Kingdom of Ash and Smoke

The scent of lilies made her sick.

Too strong. Too sweet. Like they were trying to smother the truth.

That beneath their pristine white petals, beneath the carefully arranged bouquets and velvet-lined coffin, was a lie.Matteo Moretti hadn't died in a car crash.

He'd been murdered.

Sera stood under a steel-colored sky, the chill in the late March air slicing through her black coat. People were beginning to leave, murmuring condolences as they passed, most of them strangers or half-remembered family friends. She barely nodded, eyes fixed on the coffin like it might open and give her back what it took.He was supposed to meet her that night.

One hour before the crash, he'd sent a text:

"Need to talk. Urgent."

Then nothing.

She hadn't even gotten to say goodbye.The funeral was short. Formal. Clean. No questions asked. No answers given.Closed casket, of course.They said the impact had been too severe.That Matteo wouldn't have wanted to be remembered "like that."

But Sera knew better.

She'd seen enough crime scene photos in law school to know what a lie smelled like.This wasn't a crash.This was a cover-up.By the time the priest left, the cemetery had emptied. Her mother was already in the car, lost in that glassy-eyed silence that had swallowed her whole since the phone call came.Sera remained.Her heels sank into the soft earth as she crouched near the casket. The wood was dark mahogany, polished, spotless,no one dared let dirt touch it. Like presentation could erase the violence that ended her brother's life.

"You promised me you were out," she whispered. "You said you were done."

No answer. Just wind.

"You lied, Matty. You were back in it, weren't you?"It wasn't even really a question.A sound caught her attention. Soft-deliberate.Not the wind. Not a bird.

Footsteps on gravel.Sera rose slowly, every muscle tense. She didn't need to look to know the presence behind her didn't belong to the priest or any relative.

It was colder.

Sharper.

She turned.

And found herself face to face with a ghost from her nightmares.

He was exactly how Matteo had described him back when they still talked.Tall. Imposing. Sharp-suited even in mourning black.Eyes like wet charcoal: unreadable, but far from empty.

Luca Valentini.

The heir to the Valentini crime family.The name had hovered at the edges of her investigation for weeks. The kind of name you whispered in courtrooms and tried not to write down.She'd never met him before.

But she recognized him instantly.He said nothing. Just stood there, watching her.It wasn't curiosity in his gaze.It was calculation.Like he was already trying to solve her,decide whether she was a threat or just another mourning woman with a big mouth.

"Come to pay your respects?" Sera asked, voice flat.

A pause. Then, "Something like that."

"You don't belong here."

"I could say the same to you."

The words slid off his tongue like silk over glass. Smooth, expensive, and cold enough to draw blood.

Sera stepped forward, jaw tight. "I know who you are."

He didn't flinch. "Good."

"I know what you are."

Something flickered in his eyes then. Not surprise. Not fear. Just... interest.

"You shouldn't be poking around, Miss Moretti."

"You think I'm scared of you?"

Luca's lips curved, but it wasn't a smile. It was a warning.

"No," he said softly. "But you should be."

She stared him down, heart hammering against her ribs. She knew how these men worked. Intimidation, manipulation, control. But Luca Valentini didn't threaten like a street thug.He didn't need to raise his voice or flex his power.He just looked at her.And somehow, she felt seen in a way that made her skin crawl.

"What do you want from me?" she asked.

"I'm here as a courtesy," he said. "To pay respects to your brother. He was loyal. Until he wasn't."

There was a beat of silence between them. Then:

"You're lying," she said.

"I don't lie," Luca replied. "Especially not to people who dig too deep."

Her throat tightened. "Is that a threat?"

Another half-smile.

"Consider it a warning."

He turned then, smooth and effortless, walking back toward the line of sleek black cars waiting at the cemetery gates.The Valentini crest glinted on the license plate of the lead one.He didn't look back.But he didn't need to.Because Sera was already chasing the burn in her chest-

Not from fear.

From the truth he'd left behind in his wake.

Her brother had been loyal.

Until he wasn't.

And now he was dead.

Which meant she was next.

End of Chapter One