Chapter 2 2

The heavy door of the VIP suite slammed shut, vibrating in its frame.

Inside, the silence broke. Eliseo shoved the model away with enough force that she tumbled off the sofa and onto the carpet.

"Get out!" Eliseo roared.

He grabbed a heavy crystal ice bucket from the table and hurled it across the room. It smashed against the wall, shattering a framed print. The glass exploded outward, raining down like diamonds.

The models scrambled, grabbing their purses and fleeing the room without a word.

Carter Sterling, Eliseo's oldest friend and worst influence, stood in the corner, holding his hands up in a placating gesture.

"Bro, chill. It was just a loyalty test. A joke."

Eliseo crossed the room in two strides. He grabbed Carter by the lapels of his jacket and slammed him against the wall. His forearm pressed against Carter's windpipe.

"You ruined my engagement," Eliseo snarled. His eyes were bloodshot, the alcohol in his system turning his anger into a volatile fuel.

He reached into Carter's pocket and ripped out his phone. He unlocked it-the passcode was the same as it had been since college-and opened the messages.

There it was. A text from Harper Vance, sent ten minutes ago: 'She's coming up. Showtime.'

Eliseo stared at the screen. The betrayal tasted like bile in his throat.

He shoved Carter away. Carter stumbled, coughing.

"Get out," Eliseo said, his voice dangerously low. "And if Azura hears a word about tonight, I will bury you."

Meanwhile, Flavia sat in the back of an Uber Black. The city lights blurred into streaks of neon as the car sped downtown. She stared out the window, her reflection ghosting against the glass. Her eyes were dry.

She pulled out her phone and opened her messaging app. She found Harper Vance's contact.

Her fingers hovered over the screen. She didn't just block her. She opened a hidden app, a piece of forensic software she used for work. In seconds, she had exported their entire chat history, archiving every interaction, every location tag, every photo. Evidence preservation.

Then, she blocked Harper on everything. Instagram. WhatsApp. Phone. She exited the group chat titled 'Manhattan Dolls.'

A text message notification popped up at the top of her screen. It was from Harper. 'Sweetie, I had no idea...'

The message failed to deliver.

Flavia arrived at a sleek, anonymous corporate apartment in the Financial District. It was dark and silent. The expensive furniture, the modern art, the floor-to-ceiling windows-it all felt like a stage set for a play that had been cancelled.

She walked into the kitchen and poured a glass of water. She stripped off her clothes, leaving them in a pile by the door. She didn't shower. Instead, she sat down at the minimalist desk, opened a ruggedized laptop, and began analyzing the data stream already coming in from her analyst. The club's security footage, Harper's social media metadata, the models' agency affiliations. It was a web, and she was already mapping its connections to Azura Lancaster.

Her phone on the counter lit up. Eliseo. Again. And again. She let it go to voicemail.

Eliseo was in his own car now, screaming at his driver to go faster. Panic was setting in, a cold, creeping dread that was sobering him up faster than any coffee could.

Flavia closed the laptop. She walked not to the master bedroom, but to the single, spartan guest room. She went to the living room and sat in the armchair by the window.

In her lap was a document. A detailed dossier on the Fitzpatrick family, bound in black leather.

She uncapped a red pen. She circled the clause in Arthur Fitzpatrick's investment portfolio labeled 'Moral Turpitude.' She did the mental math, calculating the leverage this incident provided, the asset division, the timeline. It wasn't about greed. It was about control.

The front door lock clicked.

Eliseo burst in. He was disheveled, the wine stain on his shirt drying into a dark, ugly bruise. He brought the cold air in with him.

He saw her sitting there. He stopped, his chest heaving. He expected screaming. He expected tears. He expected plates to be thrown.

Flavia looked up. Her face was blank.

"You found me," she said.

The calmness was terrifying. It was worse than anger.

"Flavia," Eliseo started, stepping forward. "It was Carter. It was a setup. I didn't know you were coming. I didn't touch them."

"I know," Flavia said. She closed the folder in her lap.

Eliseo exhaled, his shoulders sagging. "You believe me?"

Flavia stood up. A small, humorless smile touched her lips.

"I believe you are stupid enough to be played by Harper and Carter. I believe you put yourself in that position. It was unprofessional."

The insult landed. Eliseo stiffened. His guilt morphed instantly into defensiveness, a reflex of his ego.

"I didn't do anything wrong," he snapped.

Flavia walked past him. She didn't even look at him.

"I'm sleeping in the guest room tonight."

Eliseo reached for her arm, but stopped when she turned her head. Her eyes were like shards of glass.

She walked into the guest room and closed the door. The sound of the lock clicking into place echoed through the apartment like a gunshot.

Eliseo stood alone in the living room. He looked at the coffee table. The black dossier was sitting there. The red circle around the 'Moral Turpitude' section seemed to glow in the dark.