Chapter 2 - THE GIRL WHO WASN'T THERESienna woke to the sound of a clock.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
The room smelled like antiseptic.
Her body felt like fire.
She tried to move.
Pain exploded across her chest.
“Don't.”
A man's voice.
She opened her eyes.
Dante Russo sat in the chair beside her bed.
No suit jacket.
No tie.
Sleeves rolled up.
He looked exhausted.
Dangerously exhausted.
Sienna stared at him.
“You're alive,” he said.
“So are you.”
His mouth twitched.
“That's not what I meant.”
She looked away.
“How long?”
“Twelve hours.”
Her breathing caught.
“Toby?”
Dante studied her.
“Who's Toby?”
Sienna's eyes snapped toward him.
“Where is he?”
“That's what I'm asking you.”
She tried to sit up.
Dante immediately stood.
“Don't.”
“My brother.”
“You never told anyone you had a brother.”
Sienna froze.
Dante leaned closer.
“You never told us anything.”
“I told you what mattered.”
“No.”
His voice hardened.
“You told my mother what she needed to hear.”
Silence.
Dante placed the old photograph on the bed.
Sienna's face changed instantly.
The color disappeared.
He saw it.
“You recognize it.”
“No.”
“Liar.”
Her eyes remained fixed on the photograph.
“Where did you get that?”
“Your room.”
Sienna swallowed.
“You searched my room?”
“I own the building.”
“You don't own me.”
Dante went still.
For the first time, Sienna didn't look like a frightened employee.
She looked angry.
Then she whispered:
“You should have left it alone.”
Dante's eyes narrowed.
“Who is Black Rose?”
Sienna closed her eyes.
“You don't want to know.”
“That's exactly why I want to know.”
“You think I'm dangerous?”
“I think five people shot you instead of my mother.”
He leaned closer.
“And nobody does that by accident.”
Sienna looked at him.
There was something ancient in her expression.
Pain.
Fear.
Regret.
“They weren't trying to kill Caterina.”
“I know.”
“They were sending you a message.”
“What message?”
“That you were getting too close.”
Dante stared.
“To what?”
Sienna said nothing.
The door opened.
Rocco entered.
“We have a problem.”
Dante stepped away.
“What?”
Rocco placed a phone on the table.
“Every camera in Saint Vincent went down three minutes ago.”
Dante's expression changed.
“You think they're coming here?”
Rocco nodded.
“Already happened.”
He showed Dante a photograph.
Taken from a security feed.
A man in a medical uniform stood outside the hospital.
Face covered.
Holding a case.
Dante's jaw tightened.
“Find him.”
“Already sent men.”
Rocco hesitated.
“He wasn't here for Sienna.”
Dante looked at him.
“Then who?”
Rocco turned the screen around.
The man had stopped outside Caterina's room.
Dante immediately walked out.
Sienna tried to call him.
“Dante.”
He stopped.
She whispered:
“Don't let them take your mother.”
He looked back.
“You know who they are.”
Sienna's eyes closed.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“They're the people who made me.”
Dante froze.
Before he could ask another question, alarms erupted through the hospital.
Gunshots exploded somewhere downstairs.
Rocco drew his weapon.
“Move!”
Dante ran toward the hallway.
Sienna remained alone.
For ten seconds.
Then the door opened.
A nurse entered.
Sienna stared at her.
The nurse smiled.
“You've caused a lot of trouble.”
Sienna's blood ran cold.
“You're not a nurse.”
The woman locked the door.
“No.”
She removed a syringe from her pocket.
“I'm here to take you home.”
Sienna pushed herself upright.
“Who sent you?”
The woman smiled.
“The same man who sent the bullets.”
Sienna looked at the syringe.
Then at the locked door.
“You should leave.”
The woman laughed.
“Still pretending you're weak?”
Sienna's expression changed.
The fear disappeared.
Her eyes became cold.
“You really should leave.”
The nurse stepped closer.
Then Sienna moved.
Fast.
She grabbed the woman's wrist.
The syringe fell.
The woman slammed Sienna against the bed.
Pain tore through her.
Sienna gritted her teeth.
“Five bullets didn't kill me.”
She whispered.
“You won't either.”
The woman froze.
Because Sienna had just smiled.
Downstairs, Dante reached the lobby.
The hospital had become chaos.
Security guards were down.
Glass shattered.
A man ran toward the exit.
Dante caught him.
He slammed him against the wall.
“Who are you?”
The man laughed.
“You don't know what she is.”
Dante tightened his grip.
“Tell me.”
The man looked into his eyes.
Then whispered:
“She was trained to destroy men like you.”
Dante's grip loosened.
“What?”
The man smiled.
“She isn't the victim.”
A gunshot cracked.
The man's head dropped.
Dante spun.
The shooter disappeared into the crowd.
Rocco shouted:
“Boss!”
Dante looked toward the elevator.
The doors were opening.
Someone stepped out.
Sienna.
Barefoot.
Hospital gown stained with blood.
She stood at the end of the corridor.
Breathing hard.
Dante stared.
The woman who had barely been able to move twelve hours ago was standing upright.
Behind her, the nurse lay unconscious.
Dante slowly walked toward her.
“Sienna.”
She looked at him.
Something had changed.
Not in her body.
In her eyes.
“You need to listen to me.”
Dante stopped.
“What happened?”
“They know where Toby is.”
Dante's face went pale.
“How?”
Sienna looked at the floor.
“Because Toby isn't my brother.”
Silence.
Dante stared.
“Then who is he?”
Sienna looked up.
“Toby is the last surviving member of the Black Rose program.”
May you like
Dante's blood ran cold.
“And I'm the reason they're coming.”
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