Page 58 of Veil of Smoke

“You haven’t asked for it.”

“What now?”

He looks around—at the blackened walls, the ash-coated floor. Then he looks at me.

“Now?” he echoes. “Now we hurt them back.”

And I believe him.

Not because he’s promised safety. But because I’ve seen him kill for it. Bleed for it. Stand beside me without hesitating when the world caught fire.

I walk toward him. The edges of my coat drag through the soot.

When I reach him, I don’t touch his hand. I just hold his gaze.

“I’m not afraid of them anymore,” I say.

Dario nods once. “Good.”

I step through the doorway—what’s left of it—and onto the wet pavement. Smoke clings to my skin like a second name. But I don’t wipe it away.

Behind me, Torrisi Blooms lies in ruins.

In front of me, the war begins.

Chapter 12 – Dario

The rain’s done, but everything’s still wet. Pavement slick with neon reflection, steam curling off sewer grates like the whole block’s exhaling a secret it doesn’t want to keep. I lean back into the alley wall, coat collar up, hood low, fingers curled around the hilt of a blade I’ve carried since Massimo died.

I watch the side door of the club.

Ignazio Hale steps out like he owns the night. Casual, hands in his pockets, the tail of his dark coat fluttering in the wet wind. He doesn’t see me. He’s reaching for a cigarette when I move.

Two steps and I’ve got him pinned.

My forearm presses into his throat before he finishes his first curse. I shove him into the graffiti-tagged brick, blade at his neck. His body tenses—but he doesn’t fight. Doesn’t even flinch.

That tells me everything.

“Don’t scream,” I say.

He doesn’t. Just stares at me with those cop eyes. Cold, controlled. The kind that’s done this before, maybe on the other side of the badge.

“I figured you’d come eventually,” he mutters.

“Not for a chat.”

The blade kisses his throat. Thin trickle of blood, just enough to make him blink. His pulse jumps under the steel. That’s better.

“You want to talk about why a florist became a target?” I ask.

“She wasn’t a target,” he says. Voice even. “Not at first.”

I press in harder. “Then tell me why she was there.”

“She was bait. Unwitting. She handled a drop that wasn’t meant for her. Your people slipped, Caldera routed intel through her shop.”

“You used her.”

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