Chapter Twelve – Ashes in Her Veins
I thought I knew who she was.
But every woman carries a name she doesn't speak.
And every soldier bleeds when the ghosts come calling.
The first domino fell in South Bronx.
An old Romano distribution hub—silent, low-key, never touched. Burned to the foundation. Two men inside. One of them had worked with my father since before I was born.
It wasn't just destruction.
It was a message.
Adriano was done playing.
We moved fast.
Shut down laundering fronts in Chinatown.
Pulled our crews from Newark.
Redirected all product flow underground.
Gio handled logistics. Mercy ran surveillance.
But she was distant.
Like her mind was somewhere else—somewhere old.
"You good?" I asked her in the dark, staring at a tactical map scattered with red markers.
She lit a cigarette, fingers trembling slightly.
"No."
"Talk to me."
Silence.
Then she dropped it—like a confession.
"I used to work for him."
My pulse skipped.
"Adriano?"
She nodded.
"Years ago. Before Berlin. He found me after my handler died. Said he needed people who knew how to cut deep without leaving a mess. I didn't ask questions."
"You were his cleaner."
"His ghost." Her voice cracked. "Until I saw what he really wanted."
The silence between us was sharp enough to slit skin.
I could have yelled.
Could have walked out.
Could have put a bullet in her skull and called it even.
But I didn't.
Because I wasn't clean either.
Because we were all built from broken things.
And some loyalty doesn't come from trust—it comes from scars.
That night, Adriano struck again.
This time in daylight.
Broadway.
A Romano-owned restaurant. Full of civilians. Full of families.
The explosion rocked half the block.
Seven dead.
Dozens injured.
I stood over the rubble hours later, rain soaking my shoulders, rage hollowing out my chest.
Giovanni spoke behind me.
"You still think we can fix this?"
I looked at the burned bodies.
At the blood running into the gutter.
And I said the only thing I could.
"We don't fix it. We finish it."
There's no crown without ash.
No throne without ghosts.
And mine just declared war on the city.