Chapter 7 Unmasked

The next morning, the office was strangely still.

Aria had come in early before the driver could text, before Niccolo could call. Just to give her a moment to breathe, to think, and prepare for whatever storm was approaching.

In the mirror, she looked like someone else. Eyes downcast, lips tight; all that usual verve dulled by the night's findings.

Potential asset.

It rang in her ears like a threat.

She had not signed for this: assistantship, not into a world stitched together in secrets, lies, and blood.

But walking away?

It did not feel like a choice anymore.

Not with him watching her.

Not with pride in the way.

---

Niccolo wasn't at his office when she reached there.

The desk was empty.

Unattended.

The door was wide open for once.

Aria stood before it for an entire second.

Every instinct told her not to go in; yet something inside her-a reckless burning-eagerly pushed her.

She stepped inside.

---

Modern, clean cut, and sharp; black wood, brushed steel, dark leather: everything that screamed power-padlocked in control. Not even a single paper was out of place. Not even a single thing left unsecured.

Except...for that drawer.

Slightly ajar.

She shouldn't have looked.

But she did.

A file folder was nestled in there. Thick. Almost heavier than it ought to be. Handwritten in black ink on the label:

Valenti – Surveillance Logs

Valenti?

The name was totally unfamiliar to her. However, something about that word surveillance made her breath hitch.

She opened it.

The insides of the envelope had photos; blurry images anticipated from extreme high angles or dark cars. Men were strangely placed exchanging packages. Locations on the docks. Close-ups of license plates. Dates and transactions that did not seem to match with any legal business.

Now at the bottom...

Her stomach somersaulted.

A photo.

Of her.

Three days ago. Walking into her apartment building. Same jacket. Same bag.

Timestamped.

No note. Just the picture staring back at her, as if confessing.

She retreated as her hands trembled.

He's watching me.

The footsteps were barely audible until the moment they had lost their chance.

"Curiosity," Niccolo's voice was behind. "is only attractive when it doesn't get someone killed."

---

Aria turned around in a rush, bush-white.

"You were spying on me?"

"I was protecting my interests," he proceeded to enter the room quietly, closing the door behind him.

"From me?"

"You're in my world now, Aria. There are rules."

"You put a camera on my building. You were following me."

"I had to."

"No, you chose to." He stepped closer with an unreadable expression. "You want me to believe I wanted to? That I enjoyed seeing where you go, whom you meet, the kind of danger you may be in?"

"Danger I might be in?" she snapped. "The only danger I see is you."

Like a hammer, silence fell between them.

Then, softer, he said, "That photo wasn't meant for you."

She glared up at him, "But it was meant to control me, wasn't it?"

He didn't respond. Just because truth stands suspended in the air.

Aria moved toward storming out-but he caught her wrist.

Not harshly. But not painful. But firm.

And with the very second that struck when one of his skin touched hers, that anger twisted into something more heated. More dangerous.

Their gazes locked.

"You have no idea what you are stepping into," he says, voice low. "This isn't corporate sabotage or office gossip. It's quite deep. It is old. And it doesn't forgive."

She tore her arm free. "Then don't drag me into it."

"I tried not to."

"Complete lie."

His jaw clenched tight, burning with something between fury and need.

"You think I haven't been trying to forget that night?" You think I wanted to leave all that behind?

"Then why didn't you?"

"Because you disappeared!" he snapped. "You left as though it meant nothing!"

Her breath caught. For the briefest instant-perhaps a second-his voice had broken: Not with anger. With injury.

"You're not used to people just walking away from you," she offered gently.

"Much to the contrary," he said. "Because when I want something, I keep it."

She took a step back toward the door. "I am not something you own."

"No, you are something I want," he said.

She wavered but did not look away; this time she was frozen.

Back at her desk, almost an hour passed in silence. Brain banging heads. Heart screaming like a lunatic.

She had crossed a line. He had crossed a line.

And now?

There was no turning back.

She wasn't just his assistant anymore.

She was part of something bigger.

Something darker.

Something more dangerous than she had imagined.

---

Niccolo stared at her surveillance photo for a long time, far above her, in his office.

"Not that I would lie," he said.

"She wasn't another woman."

She was a storm.

And he didn't know if he wanted to survive her...

Or whether he wanted her to destroy him.