Roman."
Aria's blood went cold.
"Eva?" she asked. "The doctor?"
"She's missing," Marco said. "We haven't heard from her in a week."
Dominic's voice dropped. "Which means Isabella isn't working alone."
Aria's hand moved to the necklace on her chest.
"She's sending us a message."
"No," Dominic said. "She's challenging you."
Outside, the rain stopped.
And in the distance, the bells of the cathedral began to ring.
---
In a dimly lit room across the city, Isabella De Luca stood in front of a mirror. Her eyes were no longer soft. No longer innocent.
Behind her, a man stepped forward, face hidden in shadows.
"She's wearing the necklace," he said.
Isabella's lips curled into a smile.
"Good," she whispered. "Now she's playing by my rules."