CHAPTER 5

Sasha Rossi had always known this moment would come.

She had spent years constructing her identity, threading lies so seamlessly into reality that even the most scrutinizing eyes wouldn't find the seams.

Now, the stage was set.

Matteo's empire was starving, reaching for salvation in the form of expertise, strategy—someone who could see threats before they arrived.

And she had made sure they found her.

The sleek black sedan sliced through the streets of Naples like a silent predator, moving with the kind of authority that announced its presence without needing to scream it. It pulled up to an unmarked office building—no name, no insignia, yet everyone in the underworld knew what it was.

One of Matteo's primary intelligence hubs.

The nerve center of his empire.

The driver—silent, professional, trained not to ask questions—stepped out first, opening the door with mechanical precision.

Sasha emerged like a queen descending into her kingdom.

Her long legs carried her forward with an effortless confidence, her black dress tailored to command attention, not invite it. It hugged her curves just enough to establish presence, but not enough to distract from the real power she wielded.

Her heels clicked against the pavement—sharp, deliberate.

She wasn't here to ask for a job.

She was here to take her place.

The moment she stepped inside, she felt it.

The weight of unseen eyes.

Surveillance cameras. Hidden guards. Observers in darkened corners, watching, assessing, deciding whether she would leave this building with a job—or in a body bag.

She walked past them as if they didn't exist.

In the center of the dimly lit room sat an oak desk—expensive, but not gaudy. A symbol of wealth restrained by practicality.

Behind it?

Lorenzo Falco.

Matteo's right-hand man.

A man known for his uncanny ability to sniff out lies before they even left a person's mouth.

A man Sasha had studied for years.

His dark gaze met hers, a flicker of intrigue behind the calculation.

"Sasha Rossi."

He said it slowly, deliberately, as if rolling the name across his tongue, testing its weight.

"Your resume is impressive. Almost too impressive."

Sasha allowed a small, slow smile to grace her lips.

"If you're not hiring impressive people, then I'm in the wrong place."

A beat of silence.

Then, the barest twitch at the corner of Lorenzo's lips—was it amusement? Curiosity? She couldn't tell.

"Tell me," he said, leaning forward slightly, elbows resting on the desk. "How would you handle a competitor intercepting one of our shipments before it reaches the docks?"

A trap. A test. A chance to prove herself.

Sasha tilted her head slightly, as if considering, though she had already mapped out her response before he finished speaking.

"First, I'd analyze the pattern of interceptions," she said, her tone calm, measured. "If it's random, we have a leak. If it's targeted, they have a mole inside our logistics team. Either way, I'd feed false information through suspected channels, track where it lands, and find out who's selling us out."

She met his gaze with unwavering steadiness.

"Then, I'd handle it."

A pause.

Lorenzo's brow lifted slightly. "Handle it?"

Sasha didn't blink.

"Quietly. Permanently."

A silence stretched between them.

The kind that measured worth.

Then—a slow, approving nod.

By the time Sasha walked out of that room, she didn't just have a job.

She had secured a place in the beating heart of Matteo's operation.

She had rattled Lorenzo just enough to make him wary, but not enough to make him suspicious.

He didn't see a threat.

He saw an asset.

And in Matteo's world? Assets were protected.

Word spread fast.

The whispers started almost immediately—murmurs in dimly lit hallways, curious glances from passing employees.

Who was she?

Where had she come from?

Why had she, a woman no one had ever heard of, walked into a position of influence overnight?

Sasha paid them no mind.

Let them wonder.

Let them talk.

All that mattered was that she was inside now.

Matteo's empire had just given her the keys to its most guarded secrets.

And soon?

She would use them to burn it all down.