Roses and Ruins

lowly, like peeling back the layers of a wound that had never healed right. She had waited Five dam

ean faces. Cold smiles. The kind of men who ruled quietly, with money, fear, and silence. Most p

The first time she met Riccardo, she was twenty-two, nervous, and trying to prove herself in Lorenzo

ardo liked to clip those off. The deeper she dug, the uglier it got. Pages of handwritten notes

arely audib

t and smile. If the girl m

hand through her hair and cursed under her breath. This wasn't revenge anymore-it w

ame from letting monsters fall face-first into their own fi

ing the desk. He'd spent the entire night tracking the leak and still

rs, trying to find what it was that made his spine crawl. The hair wasn't the

just a

cut in, "you need to see thi

Y TRAIL TIED T

aritable fronts. Sources point to Don Riccardo's hi

id quietly. The last time someone touc

said. The Claw. If Belladonna was who he fea

at 2:00 a.m. Rosa didn't

s the

panic mode. Investors dumping Mancini Ho

ow. The city lights refl

oo

noise, Rosa. He's go

unting

"You're sure you'

him dig up every shadow. I've died once al

a room that smelled like

find her. Now,"

t speak. Just

cared. Not de

a brow. Lorenzo'

And when she gasps for air, I want her to

t. Something off in the air.

ed and pulled out the Glock. By the tim

die. Glov

a-honed instinct. She ducked, rolled,

a grunt. She straddled

ress," she

the wall beside his ...head. T

sent

across the jaw with

choked. "I don

red rose is blooming again. And this

Get me access to Lorenzo's private estate. I want bl

serious," Ki

a said, her

place, right?" Killian asked,

th a mix of madness and mission

e plans. But Rosa, be carefu

sa replied, her eyes gle

e had heard stories about the Garden of Ghosts, the nickname given to the estate's labyrin

guards' schedules, the camera angles, and the hidden passages.

he was ready to take on the Mancini estate, to face whatever lay within