The message from “Elena Voss” burned on Aria’s phone screen like a brand: “Meet me alone at the old family estate tonight. I have the full truth about Project Pawn and who is really behind all of this. Come alone or everyone dies.”
Aria stared at it for a long moment in the dim light of the safe house, her heart pounding with a mix of fear, rage, and desperate hope. Elena was supposed to be in custody. Her mother had died in her arms. The ghosts of her past were rising again, and this time they threatened to destroy everything she had fought so hard to build.
She made her decision in silence. She slipped out of the safe house under the cover of early morning light, leaving a short note for Dante: “I need answers. Don’t follow me. I love you. — Aria”
The drive to the old family estate up
