Chapter 2

JULIUS

"Okay, sir."

I ended the call and tossed the phone onto the seat beside me. Outside the window, the city stretched out like a living thing, neon lights bleeding into the darkness, cars crawling through streets that never truly slept. This was my kingdom. Every corner, every alley, every shadow belonged to the Moretti name. And yet here I was, letting a dinner with strangers dictate my schedule. Letting my father's sentimentality cost me leverage. Letting ghosts from the past pull strings I couldn't even see.

 The driver navigated through the city with practiced ease, avoiding the main roads where the police presence was heavier this time of night. Old habits. Even now, with our fingers in every pie from here to the coast, we still moved like ghosts. That was how you survived in this world. That was how you stayed alive. You never got comfortable, never forgot that there was always someone waiting to take what was yours.

 I sighed. This dinner better be worth it.

 Surprisingly, I didn't feel like someone would have, having lost a million-dollar contract. There was no rage burning in my chest, no urge to put my fist through the window. Instead, there was something else. Something I couldn't name. A feeling that had settled into my bones the moment my father mentioned the Vladislav name. 

A feeling that something was going to happen tomorrow. Something that would change things. Something I couldn't control.

I just had to wait.
 

---
 

The car pulled through the gates of the estate and I stepped out before the driver could come around to open my door. I didn't need to be coddled. I didn't need to be handled. I was Julius Moretti, and I opened my own damn doors.

 The night air hit me, crisp and cold, carrying the scent of the ocean from the harbor a few miles away. Our property sat on the edge of the city, far enough from prying eyes but close enough to remind everyone who owned this side of town. The mansion itself was a monument to our power, marble columns, iron gates, security that would make the Pentagon jealous. My father had built it from nothing. I had turned it into a fortress.
 

Luca was waiting by the entrance, his posture stiff. He was young, barely twenty-three but he'd proven himself in ways that most men twice his age hadn't. I'd made him my head of security six months ago after the last one decided to sell information to the Russians. That man's body was still somewhere in the Atlantic. A reminder to anyone else who thought about betraying us.

"Boss," Luca said, falling into step beside me as I walked through the doors. "We had a situation while you were out."

 I didn't break stride. "What kind of situation?"

"One of the shipments was flagged at the port. Customs is holding it."

I stopped, turning to look at him. "Which shipment?"

"The one from Colombia. The... special cargo."

 My jaw tightened. That shipment was worth more than most people made in a lifetime. And it wasn't just about the money, it was about the message. If we lost this shipment, our suppliers would see it as weakness. And weakness was a disease that spread fast in this world. People started to think you were vulnerable. They started to test you. And then they started to come for everything you had.

"Who flagged it?"

"We're still trying to figure that out. Could be a random check. Could be someone on the inside."

"Find out," I commanded, my voice quiet but carrying all the weight of a death sentence. "And when you do, bring them to me personally."

Luca nodded, his face pale but determined. "Yes, boss."

I left him in the foyer and made my way up the stairs to my study. The room was dark, lit only by the city lights filtering through the floor-to-ceiling windows. I poured myself a glass of whiskey, the good stuff, aged twenty-five years and sank into the leather chair behind my desk.

The liquid burned going down, a familiar heat that did nothing to quiet the thoughts racing through my mind. Someone was moving against us. Someone was testing the waters. And I had a feeling it wasn't a coincidence that it was happening the same week as this dinner with the Vladislavs. My father liked to talk about old loyalties and honor. But I knew better. In this world, there was no such thing as loyalty. There was only power. And power was taken, not given.

Tomorrow. A dinner with ghosts from my father's past. A deal with strangers whose names I didn't even know. And somewhere in the shadows, someone was moving against us. Testing us, trying to find cracks in the armor my family had spent generations building.

I took a long drink and stared out at the city below.

Something was coming. I could feel it in my gut, the same instinct that had saved my life more times than I could count. Something was changing, moving into place like pieces on a chessboard. And I had a feeling that tomorrow's dinner was going to be the first move.

I just hoped I was ready for the game.

But then again, I was always ready. That was what made me dangerous. That was what made me Julius Moretti. And whatever was waiting for me tomorrow, whoever was waiting for me they'd learn the same lesson everyone else did.

You don't play games with a Moretti and win.

VERA

"Don't come in here! I don't want you to catch the flu too!" Nina shouted from behind her closed door, muffled but still carrying that sharp, authoritative tone she'd perfected over years of being the older sister.

"But I can take care of you. I have a bowl of chicken soup with me!" I shouted back, looking down at the bowl in my hands.

 Steam rose from it in lazy curls, carrying the scent of thyme and garlic and everything Mum had taught me about making comfort food. I'd prepared it myself just a few minutes ago, carefully ladling it into Nina's favorite bowl, the one with the chipped rim she refused to throw away because it was "sentimental." Everything about Nina was sentimental. She just never let anyone see it.

"No, no. Don't worry about it. I-I can take care of myself. Mum is here to take care of me. Go for your classes"

I remained quiet, biting on my lower lip, thinking. Should I leave Nina in this condition and go? Or should I stay and take care of her?