POV: Marco
The USB feels heavier than it should.
It sits on my desk between two folders of financial reports I haven’t touched in days, a small black object that somehow manages to command the entire room. Luca stands across from me, arms crossed, posture rigid in a way that tells me this isn’t a casual drop-off.
“Where did this come from?” I ask.
He doesn’t answer immediately. That hesitation alone sets my nerves on edge.
“A source,” he says finally. “One I trust.”
I narrow my eyes. “That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’ll get,” Luca replies evenly. “For now.”
I lean back in my chair, studying him. Luca has always been direct with me. Brutally so. If he’s choosing his words this carefully, it’s because he knows exactly how volatile the ground beneath us has become.
“You’re telling me this contains proof,” I say.
“Yes.”
“Against Arianna.”
“Yes.”
Silence stretches.
I glance at the door, half-expecting it to open. “She knows about this?”
“No,” Luca says quickly. “And she can’t. Not yet.”
I tap my fingers against the desk. “You realize what you’re asking.”
“I do,” he replies. “That’s why I’m asking it now, before she disappears.”
My gaze drops back to the USB. My pulse quickens, a familiar mix of anticipation and dread curling in my gut. I’ve been circling this truth for days—evidence appearing, disappearing, twisting itself into different shapes depending on who delivers it.
“And you’re certain?” I ask quietly.
Luca steps closer. “Marco. Keep her close. Don’t confront her yet. Look at what’s on that drive first. Watch her while you do.”
“That sounds like a trap.”
“It might be,” he admits. “But not one she set.”
I stare at him, searching his face for doubt, for manipulation. I don’t find it. Only urgency.
“All right,” I say finally. “Call her.”
Luca hesitates. “Now?”
“Yes. If this is real, I want to see how she reacts.”
He nods once and pulls out his phone.
***
Arianna arrives within twenty minutes.
She’s calm, composed, dressed as if this were another ordinary evening at my estate. When she enters the study, she smiles warmly, eyes flicking briefly to Luca before settling on me.
“You sounded tense,” she says softly. “Did something happen?”
I gesture toward the chair opposite my desk. “Sit.”
She does, unbothered, crossing her legs neatly. “You’re worrying me.”
“You shouldn’t,” I reply.
Luca remains standing near the door, arms crossed, his presence a silent weight in the room.
I reach for the USB.
“This was delivered to me tonight,” I say, watching her carefully. “It contains information about you.”
Arianna’s expression doesn’t change. Not even a flicker.
“Information from who?” she asks.
“That’s not important.”
Her gaze sharpens just a fraction. “It usually is.”
I insert the USB into my laptop.
The screen lights up.
And then—
Gunfire explodes through the window.
Glass shatters violently, spraying the room with shards as bullets tear through the far wall, ripping into bookshelves and furniture. Instinct takes over before thought.
“Down!” Luca shouts.
I hit the floor hard, dragging the chair with me as another round slams into the desk, splintering wood inches from where my head was a second earlier. Arianna screams—not in panic, but in shock—as Luca grabs her arm and yanks her down beside us.
The room fills with chaos.
Gunshots echo from outside, rapid and precise. This isn’t random. This is a hit.
“Move!” Luca barks.
We crawl toward the reinforced inner wall, bullets chewing into the room behind us. I hear men shouting outside, boots pounding across gravel, return fire erupting from my guards as alarms begin to wail.
Arianna is pressed against my side, breathing hard. I can feel her shaking.
“They’re trying to kill us,” she gasps.
I don’t answer. My ears are ringing, adrenaline flooding my system as I try to process how fast everything just went wrong.
Another window explodes.
A bullet grazes my shoulder, hot and sharp, tearing fabric and skin. I grit my teeth, forcing the pain aside.
“Marco!” Luca shouts. “We need to move—now!”
We scramble through the side door as my men engage the attackers, gunfire deafening in the narrow corridor. The air smells like smoke and burning insulation.
We make it to the reinforced hall just as another burst of shots tears through the study.
Then, as suddenly as it started, the attack fades.
Engines roar in the distance. Tires screech.
Silence crashes down, broken only by the sound of alarms and my own ragged breathing.
For a moment, none of us move.
Then Arianna lets out a shaky breath. “That was the De Lucas.”
I turn to look at her.
“They want you dead,” she continues quickly. “And me with you. I told you they’d come once they realized how close we were getting.”
She clutches my arm, eyes wide, terrified in a way that feels genuine. “If Luca hadn’t pulled me down, I—”
I glance at Luca.
He’s watching her. Closely. Too closely.
The study door bursts open as guards rush in, shouting updates, confirming what we already know: hitmen, professional, gone before they could be intercepted.
I push myself upright slowly, ignoring the sting in my shoulder.
“Get medical,” I snap. “And secure the perimeter.”
They scatter immediately.
When the room clears again, I look down at my desk.
Or what’s left of it.
The laptop screen is shattered. The USB drive lies snapped in half, crushed beneath fallen debris, circuitry exposed and ruined.
My stomach drops.
The proof—whatever it was—is gone.
Arianna notices too. Her face pales. “They destroyed it,” she whispers. “They knew.”
Knew.
The word echoes loudly in my head.
“They attacked at a very convenient moment,” Luca says quietly, stepping closer to me.
Arianna turns on him sharply. “Are you accusing me?”
“I’m observing timing,” Luca replies coldly.
I lift a hand. “Enough.”
Arianna looks back at me, her eyes glossy. “Marco, I saved your life tonight. I stayed. I didn’t run.”
That’s true.
She didn’t.
If she were working with the De Lucas, why would they try to kill her too?
My thoughts spin violently, trying to reconcile everything. The USB. The attack. The destroyed evidence. Her fear. Luca’s warning.
“I told you they’d try something desperate,” Arianna continues softly. “This is what desperation looks like.”
I run a hand through my hair, my pulse still racing. “Or it looks like an interruption.”
Luca’s gaze sharpens. “This happened seconds before you opened the files.”
“And now they’re gone,” Arianna adds quickly. “Which is exactly what they wanted.”
She steps closer, lowering her voice. “You have to trust me. If they thought I was on their side, they wouldn’t have fired on me.”
I look at her, searching for cracks, for tells.
All I see is a woman who just nearly died beside me.
My jaw tightens.
“I need to regroup,” I say finally. “Everyone out.”
Luca hesitates, then nods, giving Arianna one last long look before leaving the room.
She remains, her hand still hovering near mine.
“I know this looks bad,” she says softly. “But please believe me—I would never hurt you.”
The words settle heavy in my chest.
Outside, sirens wail faintly in the distance, my estate still buzzing with aftermath and damage. Inside, the truth feels further away than ever.
The USB is gone.
The timing is suspicious.
And yet—She was here.
She stayed.
She almost died with me.
As I stand amid shattered glass and ruined proof, one thought presses relentlessly at the edges of my mind.
If this was Arianna’s doing, then she’s far more dangerous than I imagined.
And if it wasn’t—then someone just went to extraordinary lengths to keep me from seeing the truth.
Either way, I’m running out of time.
And trusting the wrong person again might finish what the dock started.