The new European consortium threat loomed large over the coming weeks, casting a long, dark shadow over their hard-won peace. Aria found herself spending long hours in the war room, surrounded by detailed maps of New York’s underworld territories, financial reports, and surveillance photos of the consortium’s known representatives. The penthouse had once again become a command center, with the glittering Manhattan skyline visible through the windows serving as a constant reminder of the empire they had fought so hard to protect — an empire now facing a sophisticated new enemy with deep pockets and old grudges.
“You’ve become the strategist this empire truly needs,” Dante told her one exhausted evening after a particularly long and grueling day of intelligence analysis. He found her hunche
