Alina sat at her desk in the small, minimalist office the university had assigned her. The windows overlooked the courtyard below, but her eyes weren't focused on the view. Her laptop screen glowed with half-finished notes and a flickering research page. A name repeated over and over in the open tabs like a warning sign: Dominic Romano.
She hadn't been able to sleep since the run-in at the café.
He hadn't said anything that could be called threatening, not exactly. But the way he looked at her, the calm confidence in his voice… something about him didn't add up. He didn't carry himself like a normal student. He didn't act like one either. No hesitation. No fear. And then there was the way her heart had hammered in her chest when he got too close.
Annoying. Absolutely annoying.
Why is someone like that even enrolled here? she wondered, clicking deeper into the university's internal system. She had admin access to student files as a professor, and she was sure Dominic had never been on any of her rosters before now.
Sure enough, his file was incomplete.
No previous school listed. No guardian information. Just a date of birth, his major—Political Science—and an address listed in the heart of the city's most exclusive district.
Suspicious.
But curiosity wasn't the only thing driving her. There was something in her gut, something instinctual, pulling her toward whatever secrets he was hiding.
And that's when she saw it—tucked at the bottom of the page, hidden behind a file tag that had been locked under admin clearance level 4.
Alina frowned.
Clearance level 4? Who the hell…?
She wasn't supposed to have access to that. Not unless she was a department head. But one of her close friends in IT had shown her a backdoor trick months ago. She typed in a few commands, held her breath, and—
Click.
The file opened.
And what she saw nearly made her drop her coffee.
Dominic Romano, real name Dominico Enzo Romano, 22.
Son of Enzo Romano, the now-deceased head of the Romano crime family.
Family under federal investigation for racketeering, arms trafficking, suspected ties to four unsolved assassinations.
Alina stared at the screen, pulse thudding.
What the actual f—?
No wonder he walked like he owned the café. Like he owned the world.
She leaned back, trying to slow her breathing.
Why the hell is someone like him at my university?
Her phone buzzed on the desk, snapping her out of it.
A message from an unknown number:
"You shouldn't be digging into things that don't concern you, Professor."
Her blood ran cold.
That evening, Alina took a longer route home.
She walked instead of driving, her hoodie pulled up over her head, eyes darting at every sound. She'd made the mistake of peeking behind the curtain — and someone had noticed.
Halfway down an alley shortcut she sometimes used, a black car rolled slowly behind her. She stopped walking. The car stopped. Her heart dropped into her stomach.
Okay. Okay. Don't panic.
The back window rolled down just slightly. Enough to see a familiar face.
Dominic.
He didn't speak. He didn't smile.
He just nodded toward the car door.
She should've run. She should've screamed.
But instead, she found herself walking toward it.
Inside the car, the silence was thick.
Dominic didn't say anything at first. He just studied her like she was a puzzle he already knew the answer to.
"I know what you found," he said calmly, finally breaking the silence.
Alina gripped the edge of the seat. "So what now? Are you going to threaten me?"
He chuckled, low and dark. "No. I don't threaten people, Professor. I offer… perspective."
She narrowed her eyes. "Perspective?"
Dominic leaned closer. "I didn't come here to play games. I came here for something very specific. And now that you're involved, you've got two choices: stay away, or come closer and learn the truth."
Alina raised her chin. "You think I scare easy?"
"I hope not," he said with a smirk. "Because scared people don't survive very long around me.
Later that night, Alina sat on her bed, still wearing the same clothes, still processing the conversation.
She had officially entered a world she had no business stepping into. But her heart was pounding with something that wasn't fear anymore.
It was excitement.