Chapter 5 #2
“There’s a gathering at Calderone’s estate,” I say finally, my voice calm, quiet. “Two nights from now.”
Nikolai’s gaze flicks to me.
“The Italian-hosted one?”
I nod once.
“You’re actually going?”
“I always go.”
“You usually leave before the second round of drinks.”
“Depends who’s pouring.”
He huffs something close to a laugh, but it dies fast.
“What’s that got to do with her?”
I pick up the folder again—the useless one he brought in earlier. Thin. Light. Empty.
“We’ve been watching Romano for months now. He’s an opportunist. Arrogant. Loud. Too eager to impress.”
“Which one?”
“Alessio.”
Nikolai raises a brow. “The dog that tried to blackmail Sergei’s niece?”
“Exactly the one.”
I tap a finger against the wood.
“Word is he’s been trying to gain favor with someone on the inside. I want to know who.”
“You think she can get it out of him?”
I meet his eyes.
“He won’t be able to help himself.”
“You’re sending her in alone? ”
“Not alone.”
I take another sip of my drink and let it settle before adding?—
“Kellan will be in the room. Quiet. Watching.”
“And the other one?”
“Ash stays outside. He’s best behind the feed.”
Nikolai leans back, shaking his head slowly.
“You’re setting her up for something bigger.”
“I’m watching how she handles a live situation. No blood. Just influence.”
“You think she’ll hold back?”
I smile faintly.
“That’s what I want to find out.”
Nikolai mutters something under his breath, then lifts the empty glass and swirls the melting ice like it might give him answers.
“So you want her to cozy up to this idiot, get him drunk, and make him talk?”
“No.” I glance at him. “I want her to make him believe he’s seducing her. ”
Nikolai snorts. “And when she gets the information?”
“She walks away. Quiet. Invisible.”
“And you?”
“I’ll be there.”
“And she won’t know?”
“She will.”
“But you won’t acknowledge her.”
“Exactly.”
He shakes his head again, slower this time.
“You’re orchestrating a play, not a mission.”
“Every Bratva move is theater. But this one…” I trail off, eyes narrowing at the skyline again. “This one needs a new cast.”
Nikolai sighs.
“And when she gives you the intel?”
I glance at him.
“She comes to the estate.”
He stiffens. “Not the penthouse?”
“No.”
“That place is?—”
“Private. I know.”
I say nothing more. Just let the weight of it hang between us.
He leans forward again.
“You’re not just testing her.”
I look back at him, eyes steady.
“No. I’m inviting her in.”
I set the glass down and let the weight of the next forty-eight hours settle on my shoulders. Not the pressure. The calculation.
This isn’t a mission. It’s an introduction.
Isabella’s first real step into my world—not as a waitress or a spy behind a tray, but as something far more dangerous.
A player.
She’ll be walking into a room with monsters, some old enough to have forgotten their own sins, others too young to know they’re already damned. And while they’ll be too distracted with each other to see her coming…
I’ll be watching everything.
From the corner. Behind my mask. With a drink in my hand and my orders already in motion.
I’ll see how she moves in a room where power speaks in silence and everyone smiles with knives in their hands.
And when it’s over…
She’ll come to me.
No crowd. No eyes.
Just mine.
I shift my gaze toward Nikolai. He’s watching me closely now, still trying to read what I haven’t said out loud.
“Send her the details tomorrow,” I say quietly. “Discreetly. No names. Just enough that she knows where to be, when to be there, and who to watch.”
I pause.
“Keep it coded. Just to be safe.”
Nikolai lifts a brow. “You think someone’s already watching her?”
“I think she’s the kind of woman people follow without realizing why. And I’d rather not give them a reason to look closer.”
He nods slowly, his expression unreadable.
“You want me to send it from you?”
“No,” I say without hesitation. “From you.”
“Why?”
“Because I want her wondering why I’m silent.”
He exhales through his nose, then leans back in the chair again.
“You’re playing a long game with this one.”
“I always do.”
“But with her?”
He watches me for a long beat.
“You’re not just playing.”
I don’t confirm it. But I don’t deny it either.
Nikolai eventually stands, adjusting the cuffs of his shirt like he’s trying to push the weight of the conversation off his shoulders.
“Fine. I’ll send the message tomorrow morning.”
“Make sure the timing feels natural. No pressure. Just an… invitation.”
“To a gathering filled with men who kill for sport.”
“Exactly.”
He shakes his head, but his mouth twitches like he can’t help but admire it.
“You’re a son of a bitch, you know that?”
I give him a cold smile.
“And yet here you are. Still sitting at my table.”
When he finally leaves, the penthouse quiets again. But I don’t move.
I stay where I am. Still. Sharp. Watching the city like it’s a chessboard stretched beneath me.
Alessio Romano will talk. That much is inevitable. But what I want to know… is what she will say when it’s done. And if she’ll lie to me again when she looks me in the eye. Because she will stand in front of me. Alone.
And when she does, I’ll be one step closer to figuring out why a ghost with no past bleeds like monster and moves like a soldier.
Because she’s not just here for a mission. She’s here for a reason.
And I will uncover every piece of her —one truth at a time.