Page 115 of Forged

I fold my arms loosely across my chest while the implications settle into place. Financial warfare on that scale doesn’t just pressure syndicates. It destabilizes entire ecosystems of power—banks, offshore networks, the quiet machinery that keeps organizationslike the Marchetti and Maravilla families operating outside the reach of federal eyes.

Someone holding the Blackwater Key could cripple both sides of that system if they chose to. The unsettling part isn’t that Sera wants to possess it, it’s that she clearly intends to use it.

My gaze drifts toward the skyline beyond the window. The city moves along without any awareness of the dark world humming beneath it. The money shifting between accounts, organizations competing for territory, decisions being made in rooms most people will never see.

For years I’ve moved through that world without attaching myself to any specific side. I’m given a target, I dispose of them and then I move onto the next. It doesn’t matter the family, the political side, the international lines, I cross them all.

Now the target in my sight sits in the family home of a man I’m falling for.

My stomach ties in knots as I rub a hand across my jaw.

My phone vibrates against the desk, breaking the silence. A text notification lights up the screen. The name alone is enough to make my pulse race. I pick up the phone and open the message.

Neomi:

Can’t wait to see you Monday.

Another bubble appears almost immediately.

Neomi:

Random question…Do you play poker?

My thumbs move across the screen.

Me:

I know my way around a table.

Her reply comesthrough.

Neomi:

Perfect. Let’s have a friendly game on Monday night. Don’t bring money, we can figure out some other things to wager.

I huff out a quiet laugh under my breath and stare at the screen for a second before shaking my head. Dangerous woman.

Me:

That sounds like a risky game.

Neomi:

I have a feeling we’ll all win in the end. See you Monday. xoxo

I lower the phone back onto the desk, that intense, warm feeling filling my chest again. I’m weak from a simple text exchange. But underneath, the earlier conversation with Sera still echoes in the back of my mind. Somewhere inside the Marchetti estate sits the most valuable piece of financial leverage in the known crime world, hidden behind systems designed to keep people like me from ever finding it.

But the most immediate concern on my mind, though, is two people who might get caught in the crosshairs.

I findEnzo in his office with a stack of reports spread across his desk and a half-finished espresso beside his hand. The estate has settled into its late-afternoon rhythm, the tension of the morning meetings long gone. He glances up when I step inside.

“You look suspiciously relaxed,” he says, closing the folder in front of him. “Did Rowan finally run out of cybersecurity catastrophes for us?”

“Not even close.” I drop into the chair across from the desk. “I’m heading out for the evening.”

That earns a suspicious glare.

“This is early for you on a Monday.”