Isabella POV
The rusted iron of the fire escape groaned under our weight, but the sound was swallowed by the distant rumble of the Chicago elevated train. Luca hoisted me up the last few steps, his strong arm steadying me against the damp brick wall of the West Loop apartment. The stench of the sewer rats in the cage he carried was nauseating, but the cold fury in my veins kept me focused.
We crept toward the bedroom window. A sliver of yellow light bled through the poorly drawn curtains. I pressed my ear against the cold glass, holding my breath.
Inside, Elena Vance was pacing, her voice dripping with smug satisfaction. "The Brennan boy is practically mine now. That barren Falcone bitch is ruined. No man in the Outfit will touch her after this."
"Patience, mia cara (my dear)," a raspy, venomous voice replied. Agatha. The meek, grieving widow who had lived under my family's roof for eight years. "Rumors are merely the first cut. To secure your place, we must sever the root."
I peered through the crack. Agatha was sitting at the vanity, her reflection twisted by a cruel smile. "I played the harmless widow for eight years, never using our family's true craft. But now, for you, it is time they learn how an ancient Sicilian poison takes a life without a whisper."
Ice flooded my veins. The phantom taste of blood coated my tongue—the memory of my slow, agonizing death in my past life. It wasn't just a political betrayal; it was Agatha. She was the viper hiding in our garden. The threat they posed was far deadlier than I had ever imagined. They had to be eradicated.
The bedroom light clicked off, plunging the room into darkness.
Luca met my eyes, his jaw clenched in silent rage. He wedged a pocketknife under the window sash and pried it open just enough. I didn't hesitate. I unlatched the heavy iron cage and tipped it forward. Dozens of massive, squeaking sewer rats poured over the sill, landing on the hardwood floor with sickening thuds.
I wouldn't know until much later that our little performance was not unwatched.
High above us, concealed behind the parapet of the opposite rooftop, Damien Costello was observing my every move. The Phantom had tracked me here, intrigued by the jarring contradiction of my actions. By day, I was a girl trading high-level treason against Alistair Gallo; by night, I was crawling on fire escapes with a cage of vermin. To him, it was a fascinating test of my character. And to make the experiment more entertaining, he had given a subtle hand signal to his shadow, Sal.
As the first piercing shrieks erupted from Elena inside the bedroom, I heard a distinct, heavy clack from the apartment hallway.
Someone had just locked their bedroom door from the outside.
Panic spiked in my chest. We weren't alone. "Go," I hissed at Luca.
We scrambled down the fire escape, our boots slipping on the wet iron, and sprinted into the narrow, damp back alley. The air here was thick with the smell of rotting garbage and impending rain. The only light came from a flickering gas lamp at the far end of the brick corridor.
We thought we had escaped. But as we rounded the corner, the shadows themselves seemed to solidify.
A towering figure stepped into our path, blocking the only exit. The dim light caught the edge of a silver half-mask, gleaming like a blade in the dark. Damien "The Phantom" Costello.
Luca instantly shoved me behind him, his hand diving into his coat for his revolver. But the sheer, suffocating killing intent radiating from the Gallo family's most feared Enforcer froze us both in place. It felt as if the oxygen had been sucked from the alley.
"A late night for a stroll, Principessa," Damien's voice was a dark, emotionless rasp that seemed to echo from the depths of hell.
My heart hammered against my ribs, but I forced my chin up, stepping out from behind my brother. "I couldn't sleep. We were just taking a walk."
Damien let out a low, mocking scoff. He closed the distance between us with predatory grace, the scent of expensive tobacco and cold violence wrapping around me like a noose. He looked down at me, his visible eye piercing through my pathetic lie, stripping away every defense I had built.
He leaned in, his voice dropping to a lethal whisper.
"Rats for a rat. A child's vendetta. It solves nothing."
