Chapter 1 -THE RETURN
Milan was colder than she remembered.
Fog pressed low over the city, curling around the cathedral spires and the slick black cars that glided along the streets like silent predators. From the balcony of her apartment, Isabella Romano stood wrapped in a camel coat, her gloved fingers clutching the railing as if to ground herself in the present.
The city glimmered beneath her — beautiful, cruel, indifferent. The same Milan that had stolen everything from her five years ago.
She wasn’t Isabella Romano anymore. That name had died with her father.
The passport lying open on her counter read Isabella Moretti — British, twenty-nine, a woman with clean records and polite lies. Her hair, once dark and wavy, was now cut to her shoulders and dyed chestnut. Her accent had softened after years abroad, but her resolve had hardened into steel.
She had returned for one reason.
To destroy Lorenzo De Luca.
The man who had built an empire on blood and betrayal. The man her father had trusted — and who, with a single signature, had condemned him to ruin and death.
She lifted the phone from the table as it buzzed once. A message from Gianni.
Gianni: He’s hosting a gala tonight. Palazzo De Luca. Start there.
A thrill of dread and purpose coiled in her chest. She typed back a single word.
Isabella: Understood.
The hotel suite’s mirror reflected a woman she barely recognized.
The black silk gown fit like a second skin — elegant, understated, dangerous. Her lipstick was crimson; her heels, a weapon in disguise. Around her neck gleamed her only sentimental relic: a gold pendant, her father’s initials etched inside.
She took one last look at the woman in the mirror — a ghost made flesh — and whispered, “You don’t get to be afraid.”
Then she left.
The Palazzo De Luca was a cathedral of power. Marble floors gleamed beneath chandeliers that dripped light like liquid gold. Every guest seemed to speak in money — diamonds flashing, laughter too loud, hands too eager to flatter.
Isabella moved through the crowd with careful grace, champagne in hand, her mask perfectly fixed. She had forged her invitation weeks ago, using a chain of shell contacts that led nowhere. Tonight, she was Isabella Moretti — a consultant for European investors seeking new ventures.
No one questioned her presence. That was the advantage of wealth: if you looked expensive, people assumed you belonged.
She smiled politely at the guests, all the while scanning the crowd for him.
And then she saw him.
Lorenzo De Luca.
He stood at the top of the marble staircase, his presence cutting through the noise like a blade. Dark suit. Black tie. The kind of stillness that commanded attention. Conversations quieted when he descended, as though even the air deferred to him.
She’d seen his face in photographs — headlines, interviews, security footage — but in person he was something else entirely. His eyes were a cold, impossible shade of steel; his expression unreadable. Everything about him radiated control.
She hated that she felt it: the pull.
When his gaze swept across the room and found hers, time stopped. A thousand bodies filled the space between them, yet it felt like no one else existed.
He didn’t look away.
Neither did she.
“Signorina,” a voice broke her trance — a waiter offering a refill. She smiled, accepted, and turned, pretending indifference. Her pulse betrayed her.
She drifted toward the art gallery wing of the palazzo, away from the noise, needing air. The marble corridor echoed beneath her heels. Her mind replayed her father’s final days — the fear in his eyes, the sudden disappearance of allies, the forged contracts that bore Lorenzo’s signature.
De Luca had called it business.
But business didn’t leave a man dead in his study with no one to bury him.
She would take from Lorenzo what he valued most — his empire, his secrets, his control.
Her revenge would not be swift. It would be precise.
“Admiring the art, Miss..?”
She turned sharply. Lorenzo stood behind her.
Up close, his presence was suffocating. He was taller than she expected, the faintest shadow of stubble darkening his jaw, his cologne subtle and expensive — cedar, smoke, danger.
Her throat felt dry, but her smile was flawless. “Moretti. Isabella Moretti.”
He extended his hand. “Lorenzo De Luca.”
“I know,” she said before catching herself. “I mean — I’ve heard of you.”
His lips curved faintly, not quite a smile. “Most people have. And yet, I don’t recall meeting you before.”
“You wouldn’t,” she replied smoothly. “I work behind the scenes. Public relations for investment firms.”
“Ah,” he said. “The people who make men like me sound respectable.”
“Something like that,” she said, sipping her champagne. “Though some reputations are… beyond repair.”
That earned her a real smile — slow, dangerous. “Then you believe in redemption?”
“I believe in consequences,” she said softly.
For a heartbeat, silence stretched between them. His eyes searched hers, sharp and assessing, as if peeling back her layers.
Then, almost casually, he asked, “Are you here with someone?”
“No,” she lied.
“Good.” His tone was smooth, final. “Then I hope you’ll allow me the honor of your company for the evening.”
Her pulse jumped. Too soon, she thought. Too easy.
But she nodded, because this was the game — to be seen, remembered, invited deeper into his circle.
As they returned to the main hall, every head seemed to turn toward them. His hand brushed the small of her back — just enough to guide her, to claim the moment.
She smiled through the burn of adrenaline.
She was standing beside the man she had sworn to destroy.
Later that night, she stepped out onto the palazzo’s balcony. The winter air was sharp against her skin, the city a blur of gold and shadow below.
Her phone buzzed — a message from Gianni.
Gianni: Did he notice you?
Isabella: He asked me to stay.
Gianni: Then you’ve started the fire. Now control it.
She slipped the phone away just as Lorenzo joined her.
“You don’t seem like someone who enjoys parties,” he said quietly.
“I prefer to observe.”
“Observation can be dangerous,” he murmured, stepping closer. “You might see things you shouldn’t.”
She met his gaze, unflinching. “Maybe I’m not afraid of danger.”
For the first time, something flickered in his expression — interest, or perhaps respect.
“Then we have that in common,” he said, his voice low. “Until next time, Miss Moretti.”
He turned and disappeared back inside, leaving her breathless, furious, and alive with the heat of proximity.
She leaned against the railing, her hands trembling now that he was gone.
The city stretched out beneath her, indifferent as ever.
She whispered into the cold night, “You don’t know me yet, Lorenzo. But you will.”
Back in her apartment, Isabella stripped off the gown, washed the perfume and illusion from her skin, and stared at her reflection once more. Beneath the surface glamour, her eyes were tired but burning.
Tonight, she had stepped back into the lion’s den.
And for the first time in five years, she felt alive.
Somewhere across the city, in a penthouse walled with glass, Lorenzo De Luca poured himself a drink. His security chief waited silently as he asked, “The woman in the black dress. Find out who she is.