The glow of the laptop screen lit up the darkened penthouse office, washing Elian’s sharp features in a cold blue light. He sat perfectly still, eyes fixed on the photograph that had been sent hours earlier. The image was grainy, taken from a rooftop in the dead of night, but the subject was clear.
Ariella.
Her slim figure was silhouetted against the terrace railing, hair caught in the faint shimmer of city light. Vulnerable. Exposed.
The caption beneath it was even more damning.
You have something that belongs to me. Return it. Or watch her burn.
Elian’s jaw tightened, the muscles ticking as he scrolled through metadata, encryption trails, and failed IP pings. Whoever had sent it was no amateur; they’d bounced the message through half a dozen proxies across three continents. Still, t
