Page 59 of Tower of Temptations

"All units, Miss Pearl missing from her floor. Full lockdown initiated."

The alarms blared, red emergency lights bleeding through cracks in the plaster. Somewhere above us, boots thundered against hardwood.

"Damn." Nan yanked me toward a narrow junction. "Back way through maintenance?—"

More footsteps ahead. We were being boxed in.

"Only other route's behind his study." Nan's voice was tight. "It's that or?—"

A crash echoed through the corridors. Flashlight beams swept the darkness.

We pressed into an alcove as guards rushed past. My heart hammered so hard I was sure they'd hear it.

The passage seemed to shrink as we neared Vittorio's domain. How many times had I sat in that study, playing the perfect daughter while he made calls that ruined lives?

Voices approached from both directions. No way forward. No way back.

"Pearl." Nan's eyes found mine in the dim light. "Panel here leads straight into the study. Only chance we've got."

"Are you insane? I can't?—"

"Don't you dare argue with me, Miss Pearl." Her voice shook, but her eyes were steel as she pressed something cold into my palm."I've watched over you since you were in pigtails. Now it's your turn to live."

Before I could stop her, she was moving away, footsteps deliberately loud. Drawing attention. Buying me time at the price of her own freedom.

My hands trembled as I found the hidden latch. The panel swung silently on well-oiled hinges— how long had Nan been preparing for this? I slipped into the study, heart in my throat.

That damn Picasso loomed on the wall, all violence and barely contained rage. Had it always looked so much like blood?

I had barely closed the panel when the main door opened.

"Well." Vittorio's voice was chilling. "This is unexpected."

He stood in the doorway, elegant as always. But something was cracking beneath that polished surface. Behind him, Alessandro's perfect smile showed too many teeth.

I lifted my chin, channeling every ounce of strength my men had taught me was there. "Really?" The word came out steady. "Because I think you've been expecting this since the day you killed my father."

His mask slipped, just for a second. But it was long enough for me to see it, to see what he'd tried so hard to keep hidden—the monster beneath.

32

GIULIANO

Control. That's what it always came down to. Every plan, every calculated risk, every fucking choice that had led us here—all about maintaining that perfect balance of power.

But walking through these hidden passages, paths that hadn't felt Vittorio's cameras or guards, I could taste the difference. This time we weren't charging blind into his fortress. This time we had Nan's decades of knowledge guiding each step, her map turning Vittorio's impenetrable tower into swiss cheese.

Then I heard Pearl's voice through the study wall, and control became a joke. A goddamn fairytale I'd been telling myself while the world burned.

"Really?" Her voice carried steel I'd never heard before. "Because I think you've been expecting this since the day you killed my father."

My blood turned to ice, then fire.

"Marco was weak. Sentimental." Vittorio's voice dripped with contempt. "He never understood what it takes to build real power."

"He understood humanity." Pearl's voice shook with rage. "Something you lost a long time ago."

My fingers tightened on my weapon, every muscle coiled to strike. Her voice through that wall made my chest constrict, made me want to tear through the fucking barriers between us.

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