Monaco harbor.
Black water.
A superyacht sliding like glass.
White lights on deck.
Laughter below—champagne fizz, perfume, heat.
Auguste Lemaire, tycoon.
Always with an ornament.
Tonight—Isabella.
Lumière's star girl.
Black dress. Diamond choker.
Eyes that met stares head-on.
She laughed, traded lines with the crowd.
Didn't flinch when Auguste's hand rested at her waist.
Luca watched from the balcony.
Not a man's gaze.
An appraiser's.
He nodded to his man.
"She's the one."
"Auguste won't like it."
"Tell him—best thrill of his life. The kind you take to the grave."
A silver tray appeared.
Two flutes.
In hers—one clear capsule, melting away.
"New vintage," Auguste said.
She drank. No questions.
Luca tracked the gold pour down her neck.
Less than twenty minutes—
Her cheeks flamed.
Laugh shorter.
Voice lower.
"It's working,"
Luca murmured.
He bent to Auguste's ear.
A pause.
A chuckle.
"If you want her, enjoy her."
Isabella,
fighting the damp heat pooling between her thighs,
kept her face calm.
"I'll be right back," she said lightly,
and headed toward the restrooms.
Halfway there,
an actor planted in her path
blocked her with a smile.
She swept her dress aside
and slipped behind the stage curtain.
The men on the balcony knew what that meant—
beyond that curtain, the ceiling was glass.
Everything below was laid bare to the view above.
Auguste took his seat in the VIP box.
His ornament, restless with mounting heat,
shifted in her chair.
He watched her
like a man watching his favorite game.
At first, she and the actor exchanged only a kiss or two.
Then the drug swallowed her whole.
The dress slid from her shoulders.
Control vanished.
Above, breath caught behind closed teeth.
Someone looked away.
Most didn't.
Auguste's eyes shone like a predator's at the kill.
When it ended, the curtain closed.
Audience drifted off, like credits rolling.
Moments later,
the curtain opened again.
She emerged, dress thrown loosely over her.
Auguste's face had changed.
He motioned to Luca.
Leaning close, he said quietly:
"Supply my entire chain."
Luca lifted his wineglass.
The smile spread slowly across his face.