The rain hadn't stopped since Talon was taken.
Thunder rolled over the D'Angelo estate like a war drum, pounding against the glass as if it, too, demanded answers.
Aria couldn't sleep.
Not because of guilt—she'd learned to kill that.
But because of what Luciano hadn't said.
She replayed the scene over and over: Talon's arrest, his final words. "You think you've won, but it's already begun."
And then… her father.
Alive. Hidden. Plotting with the man who murdered her brother.
That betrayal felt deeper than any wound.
⸻
Luciano didn't know.
Not yet.
She kept that to herself as she dressed the next morning—black slacks, white silk blouse, no jewelry. Clean lines. Power without decoration.
She had a meeting to demand.
And this time, it wasn't with her husband.
⸻
Enzo waited in the server room, already scanning the overnight footage.
"I need you to find something," Aria said without greeting.
He looked up, surprised by the edge in her voice.
"Anything unusual in the last twelve hours. Someone moving under the estate. Someone not on our internal roster."
Enzo's fingers danced over the keyboard. Cameras loaded.
"I thought you were done digging," he said.
"I'll stop when I'm dead," Aria replied. "And maybe not even then."
He gave a faint grin. "Fair enough."
A moment later, one camera lit up—a grainy view of the abandoned wine cellar beneath the east wing.
Someone was down there.
Midnight.
A shadow. Moving toward the old passage.
Enzo zoomed in.
And there he was.
Her father.
⸻
She didn't tell Luciano.
Not because she didn't trust him.
But because she needed to face this herself.
She followed the same path alone. Past the dusty barrels, beyond the cellar wall. There, she found it—a false panel. Behind it, a descending tunnel that hadn't seen light in years.
Every step echoed. Every breath felt heavier.
At the bottom, a vault door. Open.
Inside, a low-burning light and two men.
Talon.
And her father.
"You should've stayed away," her father said, as calm as a priest.
"You should've stayed dead," Aria answered.
⸻
The silence was tense.
"You killed Luca," she said.
"No," he replied, as if correcting a child. "I chose the future. Luca chose pride."
"You sold him," she spat. "And then you gave me to Luciano like I was nothing."
"I gave you power," he said, stepping closer. "And look what you've done with it. You've learned faster than Luca ever did."
Aria's hands curled into fists.
Talon watched with cold amusement. "He's not wrong. You're built for this."
"I'm not like you," she said.
"No," her father agreed. "You're better. That's why we need you."
He stepped closer again. "Luciano is a phase. But you—"
"I'm your daughter," she said, fire crackling in her voice. "Not your weapon."
He studied her face.
"You're both."
⸻
She left them there.
Walked out with her head high and heart burning.
She didn't cry.
She didn't scream.
She planned.
Because now she knew the truth:
Luciano wasn't her greatest enemy.
Her own blood was.
⸻
That evening, Luciano entered the room, wet from the rain, shirt clinging to him. He poured two drinks without speaking, handed her one.
"You went down there," he said.
She met his gaze. "Yes."
"And?"
"They're planning to destroy you."
He smiled darkly. "Then we strike first."
Aria shook her head. "No. Not yet. They expect that."
Luciano stepped forward. "Then what?"
"We bleed them slowly. Not with guns. With control."
⸻
Together, they moved like twin predators.
Aria spread whispers through the ranks. Quiet doubts about Talon's loyalty. Rumors about her father manipulating from the shadows. She turned lie into truth and truth into poison.
Luciano cut off shipments that her father relied on. Starved their allies of information. Isolated them.
And waited.
The trap was no longer a moment.
It was a war of inches.
And Aria? She was no longer prey.
She was the queen on the board.
⸻
That night, in a cold underground room, Talon leaned toward Aria's father and whispered:
"She knows we let her find us."
Her father's eyes gleamed.
"Of course she does."
"Then why let her live?"
His smile sharpened.
"Because soon, she'll lead us straight to the throne."