The moon hung low over Rome like a secret watching the city breathe. Beneath it, the night pulsed. Slick with shadows, whispers, and the kind of elegance that always came with blood money.
Arian De Luca adjusted the cuff of his navy suit, eyes scanning the entrance of Villa Salvatore. He wasn't supposed to be here, not as himself, anyway. But tonight, he played a new man. Enzo Moretti, cyber-security expert. Ruthless. Silent. Loyal to the highest bidder.
The gates creaked open with a hiss, revealing a marble courtyard that looked more like a throne room than a driveway. Arian stepped out of the black car, his polished shoes kissing the stone floor. In front of him, a dozen guards stood poised; tailored suits, cold eyes, guns under silk jackets.
And then she appeared.
Zara Salvatore.
Daughter of the most dangerous man in Italy. The mafia princess whispered about in government files and backroom conversations. The one he was warned not to even look at too long.
But no file had prepared him for her.
She stepped down the marble stairs like she owned the sky. Midnight black dress hugging her figure like smoke. A slit high enough to tease, low enough to command. Her hair was up, but loose strands curled along her neck in delicate, calculated chaos.
Their eyes met.
Arian blinked. She didn't.
"You must be the hacker," she said, her voice silk wrapped in steel.
"Security analyst," he replied. "But close enough."
She didn't smile. She studied him, the way a lion studies another predator in her jungle.
"My father's waiting," she said, turning. "Don't be late. He hates that."
As she walked away, her heels echoed like a countdown.
And just like that, Arian felt the ground shift under him. Subtly, dangerously.
He was here to infiltrate the Salvatore family. To destroy it from the inside.
But now...
Now he wasn't sure if the mission would survive her.