Chapter 1
Nova moved briskly down the hallway, her expression carefully neutral—anger restrained behind a practiced mask of authority.
“Where the fuck is information on Corves I requested?” she demanded, her voice sharp but measured.
The rookie at her side struggled to match her pace, fumbling for an answer.
The information she had sent the rookie to retrieve was supposed to come from one of her top assets: Phantom. No one knew his real name. No one had ever seen his face.
“He wasn’t there,” the rookie stammered, barely keeping up as Nova turned sharply.
Her gaze locked onto him, cold and unyielding. “Grow a spine,” she said flatly. “And while you’re at it, go find Phantom. Now.”
“No need.”
The voice came from behind her.
Nova masked her reflexive tension as she turned. Phantom stood there calmly, his face concealed behind his usual full mask. He never removed it—never even hinted at what lay beneath. The only time she had seen even a fragment of his face had been years ago, when exhaustion had caused his mask to slip while he slept at his workstation. She had noticed a scar and looked away immediately. Privacy was currency in their world, and by then she had completely trusted him to let him keep it.
“Still the only one who can sneak up on me,” Nova muttered.
Phantom handed her a thick file. “I’m good at what I do.”
She let out a quiet huff of agreement as she flipped through the pages, absorbing the information rapidly.
“Do we know when and where Corves’s next meeting is?” she asked without looking up.
“Last page.”
Nova turned to it and frowned. “You fucking with me?”
Phantom’s voice carried unmistakable amusement. “Looks like the boss is going to have to change her wardrobe for once.”
Nova stared at her reflection, her scowl firmly in place.
The outfit—jean shorts with leather combat boots and a fitted short-sleeve shirt—wasn’t provocative, but it felt foreign. She hadn’t worn anything like it since she was sixteen. The clothes showed off her toned, curvy frame and the tattoos that hid the scars she was ashamed of that covered her left arm to her shoulder, down her ribs, down her thigh until the tattoo ended just above her knee, curving around her thigh.
She sighed and braided her hair, the thick length falling down her back. Even braided, it brushed against her hips. Her hair was the one indulgence she allowed herself—something she still enjoyed controlling, shaping, changing.
Keys in hand, Nova headed out to her truck. Chase and Phantom had both argued against her taking the Yamaha YZF-R3, and reluctantly, she’d agreed. As much as she loved the bike, it would draw the wrong kind of attention tonight.
Chase had been with her from the start. He had helped her get out of a bad situation, and he's been her right-hand man since then, teaching her firearms, hand-to-hand combat, and knife work - while also teaching her Spanish, Russian, and Mandarin. Nova's body was lean and fast, honed by discipline. In sparring matches, though, she still won less than half the time against Chas,e and it still annoyed the hell out of her despite knowing she will forever be at a disadvantage.
She sped toward the shadier side of town. Nova’s reputation had grown to the point where law enforcement treated her less like a criminal and more like a necessary inconvenience. When they needed information obtained quietly—or in ways they could not officially sanction—they reached out through intermediaries. In return, Nova and her people were largely left alone. Some perks of this were that she and her guys could speed whenever they wanted, as long as there were no accidents.
Nova pulled into the parking lot of the bar Under the Table 15 minutes later.
To most people, it was a place for affairs and one-night stands—the name taken at face value.
Few understood its real purpose. Deals were made here quietly, favors exchanged without records or witnesses.
Nova parked, stepped inside, and scanned the room.
One thing neither Chase nor Phantom had managed to talk her out of was coming alone.
So here she was—alone, by choice.
Nova scans the faces looking for the face on the file, and her eyes lock onto the older man.
David Corves.
The fucker was one of the worst.
For a man in his 50s, he's a real piece of shit.
Every fucked up thing someone can think of, Corves has done. Human trafficking and drug dealing are the 2 main ones. His main reputation is trying out the merchandise before he sells it.
Nova walked to the bar, keeping Corves in my peripheral vision as she ordered a vodka soda.
Sipping her drink slowly, Nova walks over to him with a sultry smile on her lips. Paired with a provocative sway of her hips, Corves's gaze catches onto Nova...just as she wanted.
"Now what is a man like you doing here alone?" Nova purrs, her hands brushing down his shoulder lightly, her drink in her other hand carefully away from Corves as she sits on the stool next to him.
He smirks at Nova, and she has to force away a shiver of disgust as Corves says, "Celebrating a successful sale."
Nova hides her disgust, knowing what kind of sale it was, by taking a sip of her drink, Corves keeping his eyes on her mouth the entire time as he continues. "I would love it if a lovely lady like yourself would join me."
Triumph flashes through Nova. This was her plan, so she would get into his mansion and investigate.
"Sounds like we are going to have a fun time, handsome." Nova purrs, standing up from the stool, swaying slightly, her mind starting to go a bit foggy.
"Let me use the restroom real fast so we can have fun all night," Nova says, setting down her barely touched drink and stumbling for the bathroom.
Nova gets to the bathroom, her vision starting to go blurry, and she splashes water on her face, trying to get her bearings.
Nova is so out of it that she doesn't notice the bathroom door open behind her.
A pinch of a needle is felt in Nova's next and she spins around, coming face to face with a large man with Corves behind him, smirking.
"you shouldnt have let your drink out of your sight." Corves sneers with a predatory gleam in his eyes.
Nova, annoyed at her own stupidity, punches the bigger guy with a clean right hook before kneeing Corves in the balls while elbowing his nose.
Nova hears a satisfying crunch as Corves's nose breaks and blood drips down.
Nova goes in for another hit, but her movments or becoming sloppy from the drug.
The bigger guy slams Nova against the wall, his hand around her thoat cutting off her airway.
Spots start dancing in Nova's eyes as she struggles for breath.
"That's enough," Corves snapped,s holding his pouring nose, glaring furiously at Nova.
"I want her conscious as I ruin her and get her ready to sell."
The guy drops her before picking her up like shes a rag doll and walking out of the bathroom.
