The storm hadn't stopped since midnight.
Rain pelted the rooftops of Milan in sharp, violent streaks, mirroring the chaos inside Juliet Moretti's mind. She stood in her apartment, the soft glow of her desk lamp casting long shadows across the walls. A dozen files lay open before her, each marked with names, locations, and cold, unanswered questions. Every document tied, in some way, to Giorgio Giovanni and the mysterious death of her parents.
She hadn't slept. Couldn't. Not after what she'd seen in the decrypted files Adonis handed her.
A name she thought she'd never see again had reappeared.
Inspector Leone Moretti. Her father.
Beside it, a note: "Internal security risk. Handled by Giovanni."
Her hands trembled as she read the words again. They were labeled with dates that matched the timeline of her parents' murder. It wasn't a robbery gone wrong. It was a calculated execution.
Juliet turned to the window and stared at the drenched city below. The rain didn't wash away her grief—it only stirred it back to the surface.
Flashback – Ten Years Ago
Juliet was sixteen, and the house echoed with piano melodies. Her fingers danced across the keys as her father entered the room in uniform, soaked from the rain. He always made time to listen, no matter how late his shift ended.
"You never miss a note," he said, setting his cap down. "One day, you'll make a fine detective... or a world-class pianist."
She had laughed. "Why not both?"
He knelt beside her, pulling a folded paper from his coat. "This came today."
She unfolded it—it was a letter of invitation to a summer criminology workshop in Rome. Her name was listed among top students.
"I know we're hard on you," he said softly, "but it's only because we see what you're capable of. You're meant for more, Juliet."
That was the last summer she saw him alive.
The memory faded, but its sharp edge lingered.
Juliet returned to her files and picked up her comms. "Antonio," she said into the receiver, her voice steady, "I need you to run a trace on all financial transactions tied to Giovanni's personal accounts in the year 2015. Cross-check them with names from the Moretti investigation."
"You found something?" Antonio asked.
Juliet paused. "I found the truth. I just need to prove it."
Meanwhile, across the city, Adonis sat inside a blacked-out SUV parked near Giovanni's secondary estate on the outskirts of Milan. The De Luca heir had been watching movement for hours, cataloging faces and vehicles. It was routine—but tonight, his focus was scattered.
Juliet's pain was real. He'd seen it in her eyes as she read the files. He wanted to comfort her, but he didn't know how.
His fists clenched. He didn't know how to be soft. He only knew how to destroy.
A soft knock on the window startled him. Nico, his right-hand man, slid into the passenger seat.
"You sure you want to do this tonight?" Nico asked. "We can wait. Giovanni's not going anywhere."
"No," Adonis said, eyes fixed on the mansion. "I'm done waiting."
He'd learned that Giovanni operated out of that estate for offshore deals—deals that involved weapons, diamonds, and politicians. But more importantly, he believed that estate held physical evidence. Hard drives. Logs. Names. Enough to topple an empire.
Tonight wasn't about revenge. It was about reclaiming power.
"Tell the crew to move in quietly," Adonis said. "We take it clean."
As the team spread through the shadows, Juliet stepped into her unmarked police car. She wasn't on duty, but she didn't care. Her badge was with her—and so was her gun.
She had an address. A man named Matteo Ricci. A known associate of Giovanni. One of the last people seen near her parents' home the night they were killed.
She was going to make him talk.
Adonis and his men breached the estate like ghosts, disabling security with practiced ease. They moved through the lower levels, collecting data and hardware, copying drives and photographing documents. Everything was silent.
Until it wasn't.
A shot rang out in the distance.
Adonis spun toward the sound, adrenaline flooding his system. It came from the wine cellar.
By the time he reached it, Nico was already dragging a man by the collar—bruised, dazed, but breathing.
"He tried to run. Got a shot off before I tackled him," Nico said.
Adonis knelt in front of the man. "What's your name?"
The man spat blood. "Luca Ventresca."
Adonis's eyes narrowed. "You work for Giovanni?"
Luca hesitated.
Nico raised his fist again, but Adonis stopped him. "Let him speak."
"Yes," Luca croaked. "I'm his accountant... I know everything. Offshore files, bribery logs, shipment schedules—"
Adonis exchanged a look with Nico. Jackpot.
Back in the city, Juliet kicked down Matteo Ricci's door with a force that startled even her. She found him alone, halfway through a bottle of whiskey, and halfway through a nervous breakdown.
He didn't resist when she pressed him against the wall.
"I want to know why my parents died," she hissed. "I want names."
Matteo's eyes were wide, trembling. "They were going to leak something... something big. Your dad had evidence—"
"What kind of evidence?"
Matteo swallowed hard. "Giovanni was paying off judges. Buying police. Your father had the documents... He was going to hand them to an international court."
Juliet's blood ran cold.
"Giovanni made him disappear."
She took a step back, gun still in hand, fury boiling beneath her skin.
They had both come one step closer to the truth. But they were still deep in the shadows of a city ruled by blood and betrayal.
And soon, the war they were starting would consume everything.