The day had ended, but the city of Rome refused to sleep. As the golden hues of the setting sun
faded, the streets came alive with the pulse of nightlife, the sound of laughter, clinking glasses,
and the hum of fast cars tearing through the narrow streets. Yet, in the heart of the city, within the
glass-and-steel confines of Ricci Global Headquarters, the quiet was almost suffocating.
Yuna sat at the sleek, modern desk in the company's financial department, her fingers brushing
over the figures that had haunted her since her first glance at the files. The financial discrepancies
were larger than she had anticipated.
The offshore accounts weren't just a few random mistakes. They were carefully hidden—entire
funds funneled through shell companies, set up to avoid any traces leading back to Ricci Global.
The numbers didn't add up. But what was the purpose? Who was the mastermind behind this? And
why had Lucien Ricci chosen to keep her in the dark for so long?
She sighed, leaning back in her chair, trying to wrap her mind around the complexity of it all.
"Working late?"
The voice came from the doorway, low and dark, with an edge of amusement to it. Yuna didn't
need to look up to know who it was. She could feel the weight of Lucien Ricci's presence in the
room the moment he stepped inside.
She straightened in her chair and glanced at him. "I have a few more things to go over," she said,
trying to keep her tone steady, professional. She wasn't here to get lost in his dangerous aura. She
was here to work.
Lucien, dressed in a sharp black suit, took a few steps closer. He didn't sit. He never did when it
came to matters of control. He loomed over her, his gaze scanning the files scattered across her
desk.
"You haven't found what you were looking for," he said simply, his eyes never leaving hers. "Not
yet, anyway."
Yuna didn't flinch. Instead, she leaned forward, her voice low but confident. "You're right. I
haven't found all of it. But the numbers are off, Mr. Ricci. Big enough that I'm certain something
is being hidden."
Lucien's lips curved into a smile, a dangerous thing that didn't reach his eyes. "Curiosity doesn't
always reward you, Ms. Kim. Sometimes it gets people hurt."
Yuna met his gaze without flinching. "Maybe I'm used to getting hurt."
Lucien raised an eyebrow at her, clearly intrigued. But rather than pressing her on it, he allowed
the moment to stretch, his silence filling the space between them. Then, he turned away from the
desk, stepping toward the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out onto the city.
"I've built an empire, Ms. Kim," he said, his voice now laced with something softer, but just as
chilling. "It didn't come easily. Every move I make is calculated. Every decision. There's no room
for mistakes. No room for error."
Yuna's mind raced. He wasn't just talking about business. There was something darker in his
words. Something that went beyond board meetings and quarterly profits.
She followed his lead, walking over to the window. From here, Rome stretched out beneath them
a city both old and new, vibrant yet laced with shadows. But there was more than just the cityscape
that caught her attention. It was the man standing beside her. Lucien Ricci. A man who had built
his empire on secrets, blood, and lies. A man who controlled not just the legitimate business world
but the criminal underworld as well.
"Are you trying to scare me, Mr. Ricci?" Yuna asked, her voice steady.
He didn't answer immediately. His gaze remained fixed on the horizon. But she could feel the
weight of his presence beside her, the sense that his thoughts were always just one step ahead.
"I'm not trying to scare you," he replied softly. "I'm trying to warn you. There's more going on
here than you can imagine. The kind of things you might not want to uncover."
Yuna could feel her heart pounding, the words pulling at something deep inside her. There was a
magnetism in his voice, an undeniable pull that made her feel like a moth drawn to a flame. But
she refused to be distracted. She was here for the truth, no matter how dangerous it might be.
"You don't get to decide what I want to uncover," she said, her voice sharp. "I'm not afraid of you,
Mr. Ricci. I'm just doing my job."
Lucien's gaze shifted to her then, his eyes dark with something unreadable. For a moment, they
stood there, two people locked in a quiet standoff both determined, both unwilling to back down.
Finally, Lucien's lips twitched into a slight smile. "We'll see how long that lasts," he said softly.
"Everyone breaks. Even you."
The next few days passed in a blur of numbers and meetings. Yuna found herself spending long
hours at Ricci Global's headquarters, sifting through financial reports, cross-checking ledgers, and
digging into the mysterious offshore accounts. But every time she got close to an answer, the trail
seemed to vanish. There were too many dead ends. Too many walls.
Still, Yuna wasn't one to give up easily. She wasn't raised to back down, especially not when she
knew something wasn't right.
The tension between her and Lucien grew with every passing day. Their interactions were a
dangerous game of cat and mouse he never said much, but his eyes said everything. There was
always a warning behind every word. And behind every smile, there was an unspoken challenge:
How far would she go to uncover the truth?
Yuna didn't know the answer yet. But she was determined to find it.