Alessia's POV
I sat hunched over my desk, the glow from my laptop casting jagged shadows across my face. The truth was getting twisted every day, every step I took deeper made me realize how deep this all ran.
I stared at the screen, hands shaking as I typed and deleted the message over and over. I was a detective, a professional damn good one. But tonight, I needed to disappear, at least from the eyes of Dante and Marco. From everyone. I couldn't let them know who I really was. Not yet.
I kept rubbing my thumb against the side of my phone, like that would steady me. It didn't. My heartbeat was loud in my ears, too fast, too sharp.
"Come on," I muttered to myself. "Just send it."
With a final breath, I hit send.
The email was from a new alias: "Detective A. Rowas." Clean, professional, untraceable to my real identity.
"Mr. Marco,
