Page 56 of Oliver

I stepped away from the others, heart kicking up. “I’m here.”

“You sound close,” she said softly.

“I am.”

“Promise me something.”

“Anything.”

She hesitated. “Come home to me.”

“Sweetheart, I will always come home to you.”

I looked out across the sea, where the water shimmered gold and fire met sky.

And then I turned toward the villa.

Because Anthony Vale was inside.

And his time just ran out.

39

Oliver

Santorini – Vale’s Villa

The villa loomed above us, opulent and cold. White stone, iron gates, and armed guards pretending they were catering staff. Vale knew how to throw a party. He just didn’t know it would be his last.

Cyclone and Raven flanked the service entrance while I moved toward the west wall, low and fast. We scaled the side using a drainage pipe, slipping through a second-story balcony window.

Inside, laughter echoed down the marble halls. Vale’s voice carried—smooth, smug, like he was already toasting to whatever shady empire he thought he’d keep.

We followed the sound.

I found him in a sunken lounge, surrounded by men in tailored suits and fake smiles. He was holding a glass of whiskey, his back to the room, explaining how “the American asset” had been neutralized.

He was talking aboutEmery.

I didn’t wait.

“Funny,” I said, stepping into the light. “She’s not neutralized. She’s planning a swimwear launch and dancing barefoot on my front porch.”

He turned.

And for the first time, Anthony Vale looked afraid.

Raven and Cyclone flooded in behind me, guns drawn.

“It’s over,” I said. “You’re done.”

But Vale wasn’t stupid. He put his drink down slowly and smiled like a cobra.

“Ah. Mr. Steele. I wondered when you’d come crawling out of retirement. Tell me—how is our little Olympian?”

I growled. “Wrong answer.”

Vale lifted his hands. “You have no idea what she stumbled into. Emery Blake didn’t just see a deal. She sawdata. A thumb drive with every name, every transaction, every asset tied to an international network of off-book operations. I had it encrypted. Hidden.”

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