Updated Nov 6, 2025 • ~9 min read
I didn’t sleep after Dante left.
I sat in his bed, wrapped in his sheets, staring at the door and trying to process what had just happened.
Luca Sterling was dead.
The man who’d terrorized me for months. Who’d burned down my apartment. Who’d attacked Jade. Who’d tried to destroy Dante’s alliance.
Dead.
And despite everything he’d done, I felt… nothing. No relief. No satisfaction. Just a hollow kind of numbness.
Because someone had killed him. Hours after the meeting. Hours after Dante had threatened him in front of everyone.
Which made Dante the obvious suspect.
A soft knock at the door made me jump.
“Sofia? It’s Jade. Dante told me to check on you.”
I unlocked the door. Jade slipped inside, her eyes wide.
“Holy shit. Is it true? Sterling’s really dead?”
“That’s what Dante said.”
“Did he—” She lowered her voice. “Did Dante do it?”
“No. He was with me. We left the Navarro estate together. Drove straight here.” I pulled my knees to my chest. “But everyone’s going to think he did it.”
“Because he threatened Sterling in front of like a dozen witnesses?” Jade sat on the edge of the bed. “Yeah, that’s not great optics.”
“What if this was a setup? What if someone killed Luca to frame Dante? To destroy the alliance before it even starts?”
“You mean Isolde.”
I nodded. “She was furious tonight. Humiliated. And I saw her on the phone right after we left.”
“Okay, but killing Sterling seems extreme. Even for a scorned almost-wife.”
“You don’t know these people, Jade. You don’t know what they’re capable of.”
“No, but I’m learning fast.” She grabbed my hand. “Listen to me. Dante didn’t do this. You know that. So we focus on proving it. On finding out who really killed Sterling.”
“We?”
“You think I’m sitting this out? After everything? Hell no. I’m in this now.” She squeezed my hand. “Besides, someone needs to keep you from spiraling.”
Despite everything, I smiled. “Thank you.”
“That’s what friends are for. Even when their lives turn into actual mob movies.”
We sat in silence for a moment.
“Can I ask you something?” Jade said. “And be honest.”
“Okay.”
“Are you in love with him? With Dante?”
The question caught me off guard. “I—I don’t know. It’s complicated.”
“Love usually is.”
“I loved him three years ago. Completely. Terrifyingly. And then I ran because I was scared of that love. Scared of his world. Of losing myself in it.” I touched the spot where the Marchetti necklace had rested. “But now? After tonight? Seeing him defend me. Protect me. The way he is with Lucia…”
“You’re falling for him again.”
“I don’t think I ever stopped. I think I just buried it deep enough to survive without him.”
Jade was quiet for a long moment. “Then you need to figure out who killed Sterling. Because if Dante goes down for this, you lose him all over again. And this time, it won’t be your choice.”
She was right.
I stood, pulled on the robe hanging in Dante’s bathroom. “Where is everyone?”
“Dante’s in his study with Marco and Adrian. Elias is on his way over. They’re trying to figure out what happened.”
“Then that’s where I need to be.”
I found them exactly where Jade said. Dante’s study, now a command center. Laptops open. Phones buzzing constantly. Julian on a video call on one screen.
Dante looked up when I entered. “You should be resting.”
“I can’t rest. Not with this happening.” I moved to his side. “What do we know?”
Marco glanced at Dante, who nodded.
“Sterling was found in his apartment at 9:47 PM,” Marco said. “Single gunshot to the head. Professional. Clean.”
“Time of death?” I asked.
“Medical examiner estimates between 8:30 and 9:00 PM.” Adrian pulled up a timeline on his laptop. “We left the Navarro estate at 8:15. Got back here at 8:52.”
“Which gives us an alibi,” Dante said. “But not a great one. I could have sent someone.”
“Did you?” I asked.
He looked at me, hurt flickering in his eyes. “No.”
“I know. I just needed to hear you say it.”
Elias arrived, looking grim. “I’ve made some calls. The police are treating this as a homicide. They’ll want to question Dante. Probably by morning.”
“Let them come,” Dante said. “I have nothing to hide.”
“Don’t be naive,” Elias snapped. “You threatened a man in front of multiple witnesses. Hours later, he’s dead. The optics are terrible.”
“Then we find out who really did this,” Marco said. “Who had access to Sterling’s apartment? Who knew where he’d be?”
“Everyone at that meeting knew he’d been kicked out,” Adrian said. “Any of them could have followed him.”
“Julian.” Dante turned to the screen. “Pull security footage from Sterling’s building. Traffic cameras in the area. I want to know everyone who came and went in that timeframe.”
“Already on it, boss. But there’s something else you should know.” Julian’s expression was troubled. “Sterling’s apartment was cleaned. Professionally. Whoever did this knew what they were doing. No fingerprints. No DNA. No evidence except the body and the bullet.”
“What kind of bullet?” Elias asked.
“9mm. Common. Untraceable.”
Dante cursed in Italian.
“There’s one more thing,” Julian continued. “Sterling’s phone and laptop are missing. Along with any backup drives or storage devices.”
My stomach dropped. “The photos. The evidence against me.”
“Gone,” Julian confirmed. “Whoever killed him took everything.”
“Which means this wasn’t about revenge,” Elias said slowly. “This was about cleaning up loose ends.”
Everyone looked at each other.
“Someone wanted Sterling dead,” I said, “and wanted his evidence to disappear. Someone who benefits from both.”
“Isolde,” Marco said immediately. “She was humiliated tonight. Sterling’s information could have been used against her somehow. Or—”
“Or she’s planning something bigger,” Dante interrupted. “And Sterling’s photos were a complication. Easier to eliminate him and take the evidence than risk it being used.”
“But how would she even know about the photos?” I asked. “Sterling approached Caleb, not her.”
“Theo Marchand,” Adrian said. “He was with Isolde all evening. If Sterling shared his information with Caleb, Theo might have heard. And Theo tells Isolde everything.”
“So Isolde knows about the photos, knows they could be used against the Marchetti family, and decides to remove Sterling before he becomes more of a problem.” Dante paced the room. “It’s logical. Clean.”
“But can we prove it?” Elias asked.
“Not without evidence.” Dante stopped pacing. “Julian, I need you to dig into Isolde’s finances. Phone records. Any hired muscle she might have used. Someone killed Sterling, and they were professional. That costs money. Lots of it.”
“On it.”
“Marco, I want you to reach out to our contacts in the police department. Find out what they’re thinking. If they’re seriously coming after me.”
“Already have people on it.”
“Good.” Dante turned to me. “Sofia, I need you to think. Is there anything Sterling said? Anything he mentioned about who else he might have talked to? Anyone he was working with?”
I tried to remember. The threats. The texts. The confrontation tonight.
“He said he had insurance,” I said slowly. “That if anything happened to him, the information would get out anyway.”
“Copies,” Elias said. “He had copies somewhere.”
“Or he was bluffing,” Adrian suggested.
“Either way, we need to find out.” Dante pulled out his phone. “I’m calling Caleb. He needs to know about this. Needs to know I didn’t do it.”
He stepped out of the room to make the call.
Marco looked at me. “You believe him, right? That he didn’t order this?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Because if you didn’t, if you had even a shred of doubt, I’d tell you to take Lucia and run right now. My brother is many things. Dangerous. Ruthless. But he doesn’t lie. Not to the people he loves.”
The people he loves.
The words hung in the air.
Dante returned, his expression dark. “Caleb wants to meet. Tomorrow morning. He’s… concerned.”
“Concerned that he just allied himself with someone who murders people hours after threatening them?” Elias said dryly.
“Something like that.” Dante rubbed his face. “This is exactly what Isolde wanted. To make me look unstable. To make the alliance look like a mistake.”
“Then we prove her wrong,” I said. “We find evidence. We show Caleb that you weren’t involved.”
“And how do we do that?”
“We start with Theo Marchand.” I moved to the laptop, pulled up the notes from earlier. “He was with Isolde all night. He heard everything Sterling said. And according to Elias’s briefing, Theo has connections in Europe. Access to professional killers.”
“You think Theo pulled the trigger?” Marco asked.
“No. But I think he might have arranged it. For Isolde. As a favor or as part of some larger plan.”
Dante studied me. “You’re thinking like one of us now.”
“I’m thinking like someone who doesn’t want to lose her family.”
His expression softened. He crossed to me, pulled me against his chest. “You won’t. I promise. We’ll figure this out.”
A phone rang. Julian’s voice came through the speakers.
“Boss, you need to see this. I pulled the security footage from Sterling’s building.”
We all crowded around the laptop.
The footage showed Sterling’s building entrance. Time stamp: 8:34 PM.
A figure approached. Black clothing. Hat pulled low. Face obscured.
They entered the building.
Twelve minutes later, they emerged. Still obscured. Carrying a bag that hadn’t been there before.
“The evidence,” Adrian said. “They took it.”
“Can you enhance the image?” Dante asked. “Get a better look at the face?”
“Working on it. But there’s something else.” Julian fast-forwarded. “Look at this.”
Another figure appeared. Twenty minutes after the first. Different build. Different walk.
They entered the building. Didn’t emerge for forty-three minutes.
“Two people,” I breathed. “Two different people went to Sterling’s apartment.”
“The killer and someone else,” Elias said. “But who? And why?”
The second figure finally emerged. And this time, when they tilted their head up slightly, the camera caught just a glimpse.
Enough to see.
Blonde hair. Elegant even in black clothing.
Isolde.
“Got you,” Dante said, his voice cold. “I fucking got you.”
But even as relief washed over me, another feeling crept in.
Fear.
Because if Isolde had killed Sterling, or had him killed, what else was she capable of?
And what would she do when she realized we knew?
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