The tremor from the drone strike had barely faded when the fallback site's security sirens wailed into the night. Dust and debris scattered across the compound as Dino’s team scrambled into defensive formation. Inside the control bunker, monitors flickered, briefly static before flicking back to life."Status report!" Dino barked, pulling his vest tighter.Sergio replied, sweat dripping from his brow. "No fatalities, but the west perimeter took damage. Whoever launched that drone knew exactly where to hit. It was meant to rattle us. Not destroy.""Psychological warfare," Tomiwa added, stepping forward from the med bay, his arm still wrapped but his movements steady. "They wanted to see how fast we respond."Dino turned to him, surprised. "You’re up. Are you sure you’re ready?"Tomiwa nodded grimly. "This fight is mine too. I’m not sitting it out."---In the shadows of Croatia’s coastline, Paula sat alone in a candlelit cellar, a torn photograph of Elena and Dino in her hands. Her knu

Rain fell in thin, silver needles, drenching the crumbling rooftops of Opatija. Morning had broken, but the sun never made it past the dense, gunmetal clouds above. Somewhere in the outskirts, in a half-forgotten villa nestled between ancient trees and faded cobblestone, Alejandro sat by the fire in a silk shirt stained with blood.His leg was bandaged, his jaw bruised, and his ego—shattered.A glass of whiskey trembled slightly in his hand as he reviewed Cain’s betrayal over and over in his mind. Not even his paranoia had prepared him for the truth. Cain hadn’t just used him—he’d planned to kill him. Like a dog.He stared into the fire.“I should’ve known.”Across from him stood Renzo, the new captain of Alejandro’s private security detail. Handpicked, loyal only to Alejandro. Cain’s men had nearly executed their leader. That mistake wouldn’t happen twice.“There’s chatter,” Renzo reported quietly, glancing at his phone. “Cain’s moving fast. He’s consolidating control of the Port of

The sun slipped below the horizon, casting long shadows over the Mediterranean coast. A soft breeze rustled the olive trees that lined the private villa where the infamous drug lord once ruled with an iron fist. For months, whispers had circled about his death. Rumors, speculation, and fragments of stories. But tonight, those whispers were silenced by a single truth—Sanchez was alive.Dino stood outside the reinforced gates of the compound, flanked by two of his most trusted men. The journey here had been unannounced, a leap of faith after Paula had sent an encrypted message confirming what Dino had only suspected: the old man never died.Inside, Alejandro paced with his usual air of arrogance, surrounded by his four bodyguards, all dressed in black suits, eyes hidden behind tinted shades. His jaw clenched, and his hand hovered too long on the hilt of his pistol as he waited. The bodyguards were new—harder, more disciplined. Sanchez hadn’t just survived; he had rebuilt.The double doo

The convoy sped through the winding roads of the Italian Alps, the armored vehicles slicing through the night like phantoms on a mission. Inside the lead SUV, tension coiled thick in the air, heavy as the storm clouds brewing above the peaks.Dino sat beside Paula, his fingers drumming a restless rhythm against his thigh, each tap echoing the thoughts swirling in his mind. Across from them, Alejandro reclined with a forced calmness, arms crossed, his ever-loyal bodyguards watching silently, eyes hidden behind tinted glasses, expressions unreadable.At the front, Sanchez broke the silence. “Our safehouse is an old monastery. Abandoned for decades. Off the grid. No digital footprint. We’ll regroup there. Nobody will track us.”Dino gave a short nod, but his thoughts were far from reassured. Cain’s reach had proven longer—and more surgical—than they’d ever imagined. The compound attack hadn’t been a wild assault. It was a precision strike, down to the minute. Someone had betrayed them.“

The air in the room is filled with an unspoken energy as the group leans over the map, while a silent pact forms between them. A distant rumble of thunder rolled through the sky, soft but buzzing, nature itself echoing the gathering storm.Paula stepped up, her expression resolute. “I know someone. A former ally of Cain’s— a hacker named Riva. She turned against him when her brother vanished under mysterious circumstances. I can convince her to help us.”Alejandro raised a brow. “And we’re supposed to trust another ghost from Cain’s circle?”“She’s not like me,” Paula replied sharply. “She never bought into Cain’s ideology. She just wanted to protect her family.”Dino nodded slowly. “If she’s legit, bring her in. But we keep her on a tight leash.”Sanchez’s voice carried a steely undertone. “What we’re about to do… it won’t just cripple Vexler’s assets. It’ll wake sleeping giants. Other cartels, corrupt politicians, rogue intelligence networks. They’ve been in bed with him for years.