I stood hidden behind one of the heavy velvet curtains on the second-floor landing, heart hammering in my chest.

I could hear the low rumble of voices drifting up from Father's study.

Father.

Luca Romano.

And another man — quieter, but just as dangerous. His second-in-command, I assumed.

I knew I shouldn't be here.

I was supposed to stay upstairs.

Stay invisible.

Stay out of men’s business — like some obedient little doll.

But I couldn’t.

Not when he was here.

I shifted the curtain just enough to peer down.

There he was.

Luca Romano.

Standing in our house like he belonged there — like he wasn’t the same man whose suit I'd ruined, whose pride I'd shouted down at the party days ago.

But there was no hint of that now.

Now he was calm, dangerous.

Every move he made was deliberate, like a chess master already five moves ahead.

I wrapped my arms around myself tightly, pressing deeper into the shadows.

From up here, I could only see the sharp line of his jaw, the way his dark hair caught the firelight.

How his entire presence dominated the room without him needing to say much at all.

He wasn't just powerful.

He was... something else.

Something colder.

Something ruthless.

A shiver danced down my spine.

I hated how my body reacted to him —

the way my stomach tightened, the way my skin seemed hyper-aware.

I hated that I remembered the roughness of his hand against mine when we shook.

That tiny, deliberate brush of his thumb across my knuckles.

It hadn't been accidental.

Not at all.

And if I'd learned anything growing up  Petrov, it was this:

Men like Luca Romano didn’t touch without reason.

They didn't look without intent.

I stepped back from the curtain, heart slamming against my ribs.

I needed to be careful.

I needed to stay hidden — stay smart.

Because if Luca Romano found out what I had done...

If he found out that I had hacked the Silicans, exposed them, cost them millions...

He wouldn't care that I was Viktor Petrov ’s daughter.

He wouldn’t care that I wore pretty dresses and smiled at parties.

He would come for me.

And men like him didn’t come to talk.