Chapter 3 The Ghost in Her Eyes

Luca's breath caught in his throat.

The words echoed through his head like a pistol shot:

"Choose. Him... or me?"

His father's groan broke the silence a sound he'd never heard from Angelo Navarro, a man who had ruled the underworld with a voice sharp as steel and a will harder than bullets. Yet here he was, crumpled beneath the boot of a woman half his age.

Valentina didn't even blink. She wasn't bluffing. She wasn't scared neither was she joking. She wasn't going to let this moment pass.

But Luca...

Luca was trembling.

All his life, he'd been his father's failed legacy. Not ruthless enough. Not cruel enough. Not a man enough to even speak for himself. Luca had spent years living in a cage his last name built watching, enduring, surviving. Never acting.

Until now.

"Let him go," Luca said at last, voice cracking.

Valentina raised an eyebrow. "That's your choice?"

"No." He stepped forward. "That's my order." the audacity.

Her eyes flickered something like curiosity, maybe surprise. But she removed her heel, slowly rising, brushing invisible dust from her tailored pants. She stood poised, dominant, unfazed. "Then maybe you're not entirely useless."

Angelo coughed, clutching his wrist. "You'll regret this," he hissed.

Luca didn't flinch. "I already regret everything that made me your son."

Valentina let out a short, sharp laugh. "Now *that's* something I can work with."

Angelo struggled to stand, glaring at them both with venom in his eyes. "You think she's saving you, Luca? She's not. She's just using a different leash."

Luca turned to Valentina. "Are you?"

She stared at him-so deeply it hurt. "I don't do leashes," she said softly. "Only chains."

And then she walked out, heels clicking once more.

She didn't tell him to follow.

She didn't have to.

As Luca moved to the door, his phone buzzed.

One message.

From an unknown number.

"She's not who you think she is.

Ask her about your brother.

Ask her what really happened the night he died."

Luca froze.

He had never spoken to anyone about his brother's death. No one knew the truth because there was none. Just silence, and a closed casket.

His pulse thundered in his ears.

Who sent this message?

And more importantly...

What did Valentina have to do with his brother's death?

Luca sat on the edge of his bed, still staring at the message on his phone.

"Ask her about your brother.

Ask her what really happened the night he died."

The words wouldn't stop echoing. The night his brother Antonio died had always been a blur of grief, whispers, and sealed records. Luca had been told it was an accident a drive-by gone wrong. But something about that night had never felt right.

And now, someone wanted him to believe Valentina Rossi was involved , in what way was she related?.

He looked up just as the door creaked open. She didn't knock. She never did.

"You're still awake," she said, stepping inside, graceful as ever, wrapped in shadow and silk. "Should I be flattered or concerned?"

Luca slipped his phone beneath the pillow. "Depends. Are you hiding something from me?"

Valentina paused, just slightly enough to notice if you were paying close attention. Luca was.

"What makes you think that?" she asked.

"Let's not play games."

"I never play games," she said, stepping closer. "I win them."

She stopped in front of him, her presence heavy, magnetic. "You're acting different."

"I'm thinking different," he corrected. "About you. About Antonio."

Her expression didn't change, but her eyes gave her away just for a second. A flicker of tension. Of pain. Luca stood, meeting her gaze. "You knew him, didn't you?"

She didn't answer.

"You were there," he whispered. "The night he died."

A long silence stretched between them. The air was too still.

"Yes," Valentina said finally. "I was there."

Luca's heart dropped.

His knees almost buckled but he caught himself. "Did you kill him?"

Valentina stepped back, slowly. Her hands clenched at her sides.

"No," she said. "But I let him die."

And with that, she turned her back to him and walked out.

This time, she didn't wait for him to follow.