Five Years Later

Seraphina’s POV

"Tell Ricco if he doesn’t have the Budapest drop covered by Friday, he doesn’t need to show his face here again."

I didn’t look up as I spoke, still scanning the logistics file spread across my desk.

"Already done, boss. He’s moving the shipment through the new route you cleared last month."

"Good." I flipped the page. "And Lorenzo?"

"Still silent."

I looked up then. "Break his silence. I don’t care how."

"Got it."

Marlowe nodded once and exited, leaving me with the lingering scent of his clove cigarettes. I sat back in the leather chair and rolled my shoulders, the familiar ache of stress buried between my shoulder blades. The room around me was dim, lit by low-hanging brass fixtures and the flicker of wall sconces. The walls were lined with weapons, some vintage, some very not and the far end of the office held a small bar I hadn’t touched in weeks.

The floor was polished black marble, veined with blood-red streaks. A dragon mural stretched across the ceiling, its gold-scaled body coiling around crystal chandeliers. One wrong step in this room and the floors could open. Literally.

I loved it down here. It was mine.

"Boss," Luca’s voice cut in through the intercom near the door. "Detective Kael’s here. Says it’s urgent."

I tensed. Kael didn’t do drop-ins unless he had something to say I wouldn’t like.

"Let him in," I said, already shutting the file and locking the drawer.

The heavy steel door creaked open and in walked Kael, same grey suit. Always looked like he was seconds from pulling a warrant he didn’t have. I leaned back in my chair, expression unreadable.

"This must be important if you're risking walking into the dragon's den," I said dryly.

Kael stopped halfway across the room, just far enough to feel safe, but close enough to show this wasn’t just a formality. He looked tired.

"I didn’t come here to argue, Seraphina."

"That’s a first." I motioned toward the chair across from me. "Sit. Or talk. Your choice."

He remained standing.

"It’s your sister. Sienna."

Something in me paused. Like someone hit a switch. He continued before I could speak.

"She’s missing."

I blinked once.

"No. She’s not."

"She was last seen near the waterfront. Around dawn. Her phone’s off. Her apartment’s untouched. Her car’s still parked. We’ve checked the city cams. Nothing useful so far."

A strange ringing buzzed in my ears. I stood slowly.

"She left my place this morning. She said she was going home after grabbing coffee."

He pulled something from his coat and placed it on the desk. A printed photo. Grainy. Surveillance, probably. Sienna in mid-step with a coat zipped up to her chin. Headed nowhere.

"We think she never made it out of that street."

I didn’t respond. My fingers rested on the photo.

"We’re opening an official investigation. But I thought you should know first."

I lifted my gaze to his. "If someone took her, I’ll find them before you do."

He didn’t argue.

I sat again, hard, like the strength in my legs had given out. The room around me, the weapons, the guards outside, the dragon statue watching above suddenly felt like props in a story that wasn’t mine.

"You think this is targeted?" I asked quietly.

Kael didn’t answer. Which meant yes.

I stared at the photo.

Sienna held my hand when I pretended I didn’t need her. Sienna brought me breakfast even when she knew I wouldn’t eat it. Sienna, who was the only person alive who called me Phina.

Now she was gone.

And I didn’t believe in coincidence.

"Penthouse. Fast," I told Marcus as I slid into the backseat, slamming the door shut.

He glanced at me in the rearview mirror, raising an eyebrow. "You want me to hit sirens or just piss off every traffic light on the way?"

"Try both."

The engine growled to life. I leaned back, pinching the bridge of my nose, trying not to think too much. Sienna missing? No calls, no texts, no signs of life?

I needed answers.

We hit the elevator in under twenty. I scanned my face in the mirrored wall as we rose. Cold, it had been like that since Lucien.

The doors slid open to the scent of wine and bergamot oil. Jazz was playing from somewhere down the hall. My mother’s guilty pleasure. She only ever played that when she was in the mood, for candles, for wine, for—

A male’s laughter echoed down the hallway.

I froze.

"She wouldn't," I muttered under my breath.

I stalked down the hallway, heels hitting the marble harder with each step. The bedroom door was slightly ajar, just enough for me to catch a glimpse of red silk sheets… and my mother… in bed… with a man who looked young enough to still have curfew.

"You’ve got to be kidding me," I said aloud.

My mother looked over her shoulder, completely unbothered. "Darling. You’re early."

"You’re naked."

She smirked. "Observant as ever."

The guy scrambled to sit upright, grabbing for the sheets like I hadn’t already seen everything. I didn’t bother acknowledging him.

"Mom, seriously?" I stepped inside fully, arms crossed. "He looks like he still eats cereal with cartoons."

"He’s twenty-five," she said, reaching for her robe with zero shame. "And quite experienced."

"Jesus Christ."

"You should try it sometime. Sex without all the emotional self-sabotage."

I ignored her and turned to the guy. "Out."

He opened his mouth to protest.

"Now!"

He grabbed his pants off the floor and scurried past me, shoes in hand. "Nice meeting you," he muttered, eyes glued to the floor as he slipped out.

"You know, you're lucky I don't run background checks on your dates," I muttered as the door clicked shut behind him.

"You do that to all your lovers?"

"I don't screw guys who can barely rent a car."

She tied her robe loosely and poured herself a glass of wine like we were just chatting about the weather.

"To what do I owe this delightful interruption, sweetheart?"

I swallowed hard. "Sienna didn’t come home last night."

She raised an eyebrow. "Maybe she needed space."

"She didn’t show up to the café. Her phone's off. Kael came to my office."

That got her. She didn’t say anything right away. Just lowered the wine glass, stared at it for a moment, then looked up at me.

"Missing?"

"Yeah."

The word hung in the room like fog.

Then she just shrugged.

“She’s a big girl,” she said with a smirk. “Maybe she finally did something interesting with her life.”

“I swear, you’re the most selfish….” Before i could finish. My phone vibrated once in my pocket.

I pulled it out without thinking, still seething, but the moment I saw the screen, the words dried up in my throat.

An image.

No text.

No name.

Just a photo.

Sienna’s necklace, broken, smeared in something dark, lay beside her favorite purse, half-buried in dirt. The ground beneath looked wet.

I stared, breath locked in my lungs, a cold dread rising in my chest.