Chapter One : Wrong room
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New York City - 2:47 a.m.
The alley behind the Velvet Room smelled like expensive cigars, motor oil, and danger.
Rain slicked the pavement in a thin sheen, reflecting the pulsing red neon from the back entrance. Sienna Vale crouched low in the shadows, the hem of her black coat soaked, curls tucked under a dark cap. Her breath came even. Calm. Focused.
Above her, the city never slept. But tonight, it was holding its breath.
"Si," came Lilah's voice through the comm in her ear. "You've got four minutes. He's upstairs. Alone."
Sienna smirked. "Then it's a good thing I look stunning when I steal."
She straightened, lips blood-red and matte despite the drizzle, and approached the back door like she owned the place. She didn't knock. Just bent low, picked the lock with two thin pins, and pushed the steel open with a soft click.
Inside, everything was silent.
A corridor bathed in deep purple lights stretched out in front of her opulent, expensive, intimidating. Like every mafia-funded pleasure palace in New York, the Velvet Room smelled like sin and success.
She moved like smoke quiet, calculated heels off, boots soft against the marble floor. The blueprint had been memorized. Down the hall, second door on the right. That was the office. That was the target.
Inside was the black USB. Simple job. High pay.
Except.
He wasn't supposed to be there.
Sienna froze.
The room wasn't empty.
He stood by the window, shadowed but tall, a crisp black suit molded to a body that didn't just wear power it radiated it. He didn't move. Didn't look back. Just stared out the glass at the city like it belonged to him.
Sienna's mouth went dry.
Aleksandr Moretti.
Even his name sounded like something sharp.
This wasn't part of the plan.
She reached for the doorknob to back away.
"Close the door behind you," he said without turning.
His voice? Cold. Low. Laced with ice and quiet violence.
Sienna paused. Calculated.
Could she charm her way out?
No. Men like him didn't fall for charm. They crushed it.
So she smiled.
"Sorry," she said, sweet as honey. "Wrong room."
"No," he said, turning slowly. "Right room. Wrong woman."
Then she saw him clearly.
Slate-grey eyes. Jaw made of stone. Black gloves covering his hands even indoors. No tie. No smile. Just danger wrapped in brutal beauty.
She'd conned CEOs, cartel men, even a Saudi prince once but Aleksandr Moretti? He was a different breed.
"You tripped the silent alarm." He took one step forward. "Your file said you were smarter than that."
File?
What the hell?
Three minutes left. She needed a miracle.
"Two minutes, Sienna," Lilah whispered in her ear.
Her crew was already in motion. Good.
Time to dance.
"Look," she said casually, tilting her head. "I don't know what you think "
The power went out.
Just for a second.
The hallway burst with shouting voices. Gunshots non-lethal fired into the ceiling. Smoke flooded the corridor.
Her team had triggered the distraction.
Sienna didn't wait.
She turned, sprinted into the haze, slipping past two armed men rushing in. One grabbed her wrist she twisted hard, slammed her elbow into his throat, and kept running.
Footsteps thundered behind her.
Aleks didn't chase her.
He didn't need to.
He stood in the hallway, unmoving, smoke curling around his frame. His men moved for him. But his eyes were on her.
He watched her like a man memorizing a threat.
Or a temptation.
Sienna burst out into the alley, breathless, leaping into the backseat of a black van just as the tires screeched forward.
They were gone.
---
Inside, Aleks walked back into his office. Calm.
Nico, his second-in-command, looked shaken. "Boss... you want us to follow?"
Aleks sat behind his desk, poured himself a glass of untouched whiskey, and stared at the door she'd just vanished through.
"She's not part of the real threat," he murmured. "Not yet."
"But-"
"I said let her go." His voice dropped. Final. "For now."
Because Aleks wasn't sure what she stole.
But he knew she'd taken something he hadn't felt in years.
Curiosity.
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