The sun hadn't yet risen over Manhattan, but Aria hadn't slept. Her eyes were locked on the paused video—Dominic standing over a bound and bloodied Daniel. The image wouldn't leave her.
Her mind warred with itself. Dominic said he loved his brother. That he tried to protect him.
But what she'd just seen—was it a lie?
Or a frame?
Or something worse?
She replayed the video again. Frame by frame. The scream. The glare in Dominic's eyes. Then—
She paused.
A shadow moved in the background.
Another man. Out of focus. Leaning in close. He said something into Dominic's ear just before the video cut out.
She enhanced it.
The face was partially obscured, but the features were clear enough:
Xavier Marlowe.
The ghost.
He was there.
She took the image to Dominic.
He paled. "He was there the night Daniel disappeared."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because last time I said his name out loud, someone tried to kill me."
Aria's throat tightened. "Who is he really?"
Dominic explained: a former black ops handler, now the orchestrator of WRAITH. He was the phantom power behind every strategic takedown, laundering, and betrayal in their world.
With help from Felix, a former MI6 analyst, they tracked Marlowe to a secret base beneath a Roman villa.
They traveled to Rome. Aria, Dominic, and Felix.
The underground facility was cold and metallic, bathed in blue surveillance lights.
And in the center… stood Xavier Marlowe.
"Well," he greeted. "The prodigal son returns."
"You should be dead," Dominic said.
"But then who would orchestrate your downfall?"
Aria stepped forward. "Where's Daniel?"
Marlowe smiled—and opened a door.
Daniel stepped out. Alive.