OCTAVIA POV
"Tomorrow night," I repeat, my voice shaking. "That's less than twenty-four hours."
Dante sits frozen in the driver's seat, staring at the photo of Felix on his phone. His face has gone pale.
"We need to run," I say. "Right now. Just drive and don't stop."
"He'll find us."
"Then we fight!"
"With what?" Dante finally looks at me. "He has guards, weapons, an entire criminal empire. We have nothing."
"We have each other."
The words surprise us both.
Dante's expression softens for just a second. Then hardens again. "That's not enough."
"So what? We just give up? Walk into his trap and die?" Anger floods through me. "Your sister wouldn't want that."
His head snaps toward me. "Don't."
"Don't what? Don't mention the person you've been avenging for five years?" I lean closer. "You told me she was a survivor. That she fought back. Would she want you to just surrender?"
"She'd want me alive!"
"Would she?" I grab his face, force him to look at me. "Or would she want Konstantin stopped, no matter the cost?"
Dante's jaw clenches. For a moment I think he'll yell at me.
Instead, he kisses me.
It's desperate and fierce and tastes like goodbye. His hands tangle in my hair, pulling me closer. I kiss him back because I might not get another chance.
When we break apart, we're both breathing hard.
"I have an idea," he says quietly. "It's insane. Probably suicidal. But it might work."
"Tell me."
"You still remember everything you saw in Konstantin's office? The vault door? The security panel?"
"Every detail."
"Good." He starts the car again, pulls back onto the road. "Because we're going to break into it. Tonight."
My heart stops. "Tonight? But he said tomorrow—"
"Exactly. He expects us tomorrow. Won't be prepared for us tonight." Dante's driving faster now, focused. "We get those files, upload them to the FBI, and Konstantin goes down before he can hurt anyone."
"But how do we get in? The estate has guards everywhere!"
"I know a way. A service entrance the guards don't monitor as closely. I've been mapping the place for years." He glances at me. "But I can't do it alone. I need you."
"To do what?"
"Be the distraction."
Of course. I'm always the bait.
But this time, I'm choosing it.
"Okay," I say. "What's the plan?"
We stop at a gas station. Dante buys two burner phones and calls Felix from one.
"You're alive," Felix answers, relieved. "When I saw that photo—"
"Listen carefully. No time to explain everything." Dante talks fast. "I'm uploading coordinates to a secure server. Tomorrow morning, you raid those coordinates with everything you have. Bring SWAT. Bring everyone."
"Dante, what are you—"
"Just trust me. If I'm not there when you arrive, it means I'm dead. But the evidence you need will be there." He pauses. "And Felix? There's a girl. Octavia Brennan. If something happens to me, you protect her. Promise."
"I promise. But—"
Dante hangs up. Hands me the other burner phone.
"If anything goes wrong tonight, you call 911. You run. You survive." His amber eyes are intense. "Promise me."
"Only if you promise the same."
"Octavia—"
"Promise, or I'm not helping."
He sighs. "Fine. I promise."
Liar. I can see it in his eyes. He's planning to sacrifice himself if needed.
We'll see about that.
We drive to a dark warehouse district. Dante parks behind an abandoned building and kills the engine.
"Last chance to back out," he says.
"Not a chance." I grab his hand. "We do this together or not at all."
He squeezes my hand. "Together."
We approach the estate from the back, staying in shadows. Dante moves like a ghost—silent, efficient. I try to copy him.
The service entrance is hidden behind overgrown bushes. Dante picks the lock in seconds.
"Security cameras?" I whisper.
"Loop I installed six months ago. We have a ten-minute window before anyone notices." He checks his watch. "Starting now."
We slip inside.
The hallway is dark and empty. My heart pounds so loud I'm sure someone will hear it.
Dante leads me through a maze of corridors. Every footstep sounds like thunder. Every shadow looks like a guard.
We reach Konstantin's office. The door is locked, but Dante has a key.
"How—?"
"Stole it three weeks ago. Made a copy." He opens the door carefully. "After you."
The office is empty. Moonlight streams through the windows, casting shadows everywhere.
There—behind the desk—the vault door I saw earlier.
"Biometric lock," Dante mutters, studying it. "Fingerprint and retinal scan. We need Konstantin himself."
"Or someone who can bypass it." A voice behind us.
We spin around.
Sienna stands in the doorway, gun pointed at us. She's smiling.
"Did you really think you could break in here without me knowing?" She closes the door behind her. "I've had cameras on you since you left earlier."
Dante steps in front of me. "Sienna, you don't understand—"
"Oh, I understand perfectly. FBI Agent Marchesi." She says his real name like a curse. "Did you think Konstantin didn't know? He's known for months. Been feeding you false information the whole time."
My stomach drops. "Months?"
"He wanted to see how far you'd go. How desperate." Sienna's smile widens. "Turns out, pretty far. Breaking into his office with your little girlfriend. Pathetic."
"Let us go," Dante says quietly. "Whatever Konstantin's paying you, the FBI will triple it."
"It's not about money." Sienna's eyes glitter. "It's about loyalty. Something you know nothing about."
She pulls out a phone, starts to dial.
Dante moves faster than I can track. Lunges at Sienna, knocking the gun from her hand. They crash into the bookshelf.
The gun skitters across the floor—toward me.
I grab it. My hands shake so badly I almost drop it.
Sienna gains the upper hand, pins Dante. Her hands wrap around his throat.
"Stop!" I aim the gun at her. "Let him go!"
She looks at me. Laughs. "You won't shoot. You're a nursing student. A healer. Not a killer."
She's right. I can't kill someone. Can't—
Dante's face is turning red. He's choking.
My finger moves to the trigger.
"Last warning," I say. My voice doesn't shake. "Let him go."
"Or what? You'll—"
I shoot.
Not to kill. To wound. The bullet hits her shoulder and she screams, releasing Dante.
He gasps for air, coughing.
Sienna clutches her shoulder, blood seeping between her fingers. "You bitch!"
"I'm a nursing student," I tell her, gun still aimed. "I know exactly where to shoot to disable without killing. Want to test me again?"
She glares but doesn't move.
Dante staggers to his feet, grabs zip ties from his pocket. Ties Sienna's hands and feet, gags her with a curtain cord.
"Nice shot," he wheezes.
"Thanks. What now?"
He looks at the vault. "Now we need Konstantin's fingerprint and retinal scan."
"Which we don't have."
"Actually—" Dante pulls out his phone, shows me a photo. "I took this three months ago at a party. Close-up of his hand holding a glass."
"That's not going to work for a fingerprint scanner!"
"No. But this will." He pulls a small device from his pocket. "Fingerprint copier. FBI tech. I've been carrying it for months waiting for the right moment."
He presses the device to his phone screen, somehow transferring the print. Then approaches the vault's fingerprint scanner.
It beeps. Turns green.
"Holy shit," I breathe. "That actually worked. But what about the retinal scan?"
Dante's expression goes dark. "That's the problem. I need him here."
As if summoning the devil himself, the office door opens.
Konstantin walks in, flanked by four guards with guns.
He sees Sienna tied up, bleeding. Sees us at his vault. Sees the gun in my hand.
And he smiles.
"Well, well. I was wondering when you'd finally make your move, Agent Marchesi." He adjusts his cufflinks casually. "Though I expected something more creative than a simple break-in."
"It's over, Konstantin," Dante says. "The FBI knows everything. They're raiding this place tomorrow."
"Are they? How convenient that I have tonight to disappear then." Konstantin's eyes land on me. "But first, I think we'll have that party after all. With your little girlfriend as the guest of honor."
The guards move forward.
Dante grabs my hand. "Run!"
We bolt for the window. Dante smashes it with a chair and we jump—
Into nothing. We're forty feet up. We're going to die—
We crash into bushes below. Pain explodes through my body but nothing breaks.
Gunfire erupts above us.
"Go!" Dante pulls me up. We run into the darkness.
Behind us, Konstantin's voice echoes: "Find them! And bring me the girl alive! I'm going to enjoy breaking her personally!"
We run until our lungs burn. Until the estate lights fade behind us.
We made it out.
But we didn't get the files.
And now Konstantin knows we tried.
Dante stops in an alley, both of us gasping.
"Felix," he manages. "Need to warn Felix—"
His phone rings. Unknown number.
He answers on speaker.
"Dante." It's Konstantin. "I have something that belongs to you."
Video loads on the screen.
It's my parents. Tied to chairs. Surrounded by Konstantin's men with guns.
And standing beside them, smiling—
My mother.
Not tied up. Not bruised. Standing freely, wearing expensive jewelry.
"Surprised?" Konstantin's voice purrs. "Your mother's been working for me for six months. How do you think I knew exactly when to collect you?"
The world tilts.
My mother. My own mother.
She waves at the camera. "Hi, baby. Sorry about this. But two hundred thousand dollars is two hundred thousand dollars."
The screen goes black.