The next morning, Jade woke before sunrise.
Jake was still asleep beside her, arm resting over her waist, chest rising and falling with calm steadiness. He looked peaceful in a way she'd never seen before almost vulnerable. But she knew better. That calm was a mask. Just like hers.
She slid out of bed carefully, not waking him, pulling on one of his shirts and walking barefoot across the cool marble floor of the penthouse.
Her body still ached from the night before. Not in pain, but in remembrance. Her skin bore the memory of his hands, her lips the taste of his mouth. What they'd shared was more than lust.
It was a surrender.
But love in their world wasn't simple. And the heat between them didn't erase the war at their door.
Her phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
She answered, cautious.
"Jade Valerio", said a voice, male, accented. You don't know me, but you will.
Who is this?
Someone who wants Rafael D'Arco buried as badly as you do.
Why should I trust you?
Because I know what he's looking for. And I know where it's hidden.
There was a pause. Then:
Meet me tonight. Old shipping docks. Alone.
Click.
She stared at the phone.
Jake appeared in the doorway behind her, shirtless, eyes still laced with sleep, but sharp now like a switch had flipped.
Something wrong?
She turned slowly. There's someone who wants to help us take Rafael down.
Jake's eyes narrowed. Who?
No name. Just a location. Tonight.
Jake stepped forward, taking the phone from her hand, studying the call.
Sounds like a trap.
Probably is.
But I'm still going.
Jake met her eyes, jaw tight. You're not going alone.
I need to. That's the only reason he called.
Jake ran a hand through his hair. Damn it, Jade…
She stepped in close, resting a hand on his chest.
You told me last night I was yours. That doesn't mean I'm yours to keep hidden. Let me fight this. Let me be something more than the reason you bleed.
His hands slid to her waist, voice low and heavy.
You already are.
Then let me prove it.
That night, Jade went to the docks.
Alone, but watched. Jake had stationed two of his best marksmen in the shadows. If anything went wrong, blood would be spilled.
She waited beside a rusted container, heels clicking softly on the cracked cement.
A figure emerged from the fog.
Tall. Lean. Olive-toned skin and sharp eyes. Mid-thirties. Scar across his throat. Voice rough.
Name's Kade.
You called me, Jade said. Talk.
I was once Rafael's enforcer. Trusted. Until I saw what he was building.
Which is?
A coup. He doesn't just want Jake out. He wants to tear down every family that ever crossed Lucia. Including you.
Why me?
Because your mother left something behind. Something powerful. Rafael can't access it without you.
What is it?
Kade hesitated.
Proof. Of everything. Names. Documents. Enough to destroy half the syndicates in Europe.
Where is it?
Buried in an old safehouse. Lucia's. You were just a kid the last time you were there.
Jade's heart skipped. I remember. The red door. The music box.
Kade nodded. That's the one.
He handed her a flash drive.
Coordinates. But be careful, Rafael's already looking for it.
Jade took the drive, eyes narrowing. Why help me?
Kade looked at her, and for the first time, she saw something unspoken in his expression, guilt, maybe. Or regret.
Because your mother once spared me when she didn't have to. I owe her. And you… you're all that's left of her fire.
Then he turned and vanished into the night.
Jake appeared beside her seconds later, jaw tense.
You okay?
She held up the flash drive.
We just got a map to everything Rafael wants.
Then we move fast, Jake said.
And we move first.
Back at the penthouse, Jade inserted the flash drive into the encrypted laptop Jake kept hidden behind a false panel in the wall. The moment the data loaded, her breath caught.
There it was, Lucia Rena's safehouse coordinates. Not just one location. Three. Spread across Europe. Each marked with a codename:
Red Veil. Broken Chapel. And Eden's Edge.
Jake stood behind her, arms folded, eyes moving over the screen.
Eden's Edge. That one's in Prague
And it's the only one still untouched, Jade murmured.
She clicked through the files. Blueprints. Surveillance angles. Names. Dates. Bribes. Kill orders. Rafael's entire operation traced out in cold black ink. And somewhere inside one of those safehouses… the original documents. Lucia's failsafe.
This could destroy Rafael. Shut down every corrupt alliance he's built. Turn the war in our favor.
Jake's voice was low. But it also puts a target on your back the size of this city.
She looked up at him.
It's already there. Might as well make it count.
He touched her cheek gently, fingers brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. There was something in his gaze that hadn't been there before.
A deeper kind of fear.
Not for himself.
For her.
You sure you're ready for this?
She nodded. I have to be. This is what my mother died for. I'm not running from that.
Then we leave tomorrow. Prague. We hit Eden's Edge first.
And the others?
We burn them if we have to. But that one, he pointed at the screen, that's where the truth is.
Jade leaned into him, resting her forehead against his chest.
Jake
Yeah?
When this is over, when we finally take Rafael down..
Say it
I want a life. With you. Something real.
He tilted her chin up, met her eyes.
Then fight like hell for it.
Because I'll do the same.
Their lips met not rushed, not frantic but full of everything they hadn't said. A promise sealed not just with fire, but with hope.
Tomorrow, they would leave the city.
But tonight, they held each other like it might be their last....