The room stilled.
Gianna’s words hung like smoke in a gas-filled room—waiting for someone to strike the match.
Darius stepped back, like her voice had burned his skin.
Selene didn’t move.
She couldn’t.
Because everything—every second, every kiss, every plan—was slipping through her fingers like ash.
“You’re lying,” Selene said quietly.
Gianna didn’t blink. “I’m not.”
“Lazarus is dead.”
“But his systems aren’t,” she said. “And his kill protocol was real. Set to activate if Darius re-entered any secure cartel registry.”
“What are you talking about?” Darius asked.
Gianna turned to him.
“You logged into Selene’s encrypted vault three days ago. Your retina scan triggered the fail-safe.”
Selene’s chest tightened. “That safe was linked to Lazarus’s network?”
“I didn’t know it still
