Chapter 5 –A Dance with Shadows

The Aftermath of a Warning

I didn't leave the Red Lotus Club immediately.

Instead, I relaxed back very well into the booth Rafael Moretti had abandoned, swirling the remnants of his whiskey in the glass. I can still perceive the scent of him, his smoky cologne and aged liquor—still clung to the air like an invisible tether I hadn't anticipated.

A test.

That was what tonight had been. Rafael had been studying me, assessing the shifts in my demeanor. And in doing so, he had left me with a warning:

Because the moment you start playing to win… is the moment everyone starts playing to kill you.

He was right.

But what he didn't understand was that I had already died once.

And this time, I wasn't just playing to win.

I was playing to burn my enemies to the ground.

I silently downed the rest of his whiskey while letting the warmth spread through me, I then set the empty glass down with a quiet click. The night wasn't over yet. There were still moves to make, strings to pull.

I adjust the thin straps of my black silk dress as I slid out of the booth, my heels clicking against the polished marble floor as I made my way toward the exit.

I felt the weight of eyes following me.

Some were men looking at me like prey.

They had no idea I was the predator.

I smiled.

Let them watch.

---

A Ghost in the Night

I can perceive the scent of the rain outside, the streetlight shining brightly with a golden glow.

I noticed a presence,as I moved towards my waiting car,a shift in the air.

Not loud. Not obvious.

But I knew better than anyone how to recognize a shadow that didn't belong.

I didn't turn around immediately. Instead, I let the moment stretch, the silence pressing in. Then, with a deliberate slowness, I had my bracelet adjusted just enough to catch a glimpse of my stalker in the reflection of the metal.

A man was just standing beyond the reach of the street lamp,with his posture stiff and his eyes locking into mine.

Lorenzo's man.

Interesting.

I let out a soft sigh. "You're getting sloppy, Ricci."

The man hesitated, then stepped fully into the light. His name was Marco Ricci—one of Lorenzo's foot soldiers, but not one of his best. He wasn't an assassin. Just a messenger.

That meant Lorenzo wasn't trying to kill me.

Not yet.

"Ma,Boss sent me to you,he wants to see you," Marco said with his voice rough with cigarette smoke.

I met his gaze head-on, my lips curving in amusement. "And I want a pet tiger. We don't always get what we want."

His jaw tightened. "You should come now, Miss De Luca."

I walk slowly towards him, watching as he tensed, his hand twitching slightly toward his holster.

I smiled. A slow, sharp thing.

"Tell Lorenzo," I murmured, brushing past him as I slid into my sleek black car, "that I don't run to men who summon me like a dog."

And then I drove off, leaving him standing there in the cold.

Lorenzo was testing me, just like Rafael.

The only difference was—Rafael intrigued me.

Lorenzo?

He was already a dead man walking.

---

Alessia's Fate

I didn't go home.

Instead, I took a detour.

Because in my past life, I had been blind. I had trusted the wrong people, let them pull my strings. And because of that, the one person who had truly cared for me—Alessia Romano—had paid the price.

Not this time.

I parked outside the Romano estate, the towering wrought-iron gates locking in more than just secrets.

Alessia was sitting in her usual spot where she normally position herself at night with a stick of cigarettes held loosely between her fingers,as she perched in the golden terrace. The glow of the ember cast sharp shadows against her high cheekbones, her brown eyes gleaming in the dim light.

"Do you prefer standing there to watch me all night?" she asked, exhaling a lazy cloud of smoke.

I stepped forward. "Depends. Were you planning on getting yourself killed tonight?"

She smirked. "I don't die that easily, cara mia."

She had.

In my past life, she had died screaming.

I took a sit beside her, whole stealing the cigarette from her fingers and taking a deep slow drag. The burn of the smoke hit my lungs, but I welcomed the sting.

"I way you to do something for me, I need you to trust me," I said.

Alessia's gaze sharpened. "That sounds dangerous."

I exhaled. "It is."

She tapped her nails against the stone railing. "Who am I trusting you against?"

I hesitated. Then, for the first time since I came back, I said the name that had haunted me.

"Lorenzo."

A beat of silence.

Then, softly—

"Good," she murmured. "I never liked that bastard anyway."

I smiled, but the weight of the moment settled between us. Alessia didn't know it yet, but I had just changed the course of her life.

In my past, she had been nothing more than collateral damage in the war between Lorenzo and me.

This time, she would be my first ally.

And together, we would bury him.

---

A Queen Without a King

Later that night, I stood in my bedroom, looking at my reflection in the mirror.

The girl I saw in the mirror looked like me with the same sharp cheekbones and same blood-red lips.

But she wasn't the same.

The Isabella of before had been a pawn, moved by the hands of men who thought they controlled her fate.

That Isabella had died.

And in her place stood someone else entirely.

A predator.

A queen without a king.

And soon, everyone—including Rafael Moretti—would realize it.

I turned away from the mirror, stepping toward my desk. A thick envelope sat there, untouched.

Inside were the documents I had prepared in secret—fake identities, offshore accounts, coded messages to the spies I had begun planting in my father's organization.

The first pieces of my new empire.

I picked up my phone, dialing the only number I knew would answer.

Alessia's voice came through the line. "I was wondering when you'd call."

"I need something," I said smoothly, leaning back in my chair.

She laughed. "You always do. What is it this time?"

I smiled, but there was no humor in it.

"I need to make Lorenzo paranoid."

A pause. Then, softly—

"I thought you'd never ask."

To Be Continued…