Chapter 3 3

Athena POV

The adrenaline of the breach faded into the heavy scent of fermenting malt, copper blood, and gun oil. It was 4:00 AM. The Queens distillery was a cavernous beast of brick and iron, the perfect sanctuary for the ghosts we had just pulled from Kirkland's slaughterhouse.

Inside the top-floor office, I tossed a small, blood-spattered leather book onto the heavy oak desk. Julian stared at it, pouring two glasses of amber whiskey.

"A coded ledger," I said, my voice steady despite the exhaustion pulling at my muscles. "Taken off Kirkland's Underboss before he took his last breath. It contains the names of every Rat Kirkland has in the city-cops, union bosses, rival families."

Julian handed me a glass, his fingers brushing mine. The contact was brief, but electric. "You want to dismantle his network."

"We don't wage a frontal war, Julian. We blind him. We deafen him. We bleed his empire dry from the inside out."

Julian took a slow sip of his whiskey, his dark eyes locked onto mine. "You have operational command of these targets, Athena."

He said the words, but his gaze was guarded, calculating. He was evaluating the weapon he had just acquired. He didn't know I had planned for this ledger all along; my mentor, The Professor, had ensured I knew exactly which pocket the Underboss kept it in. This wasn't just a spoil of war; it was a carefully laid trap to secure my place at Julian's side.

I took my whiskey and slipped out of the office. But I didn't walk away immediately. Leaning against the cold brick wall just outside the heavy oak door, I listened.

Julian's voice was a low, dangerous murmur as he summoned Leo. I heard the distinct sound of paper tearing. "A dock union boss," Julian ordered. "Verify him before dawn. Use our deepest shadows. I need to know if she's leading us into a trap."

I smiled into my glass, the whiskey burning pleasantly down my throat. A smart prince. A cautious future Don.

Down in the main hall, the air was thick with iodine and fear. Cots lined the old fermentation floor, occupied by the remnants of the Valenzuela family. My family's loyalists. Derek Hobbs loomed behind me like a mountain of muscle as I walked among the wounded.

Suddenly, a gnarled hand shot out, gripping my wrist with surprising strength. It was an old Soldier, his face pale with blood loss and superstitious terror.

"You," he rasped, his eyes wide as he stared at my sixteen-year-old face. "You survived when the Don fell. You bring the *malocchio*(evil eye). We are cursed because of you!"

Whispers rippled through the hall. The surviving men looked at me not as their savior, but as a harbinger of death. Derek stepped forward, his massive hand dropping to his holster, a lethal warning radiating from his frame.

"Stand down, Derek," I commanded softly.

I didn't pull my arm away. Instead, I leaned in close, letting the old man see the absolute, terrifying void in my eyes. I didn't offer comfort. I slowly scanned the room, memorizing his face, and the faces of every man who muttered in agreement. A slow, chilling smile curved my lips. Let them think I was a curse. A Nemesis didn't need their love; she only needed their absolute, paralyzing fear.

Leaving the wounded behind, I walked to a massive arched window overlooking the East River. The sky was bleeding into a bruised purple. The exhaustion was a dull ache in my bones, accompanied by a sharp pang of isolation.

I thought back to the dimly lit study in Europe, days before I sailed for New York. I had asked The Professor for Julian Morgan's psychological profile. He had handed me a history of the Morgan empire, but nothing on the man himself.

*"Do you trust my plan, or do you trust your own eyes?"* the old man had asked, his eyes twinkling with a dangerous challenge.

*"I trust myself,"* I had replied, fueled by my own arrogance.

Now, staring at the dark waters of the river, I understood the Professor's final gambit. He had given me the board, but I had to learn how to play the King. I could feel the weight of a gaze on my back. I didn't need to turn around to know Julian was standing at the office window above, watching me in the predawn light, waiting for his Soldier to return with the verdict of my loyalty.