Scene One: Shadowed Steps
The precinct parking lot was quiet at dawn, bathed in an eerie half-light that blurred the line between night and morning. Elias Crane moved quickly, shoulders hunched, eyes sharp behind his glasses. He felt it again—that crawl under his skin. The one he'd ignored twice already.
Someone was following him.
He reached his car, keys trembling slightly in his hand. Before he could unlock the door, a low voice behind him froze him in place.
"You're not as invisible as you think."
Elias turned slowly.
A man in plain clothes. Lean. Nondescript. But the bulge of a concealed weapon at his side made one thing clear: this wasn't a civilian.
"I'm not looking for trouble," Elias said.
"Then stop sniffing around Moretti," the man replied. "Consider this your warning."
He stepped closer, face blank. "Or next time, we don't talk."
Elias swallowed hard. "I'm just doing my job."
"No. You're digging in places that don't belong to you." The man stepped back, hands in his pockets like he hadn't just issued a death threat.
"Have a good day, detective."
Elias stood frozen, heart hammering, as the stranger disappeared into a nearby car and drove off.
He needed to warn Kael.
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*(continued)*
### **Scene Two: The Call**
Kael was pacing.
He hadn't slept. Not really. His mind was still on the rooftop—on the way Aurora had spoken to him. Touched him with words as sharp as blades. The heat between them had been real, but so was the threat.
"You have until tomorrow night to get me what I need…"
His phone rang. Unknown number.
He picked it up, already expecting the worst.
"Kael? It's me. Elias."
Kael exhaled sharply. "Jesus, where the hell have you been? I've been trying to reach you."
"I couldn't risk using the same lines. Listen—this morning, I was tailed outside the precinct. Some guy—quiet, clean, professional—told me to back off Moretti."
Kael went still. "He threatened you?"
"He didn't have to. It was in his eyes. This goes deeper than Moretti. That commissioner—he's in on it. I'm sure of it now. I think I triggered something."
Kael sat down heavily, gripping the phone. "You did. Elias… Aurora reached out to me."
Silence.
"Again?" Elias asked cautiously.
"She said she had a deal—one worth millions. Moretti stole it out from under her. She's furious. She wants your files."
"And what did you say?"
"I told her nothing," Kael said. "But I didn't walk away either."
Elias paused. "Kael, you need to listen to me. You're in the middle of something you can't outthink or outfight. She's not just dangerous—she's magnetic. You get close enough, she'll pull you under."
Kael's voice was quiet. "I think I'm already under."
Another pause.
"Do you trust her?" Elias finally asked.
Kael stared at the wall. The image of Aurora's face in the moonlight flashed before him. Beautiful. Calculating. Broken in ways that mirrored his own.
"I don't know," Kael said. "But I think I trust her more than the people wearing badges right now."
Elias cursed under his breath. "Meet me. One hour. Same bar near the courthouse. No devices. Bring the drive."
Kael nodded. "I'll be there."
He hung up and looked out the window of his small apartment.
The city was waking up.
And it was hungry.
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### **Scene Three: Victory Tastes Like Blood**
The Moretti estate was carved into the hills above the city, a modern fortress with floor-to-ceiling glass walls and guards at every corner. Inside, beneath a crystal chandelier, Don Salvatore Moretti poured himself a glass of Amarone and leaned back into a velvet armchair with the satisfaction of a lion licking clean its kill.
"She never saw it coming," he muttered with a smirk, swirling the red wine slowly. "Aurora Vale thought she could cut me out of a million-dollar route in my city."
Across from him, his young assistant, Enzo, stood stiffly. He wasn't smiling.
"She's going to come for us," Enzo said. "She always does."
Salvatore chuckled. "Let her. She's fire. But I've been the storm longer than she's been walking in heels. She's impulsive. Emotional. And too sentimental when it comes to protecting her people."
"But that's exactly why she's dangerous," Enzo insisted, voice low. "We didn't just ruin her deal. We humiliated her. And if there's one thing Aurora Vale never forgives—"
"—It's being made to look weak." Salvatore finished the sentence for him and finally turned to face the younger man. His smile faded into something more calculating.
"I know who she is, Enzo. I've watched her since she was a teenager with blood on her shoes and fire in her eyes. Her father was a rabid dog. She—she's a viper. Quiet until she strikes."
Enzo said nothing.
"But she won't win," the Don added, setting his wine down. "Because I already have the commissioner in my pocket, and every move she makes is being fed back to me. Let her rage. Rage burns fast."
Enzo's gaze dropped for a second, uncertainty flickering behind his dark lashes.
"Still," Salvatore said, rising slowly from his chair, "triple her surveillance. Tap any contact of hers within fifty miles of that deal. If she makes a countermove... I want to crush it before it starts."
He walked to the window, overlooking the city.
"She thinks she's playing chess," he murmured. "But the board is mine."
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