The docks were a ghost town at this hour, the water dark and still, swallowing the faint glow of the few flickering street lamps that clung desperately to life. Lorenzo’s knuckles whitened as he gripped the steering wheel, muscles taut with anticipation and dread. The ledger had to be here. It was their only leverage, the key to surviving the storm closing in from every angle.
Alessia’s breaths were shallow, uneven. Her eyes darted nervously toward every shadow, every rusted crate, every swaying rope. It wasn’t just the threat outside—they both knew it was far more dangerous to be here, exposed, tangled in this deadly game of power and deceit.
Lorenzo parked the car beside a stack of shipping containers, the scent of salt and oil heavy in the air. He killed the engine but didn’t move.
“
