Dominic's fist slammed against the wall hard enough to crack the plaster. Aria flinched but didn't back away. The video looped on the tablet, each replay sharpening the dread inside her like broken glass twisting in her gut.
"That girl…" Aria's voice came out tight. "She looks exactly like me."
Dominic didn't look at her. His eyes were locked on Adrian's face on the screen, jaw flexing in silent fury.
"It's not just a lookalike," Matteo said quietly from the corner. "That's not some coincidence. The resemblance is too perfect."
Aria stepped forward, fingers trembling as she paused the video. Her reflection stared back at her, gagged, bloodied, terrified. But something was different.
"The eyes," she whispered. "They're empty. Whoever she is… she's been through something."
Luca paced nearby, tension rolling off him like smoke. "So Adrian has a double of Aria. What the hell for? To confuse us? Break you, boss?"
"He's not trying to confuse me," Dominic muttered. "He's trying to get into my head. Make me question everything. Make me hesitate."
Aria turned to him. "Are you? Hesitating?"
Dominic finally looked at her, and for a moment the shield cracked. There was fear there. Not for himself, but for her. The way he always looked when she was too close to danger.
"No," he said. "But I'm not playing his game."
"You already are," Aria said, her voice rising. "He's got your attention, he's got your rage, and now he has a girl who looks just like me. That's not a message. It's bait."
Dominic closed the tablet and handed it to Luca. "Mobilize the team. I want eyes on that compound in the next hour."
"We don't even know where it is yet," Luca pointed out.
"Then find it," Dominic snapped. "If we have to tear apart every inch of the state to do it, we will."
Aria stepped closer to him, lowering her voice. "You're spiraling, Dom."
He didn't deny it.
She reached for his hand. "Let's think this through. You said Adrian is suicidal. If he's using that girl to lure you in, he has nothing to lose."
"Exactly," Dominic said. "Which means the longer we wait, the more likely he kills her. Or worse."
"But what if it's not just about her?" Aria asked. "What if this is about me too?"
"What do you mean?"
Aria hesitated. "What if he's not just trying to lure you into a trap… What if he's trying to destroy you by making you question me?"
Silence.
Luca and Matteo exchanged glances, but neither spoke.
Dominic studied her. "You think he'll use her to make it look like you betrayed me?"
"Would you believe it?" she asked.
His gaze didn't waver. "No. Never."
But she could hear the hesitation buried deep in his tone. Not because he doubted her, but because he knew the kind of manipulation Adrian was capable of.
Matteo stepped forward. "There's one more thing. We intercepted a call. Adrian's men were talking about a transfer."
"Of what?" Dominic asked.
"Not what. Who."
Aria's breath caught.
"They're moving the girl," Matteo continued. "Tonight. Midnight. East side shipping yard. If we're going to grab her before Adrian disappears again, that's our only window."
Dominic didn't hesitate. "We'll go in clean. Quiet. Small team. No screw-ups."
"I'm coming too," Aria said.
"No," Dominic answered without missing a beat.
"I need to see her, Dominic. I need to see for myself."
He clenched his jaw. "You'll stay in the car."
---
The shipping yard was a skeleton of metal and rot. Cargo crates stacked like tombstones, flickering floodlights casting long, eerie shadows over cracked pavement. The scent of oil and rust was thick in the air.
Dominic's team was spread out, dressed in black, weapons drawn, radios silent.
Aria sat in the back seat of the armored vehicle, dressed in a black hoodie, watching through the tinted glass.
Her fingers wouldn't stop shaking.
A soft voice crackled through the radio beside her.
"Movement on the northeast dock. Two men. They're dragging someone."
Aria pressed closer to the glass.
Dominic's voice came low through the comms. "Do not engage until I give the order."
Another voice chimed in. "Confirmed. Target in sight. She's hooded. Hands bound."
Aria's chest clenched.
"That's her," she whispered. "That's the girl."
Through the crack of the car window, she saw them. The limp figure dragged by two masked men. And even under the poor lighting and the dirty hoodie pulled over the girl's head, Aria knew.
That face was her face.
The car door opened.
Dominic slid in, face grim. "We're moving now. They're loading her into a van."
"I'm coming," Aria said again, voice stronger this time.
He didn't argue.
They moved through the shadows like ghosts. Aria followed Dominic's lead, heart pounding as they closed in on the van. The girl was inside now, slumped against the back seat, her head lolled to one side.
Dominic signaled.
Two of his men took out the guards in silence.
Luca threw open the van door.
Aria stepped forward.
The girl's head lifted slowly, and for a split second, Aria thought she was looking into a mirror. But then she saw the difference. The bruises. The cuts. The deadness behind the girl's eyes.
She opened her mouth.
"No sound," she whispered hoarsely. "They're… watching…"
A sharp crack rang out.
Gunfire.
Dominic shoved Aria to the ground as bullets tore through the air, smashing into the van's frame. Screams echoed through the yard.
"Ambush!" Matteo shouted.
Dominic returned fire, shielding Aria as Luca dragged the wounded double out of the van. Chaos erupted. Explosions lit up the sky like fireworks.
Aria crawled behind a crate, ears ringing, adrenaline crashing through her veins.
She watched as Dominic took down one of the masked shooters with a clean headshot. Another man lunged toward him with a knife. Aria screamed his name—
And then everything went black.
---
She woke in a room she didn't recognize. Cold. Dimly lit. Tied to a chair.
Her head pounded, her vision swam.
A figure stepped from the shadows.
It wasn't Dominic.
It was Adrian.
He smiled, crouching before her.
"You didn't really think I'd make it that easy, did you?"
Her heart thudded in her chest.
"Where's Dominic?" she demanded.
"Bleeding, if he's lucky," Adrian said calmly. "And you? You're going to help me break him. Whether you like it or not."
Aria struggled against the ropes. "He'll find me. He always does."
Adrian leaned in, his breath warm and cruel against her cheek.
"Not this time."