The old harbor was a skeleton of its former glory—rusted cranes, creaking docks, and decaying cargo containers stretching toward the mist. At midnight, it looked more like a graveyard than a meeting point.
Juliet stepped out of her car, the hem of her coat flapping in the cold wind. She kept her hand near her holster, eyes scanning the shadows. She hadn't brought Matteo—too risky. He was hidden away, locked in an underground safehouse, watched over by one of the few officers she still trusted.
Her footsteps echoed across the wet concrete until she reached the dock.
Adonis was already there, leaning against a shipping container, hood up, cigarette between his lips. Smoke curled around him like fog, his presence magnetic even in the dark.
She didn't speak immediately. Neither did he.
They stood there for a moment, suspended between distrust and something else entirely.
Finally, Adonis flicked the cigarette into the water. "I wasn't sure you'd come."
"I wasn't sure you'd be stupid enough to text me," Juliet said, voice cold but steady.
He smirked. "I used a scrambled server. No one traced it. You're not the only one who does their homework, Inspector."
She folded her arms. "What's so urgent you'd risk contacting me?"
He pulled a flash drive from his coat and held it between two fingers. "This," he said. "Everything. Bank records, names, shipments, payoff routes. Years of transactions tying Giovanni to half the city."
Juliet took a slow step forward, eyeing the drive. "Why give this to me?"
Adonis tilted his head. "Because you still believe in justice. And because I want Giovanni to burn."
Their hands brushed as he passed her the drive.
Electricity. Neither of them acknowledged it.
Juliet tucked the flash into her coat, but her eyes didn't leave his.
"Why now?" she asked. "After all these years."
Adonis was silent for a moment, staring out at the dark water. Then he said, quietly, "Because I'm tired of watching people die for the truth."
Flashback – Two Years Ago
Adonis knelt beside an old friend in a blood-soaked alley, his hands pressed to the man's chest.
"You shouldn't have taken the ledger," the friend whispered, coughing up blood. "You could've walked away."
"I don't walk away," Adonis said, desperate.
His friend gave a weak smile. "You sound like your mother."
Then his eyes went still.
Adonis sat there long after the body went cold, grief hardening into purpose.
End Flashback
Juliet watched him now with a deeper understanding. He wasn't just angry. He was broken. Just like her.
"You know this makes you a target," she said.
"I've always been a target," he replied.
Silence fell again, thicker than before.
Then Juliet stepped closer. "What if I told you I wanted in? Not just to investigate. To bring him down. Together."
Adonis turned, eyes meeting hers. Hazel and brown, both burning with shared history and pain.
"I'd say," he murmured, "it's about damn time."
But the moment shattered—violently.
Gunshots cracked through the air, one bullet sparking against the metal just inches from Juliet's head.
"Down!" Adonis shouted, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her behind the container.
They hit the ground hard, adrenaline pulsing.
More shots rang out—muffled, strategic.
They were being hunted.
"Snipers," Adonis growled. "Giovanni must've followed one of us."
Juliet yanked out her pistol. "I didn't lead anyone here—"
"Neither did I."
They exchanged a quick glance. Trust would have to wait.
Adonis grabbed her hand. "Back exit through the cargo tunnel. Go!"
They sprinted through the maze of containers, ducking and weaving as bullets tore through the air. Juliet returned fire, hitting one of the shooters in the leg. Adonis kicked down a metal grate and motioned her inside.
It was pitch black and narrow, but it led them under the dock to the water's edge.
They emerged soaked, panting, and furious.
Adonis pushed wet hair from his face. "Someone sold us out."
Juliet's eyes narrowed. "We find out who. And then we end this."
The flash drive was still tucked inside her coat—still safe.
But the message had been sent loud and clear.
Giovanni was watching.
And the war had officially begun.