The hills of Tuscany were beautiful, but to Eleni, the rolling vineyards looked like a velvet shroud. It had been one week since the message arrived. One week since the world became a quieter, darker place.
She sat in the study of the secluded villa Dimitris had secured, her fingers tracing the silver casing of the drive. She wasn't wearing the simple floral dresses anymore. She wore a tailored black suit, her hair pulled back so tight it looked like it hurt. She looked less like a victim and more like the ghosts that used to haunt Ben's dreams.
Leo walked into the room, holding a tray with two cups of coffee. He set them down and looked at his sister. "You haven't slept, Eleni. Mia is asking why you don't come out to the garden anymore."
"I'll go out when the garden is safe, Leo," Eleni said, her voice devoid of emotion. She took a sip of the coffee. It was good, but it didn't taste like the bitter, perfect mess Ben used to make. She set the cup down. "Is Dimitris back from Milan?"
"He's in the hallway. He brought... guests."
Dimitris entered, looking more haggard than usual. Behind him were two men and a woman Eleni didn't recognize. They looked like professionals—not Silas's thugs, but the kind of people who worked in the high-ceilinged offices of Geneva and Zurich. Accountants, hackers, and fixers.
"These are the people Ben kept in reserve," Dimitris said, his voice a low growl. "He had a 'break glass in case of emergency' fund. Well, the glass is shattered, Eleni. They are here to help you bury the drive's contents into the heart of Silas's financial network."
Eleni stood up, her eyes locking onto the newcomers. "I don't want to bury it. I want to broadcast it. But not all at once. I want Silas to watch his world disappear, one piece at a time. I want him to feel what it's like to lose his home, his name, and his shadow."
The woman, a sharp-featured analyst named Valeria, stepped forward. "To do that, we need to bypass the secondary firewalls Silas established after the Acropolis. He's moved his main servers to a private island off the coast of Sicily. If we hit them from here, he'll trace us in minutes."
"Then we don't hit them from here," Eleni said. She turned to Dimitris. "You said Donatella Conti was angry that Silas breached her territory at the airport, right?"
"Angry? She's humiliated," Dimitris replied. "In her world, a breach like that is a declaration of war."
"Good," Eleni said, a cold, predatory smile spreading across her lips. "Contact her. Tell her the 'Florist' has a proposition. I don't want her protection anymore. I want her army. In exchange, I'll give her Silas's shipping routes. Every port, every bribe, every ghost ship he owns."
"Eleni, you're playing with fire," Leo whispered, his face pale. "This is exactly what Ben wanted to get us away from."
"Ben wanted us to have a life, Leo," Eleni turned to her brother, her gaze softening for just a fraction of a second before hardening again. "But I can't have a life while the man who took him is still breathing. I'm not running anymore. I'm the one who's going to haunt him."
Dimitris looked at her, and for the first time, the old sailor looked impressed. "He told me once that you were the glitch in his plan. I think he was wrong. You were the final move he never got to make."
"Valeria, start with the offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands," Eleni commanded, turning back to the table. "Drain the first ten million. Put it into an anonymous trust for the families of the men Silas killed. Let him see the notification on his phone tonight."
"And the rest?" Valeria asked.
"The rest stays on the drive," Eleni said, clutching the metal. "Until I'm standing in front of him. Until he looks me in the eye and sees that he didn't just kill a man. He created a monster."
That night, for the first time in a week, Eleni walked out into the garden. Mia was chasing a firefly. Eleni watched her for a moment, the grief threatening to break through her armor. She reached into her pocket and felt the small, hand-written note Ben had left her on the plane.
"Look for me in the roses."
She walked over to a bush of deep red roses, their petals heavy with the evening dew. She reached out and touched a thorn, letting it prick her finger. The small drop of blood looked like a ruby in the moonlight.
"I'm coming for him, Ben," she whispered to the wind. "I'm bringing the whole garden with me."