Cold leather bit into my bare wrists. Heavy steel cuffs anchored me to the chair, locking me in place beneath the harsh glare of a halogen lamp. Sweat dripped down my temple, stinging the fresh cut over my left eyebrow.
Alessandro paced the perimeter of the penthouse office, his footsteps silent on the dark mahogany floor. He moved like a predator waiting for its prey to stop twitching. Every line of his body screamed lethal precision.
"Where is it, Elena?" His voice cut through the hum of the air conditioner like a freshly sharpened blade.
Blood dripped from my split lip, tasting of iron and desperation. I blinked away the blurriness in my vision, staring at the expensive leather of his shoes.
Looking up, I forced my gaze to meet his icy grey eyes. "I don't have it."
He stopped. His shiny leather shoes clicked once against the mahogany floorboards before silence reclaimed the room.
Slowly, he turned to face me, his tailored suit completely unwrinkled despite the chaos of the night. A muscle jumped in his jaw, the only sign of the fury vibrating beneath his calm exterior.
"Do not lie to me," he murmured, stepping into the circle of light.
His shadow fell over me, cold and suffocating. He reached out, his leather-gloved fingers gripping my chin with bruising force. He tilted my head back, forcing me to stare into the abyss of his gaze.
Security cameras went dark for exactly forty-two seconds. When they came back on, the drive was gone. And you were running."
Pain flared in my jaw, but I refused to wince. "Someone set me up, Alessandro. If I had the drive, do you think I'd still be in this city?"
His grip tightened slightly before he let go, pushing my head back. He pulled a linen handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his gloved fingers, as if my very skin had left a stain.
My client wants what was on that drive. They want it by morning. If I don't deliver, your life is the first currency I will use to pay for the delay.
---
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, rain lashed against the glass, blurring the neon lights of the city below. Paris was a smudge of blue and orange. I felt incredibly small, suspended thirty stories above the wet asphalt.
Three hours ago, I was a thief with a clean record. Now, I was a dead woman walking.
"Let me search her again," a voice rumbled from the corner.
Marco stepped out of the shadows, his massive frame blocking the doorway. He was Alessandro's enforcer, a man who took visible pleasure in breaking things. His knuckles were bruised, likely from the struggle when they dragged me out of my apartment.
"She already had her pockets turned out, Marco," Alessandro said, not looking at him. "Unless she swallowed a titanium drive, she isn't carrying it."
"Maybe she hid it in the apartment before we grabbed her," Marco suggested, taking a step toward my chair. His eyes gleamed with a cruel light. "I can make her talk. Give me ten minutes with her."
Fear spiked in my chest, hot and sharp. I clutched the armrests of the metal chair, my knuckles turning white.
"No," Alessandro commanded. His voice held the absolute authority of a man who had never been disobeyed.
He walked back to his desk, picking up a heavy crystal glass filled with amber liquid. He didn't drink. He just swirled it, the ice clinking softly against the glass. The sound was deafening in the quiet office.
"Tell me about the vault," Alessandro ordered, his eyes locking onto mine once more.
Desperation made my mind race. I had to reconstruct those forty-two seconds. I had to find the detail that would save my life.
"I bypassed the biometric lock," I started, my voice shaking slightly before I forced it to steady. "The panel was a Gen-4 SecurTech. I used the bypass kit you gave me. The door clicked open. Just like we planned. I walked inside. The pedestal was right there in the center of the room, bathed in a soft blue security light."
"And?" he prompted, taking a slow sip.
Glass fragments littered the floor around the pedestal. The display case had already been shattered before I even arrived.
Alarms didn't sound because the wires had been jumped from the outside. I didn't steal the drive, Alessandro. It was gone before I even crossed the threshold.
He laughed, a dry, humorless sound that sent shivers down my spine.
"A convenient story," he said. "Who else could have known the security bypass? Only three people had those codes. Me. You. And the man who designed the system."
"Then look at the designer," I spat.
"He died three days ago," Alessandro replied softly. "An apparent heart attack in his sleep."
A dead designer, a missing drive, and me as the perfect scapegoat. The realization hit me like a physical blow.
---
Minutes turned into agonizing hours as Alessandro's men searched every inch of my life. They ran my bank accounts. They tore my apartment apart. They even searched the sewer line near my escape route.
Nothing.
"We found nothing, boss," Marco reported, his voice tight with frustration as he hung up his phone. "Her apartment is clean. Her car is clean. No signs of any digital transfers either."
Alessandro didn't look surprised. He stood frozen, his silhouette framed by the flashing neon signs of Paris. His fingers drummed a slow, deliberate rhythm against his thigh.
"She hid it," Marco muttered, glaring at me. "She's playing us."
"I told you," I yelled, my voice cracking. "Non ce l'ho! I don't have it! Why would I stay in my apartment if I had stolen forty million dollars' worth of corporate secrets?"
"Because you thought you were smart enough to get away with it," Alessandro said, turning around slowly.
He walked over to me, stopping just inches away. The scent of expensive cologne and rain clung to him. He leaned down, placing his hands on the armrests of my chair, trapping me between his arms.
"I want to believe you, Elena," he whispered, his face so close I could feel the warmth of his breath. "Because if you are lying, I will have to destroy you. And I would find that... incredibly wasteful."
Tension between us shifted, thickening into something dangerous and electric. His gaze dropped to my lips, lingering for a fraction of a second before returning to my eyes.
"Give me twenty-four hours," I pleaded, my voice barely a whisper. "Let me find out who framed me. I can trace the bypass signal. I know how these systems work."
"And why would I trust you not to run?" he asked.
"Because you have resources I can't outrun," I said, staring directly into his grey eyes. "If I flee, you'll hunt me down. If I stay, I have a chance to clear my name."
He stared at me for a long moment, measuring my sincerity.
"Very well," Alessandro finally said, straightening up. "You have twenty-four hours. But you will not be alone."
"I'm not working with Marco," I said quickly, glancing at the giant in the corner.
"You are working with me," Alessandro corrected.
My heart did a strange, violent flutter. Working with Alessandro was a different kind of death sentence. He was unpredictable, brilliant, and utterly ruthless.
"Uncuff her," Alessandro ordered.
Marco grumbled but stepped forward, unlocking the heavy steel restraints. I rubbed my bruised wrists, the blood rushing back into my hands with a painful prickle.
Suddenly, my jacket pocket vibrated.
It was a short, sharp buzz. My burner phone was hidden in the lining of my jacket. The one nobody knew about.
Alessandro's eyes locked onto my pocket instantly. His hand shot out, grabbing my wrist before I could pull away.
"What is that?" he demanded, his voice dropping to a dangerous register.
"Just a personal phone," I lied, my heart hammering against my ribs.
"Hand it over," he commanded, his grip tightening until my bones protested.
Slowly, with my free hand, I reached into the hidden slit of my jacket and pulled out the small, black burner phone. Screen glowing in the dim room, it displayed a new notification.
A single text message sat on the display.
My breath caught in my throat as I read the sender's name. A name belonging to a man I had buried with my own hands three years ago.
It read: *I have the drive. They are setting you up. Run.*
Alessandro snatched the phone from my hand before I could delete the message. He looked down at the screen, his eyes widening slightly as he read the words.
He looked up, his gaze locking onto mine with a terrifying intensity.
"Who is Leo?" Alessandro whispered.
My heart stopped.