Chapter 72 Chapter 72

Chapter 72 Chapter 72
\[ SOFIA’S POV \]

I let out a shaky breath, forcing a tear to spill over. "They’re gone, Father. All of them."

"Gone?" He slammed his glass onto the desk. "How? Mira Moretti is a girl! How did she take down thirty armed men?"

"It wasn't just Mira," I lied, my voice dropping to a terrified whisper. "She was the bait. The moment we stepped inside, the lights went out. And then he stepped out of the shadows. Salvatore. He was there himself, Father. And Michael was with him."

Father froze. The name Salvatore always made the room feel smaller.

"Salvatore was at a distribution warehouse?" Father hissed, his grip tightening on the edge of the table.

"He was waiting for us," I continued, gaining confidence in the lie. "He didn't even use guns at first. He and Michael... They moved like a beast. They mocked us. Salvatore told me to tell you that he’s tired of playing games with children. He said if you send me again, he won't let me leave."

Father’s face turned a dark, ugly shade of red. He turned and spat on the expensive Persian rug, his chest heaving with disgust.

"Cowards!" Father roared, his voice shaking the paintings on the walls. "Attacking a girl with his full strength just to show off? Salvatore thinks he’s a king, but he’s just a bully hiding in the dark."

He paced the room, his boots clicking loudly. He didn't even suspect that I had traded his men for my own secrets. He just saw a Moretti move that insulted his pride.

"If he wants to bring his generals to the front line, then we stop playing by the rules," Father said, stopping to look at a map of the city on the wall. "No more warehouses. No more small hits. We need a new plan. One that hits him where he isn't looking."

He turned to me, his eyes cold and sharp. "Go clean yourself up, Sofia. You did well to survive those monsters. But from now on, we don't send soldiers. We send a message they can't recover from."

I nodded and backed out of the room, my heart finally slowing down. The lie had worked. He didn't know about the video. He didn't know I was the reason his men were gone.

I was safe. For now.

\~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I closed my bedroom door and locked it, leaning my back against the cold wood. My breath was coming in sharp, jagged hitches. The lie had bought me time with my father, but Mira still held the noose around my neck. As long as that video existed, I wasn't a Russo princess, I was a bitch waiting to be exposed.

I didn't trust my father’s new plan, His plans involved more guns and more noise. I needed something silent. Something that erased mistakes.

I walked to my closet and pushed aside the rows of designer silk and fur. Hidden behind a false panel in the wall was a small, burner phone I hadn't touched in three years. My father thought he knew every blade and every bullet in this city, but he was wrong. There were monsters in the shadows that even he feared to name.

I dialed a number I had memorized long ago. It didn't ring. It just picked up.

"Speak," a voice rasped. It sounded like grinding stones, cold and devoid of any human emotion.

"It’s Sofia," I said, my voice finally steadying. "I have a shadow that needs to be deleted. Not just the person, the data they carry. I need someone who can get into a Moretti server and leave no trace."

"The Morettis are expensive, Sofia. Their security is blood and steel."

"I don't care about the cost," I hissed, clutching the phone so hard my nails dug into my palm. "I want Mira Moretti’s personal devices wiped. Every cloud, every drive, every backup. And once the digital trail is dead... I want her to find out what happens when you try to blackmail a Russo."

"The Shadow-Step team is yours. But if we fail, we do not know your name."

"You won't fail," I said, a cold smile finally spreading across my lips. "I’m sending you the coordinates of the East Coast warehouse. She’s still there, playing with her lollipops. Take the data first. Then, take her tongue."

I ended the call and threw the burner onto the bed. My father was planning a war, but I was planning an execution. Mira thought she was the only one who didn't play fair. She was about to learn that the viper girl she mocked had a darkness that could swallow the Moretti family whole.

\~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Every few seconds, my eyes darted to the clock on the wall. It had been five hours. Five fucking hours. Silence was usually a good sign in this business, but the silence tonight felt heavy. It felt like a trap.

I poured myself a glass of cognac. These men were trained assassins. They didn't miss. They didn't leave trails. My father didn’t even know they existed, and that was my greatest weapon. By morning, Mira Moretti would be a memory, and that digital noose around my neck would be cut for good.

Suddenly, the burner phone on my nightstand vibrated. A single, long buzz.

I lunged for it, pressing it to my ear before the second ring. "Is it done?" I whispered, my heart hammering against my ribs. "Is the data wiped? Did you cut her darn tongue"

There was no rasping voice on the other end. No task complete Instead, there was a wet, gurgling sound, the sound of someone drowning in their own blood. Then, a heavy thud, like a body hitting a concrete floor.

"Sofia? Are you still there, you goat?"

My blood turned to ice. It was Mira. Her voice was light, airy, and completely bored.

"You... how?" I gasped, my grip on the phone tightening until my knuckles turned white.

"Is this all you can do?," Mira said. I could hear the faint sound of a lighter flicking in the background. "They were very quiet, I’ll give them that. They almost made it to the server room. But my men like to play hide-and-seek in the vents, and well... it didn't end well for your servants."

I heard a scream in the background—a short, sharp sound that was cut off by a wet slice.

"They’re all dead, Sofia," Mira continued, her voice dropping into a cold, lethal purr. "I’m looking at the leader right now. He had a very interesting encrypted phone. It took us only five minutes to trace it back to you."

"Mira, wait…"

"No more waiting," Mira snapped. "You tried to kill me. You tried to steal back your shame. Now, the price has gone up. I was going to keep that video for a rainy day, but I think Salvatore would love to see what his little sister-in-law is capable of. Or maybe I'll just send it to your father? I wonder what Lorenzo Russo does to daughters who lie to his face about thirty lost soldiers."

The line went dead.

I stared at the black screen of the phone, the silence of my room now feeling like a tomb. I had sent my best, and she had wiped them out like they were nothing. I wasn't holding the leash anymore. I was standing on the trapdoor, and Mira was the one with her hand on the lever.

But not for long I will kill that bitch, I will make her regret ever crossing me.