RSantini

In the glittering skyline of Rome, power wears a tailored suit and hides a loaded gun.

Lucien Ricci is more than a billionaire CEO. He’s the ghost in the machine, the hidden ruler of the Ricci Syndicate Europe’s most powerful and secretive underworld empire. Cold, calculating, and untouchable, Lucien controls fortunes, whispers, and fates from the shadows. No one suspects the truth behind the polished façade until her.

Yuna Kim is a brilliant financial analyst from South Korea, brought into the company for her sharp mind and clean record. But when she stumbles across anomalies in the ledgers deep black funds, covert transfers, and something called Project Phoenix she becomes a threat no one planned for. Especially not Lucien.

What begins as a corporate red flag spirals into a war of secrets, bloodlines, and betrayal. Yuna is pulled into a world of assassins, underground labs, and coded identities where every glance has weight, and every truth could cost her life. But she isn’t just another asset. She’s something more. Something forgotten.

As old enemies resurface and inner circle alliances fracture, Lucien must choose between the empire he built and the one woman he never meant to care for.

Because in a world ruled by silence, love is the deadliest weapon of all.

The Silent Syndicate

The silence in the abandoned Seoul subway tunnel was not just eerie it was suffocating. Echoes of fleeing footsteps and gunfire still haunted its walls from the confrontation three nights ago. Now, Lucien stood at the platform edge, damp mist curling around his boots, his breath steady but his eyes restless.

Behind him, Min-Jae emerged from the shadows. His shirt was stained with soot and blood from the Jeju extraction. "Satellite coverage goes dark in this sector every thirty-seven minutes," he muttered, glancing at the digital timer on his wrist. "We have twelve minutes to vanish."

Lucien didn't move. "She should be here by now."

Min-Jae hesitated. "Yuna is resourceful. She'll find her way."

The distant hum of an approaching maintenance tram echoed through the tunnel. The disguised transport screeched to a halt, and the side panel slid open. Inside stood Yuna soaked, eyes burning, her arm in a makeshift sling.

Lucien rushed forward, taking her hand before she could even speak. "You made it."

She collapsed briefly against his chest, not out of weakness but release. "Elena didn't."

The tram sped through forgotten arteries of the city, guided by Min-Jae's encrypted route. In the rear cabin, Yuna unwrapped a bundle she'd secured inside her jacket: a torn page from her mother's hidden diary, half-burnt but still legible.

"They built Phoenix to replace fate. But in doing so, they awoke the bloodline curse."

Yuna stared at the words, her fingers trembling. She looked up at Lucien. "She knew it was killing us from the start."

Lucien crouched beside her. "But she still tried to change it. That means there's still a way."

Min-Jae interrupted from the control deck. "We have a problem. Ricci agents are in Gangnam."

Lucien's voice sharpened. "Which faction?"

Lucien stood, fury bubbling in his chest. "She was supposed to lie low until we rebuilt in Europe."

"She moved too early. Probably to fill the vacuum after Drevin's announcement."

Yuna looked between them. "If Viola controls Ricci's European base now, she'll go after the family estates next."

Lucien nodded. "And if she does, she'll find the original Phoenix code vault, the one hidden beneath Florence."

They reached the fallback bunker beneath an old Seoul library, a remnant of a Cold War-era alliance between Ricci and a Korean intelligence director long dead. Concrete sealed the world out. No signals in. No eyes out.

Kazuo Shin was already there, a half-empty bottle of soju beside him. He rose as they entered. "You look like hell."

Lucien offered a humorless smirk. "Coming from a man who got stabbed in Tokyo and lived."

Kazuo tossed him a dossier. "You need this. It's from Amari. She found movement in New York."

Lucien flipped through the photos images of masked soldiers wearing the Phoenix insignia, patrolling what should have been an abandoned warehouse.

Yuna's voice was quiet. "They're preparing for global deployment."

Kazuo nodded. "Ignition is no longer theoretical."

Later that night, as rain pelted the city above, Lucien sat alone by a cracked window overlooking a forgotten train track. He lit a cigarette, the glow soft against the cold.

Yuna joined him, wrapped in a faded blanket.

"You still smoke?" she asked softly.

Lucien exhaled slowly. "Only when I feel like I'm losing control."

Yuna looked down. "Do you think we are?"

Lucien turned to her. "No. We're not losing control. We're redefining it."

She smiled faintly. "Then let's rewrite everything."

He reached into his coat, pulling out a faded photograph. It was a snapshot of his parents standing in front of the Ricci vineyard in Tuscany both young, fearless, and full of secrets.

"I need to go back to Florence," he said.

Yuna nodded. "Then I'm going with you."

They stood together in the dark, ghosts at their backs, the world on fire ahead.

Chapter 22: The Debt of Ghosts