The night was heavy, oppressive. Storm clouds gathered over the city like vultures circling a carcass, waiting for the moment when all defenses crumbled.
For Damian Moretti and Adriana Rossi, that moment was now.
---
Damian sat in his office, shirt discarded, his arm bound in bloodstained gauze. The ambush had left him scarred, both in body and in spirit. A bottle of whiskey stood half-empty on the desk, next to a map littered with pins marking enemy movements.
He should have been planning. Plotting. Leading.
Instead, he stared at the wall, at the reflection of his own failure in the glass window.
The words of the shadowy figure echoed in his head: She’s closer than you think. You’ll find her in blood and chains.
Adriana.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her — chained, broken,
