the ceiling, feeling the echo of last night's dance still burning on her skin - the weight of Luciano's hand on her back, the way his voice had slid into her veins like poison. Her chest ached

inued to look at her like that. She nodded once. "Consider it done," she said. Luciano's lips curled into a faint, dangerous smile. "Good," he said. "But remember..." He stepped closer, his hand grazing her jaw - a touch so light it barely registered, but it left her frozen. "In this world, even the most loyal soldier can be a dagger pointed at your own heart." ⸻ That night, the call came. Valeria sat alone in her room, the assignment details spread across her bed, when her burner phone buzzed. Unknown number. But she knew who it was before she even touched it. Her uncle. The man who had "rescued" her from the bloodstained ruins of her childhood. The man who had shaped her into the perfect weapon. She hesitated only a second before answering. "Finally," came his rough voice, sharp and impatient. "You've been quiet." "I'm doing what you sent me here to do," she said coolly. A short, dark laugh crackled over the line. "Good. Because patience is wearing thin. It's time to begin, Valeria." Her stomach twisted. The words she'd been waiting for. The words she had dreaded. "You've gotten close to him already," her uncle said. "I hear things. Whispers. He trusts you." Silence stretched. Valeria's throat tightened. "Don't forget why you're there," he said, voice turning colder, deadlier. "Don't let a pretty face distract you. The Romano bloodline killed your father. Destroyed your family. Luciano is no different." The weight of his words settled like chains around her chest. "I remember," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "Good," her uncle hissed. "Because soon... you'll have to strike." The line went dead. Valeria lowered the phone slowly, her hands trembling - from rage or fear, she couldn't tell. The world around her blurred. The walls, the air, even her own reflection seemed to spin. For a heartbeat, she couldn't breathe. Luciano's face flashed before her eyes - the dangerous smirk, the calloused hand