The Deal
Alright. Time to lie like never before. There would be no turning back after this.
The box still sat closed on my desk. Inside were the clothes that would turn me into someone else. Someone capable of walking into a den of wolves trained to smell weakness.
“I brought what you asked for.” Carl couldn’t look at me directly. “That place doesn’t forgive mistakes, Teresa.”
I didn’t answer right away. Silence closed around my throat.
My older sister had died a month ago, and I was still grieving. If I didn’t do this—if I didn’t make this choice—the only chance of finding the justice Marie deserved would disappear forever.
“Thank you. I’m going through with it.” I tried to believe my own words as I said them.
I avoided looking him in the eye. If I did, he would probably make me hesitate.
“Alright.” A long pause settled between us, as though he wanted to give me every remaining second to change my mind. “Let’s go over the information again. You have three suspects who were close to Marie. During her last month, she was in close contact with Eduard Bonetti, Collin Smith, and Daemon Racchio.”
I would have remembered those names without hearing them again. They were the three suspects in my sister’s murder.
I knew it.
The police had identified them by name alone, but the investigation had led nowhere.
After so many years chasing other people’s stories—crimes, lies, disappearances. Always behind the camera, watching from a distance.
I never imagined I would end up on the other side.
The day they called me, the police confirmed my sister had been found near an exclusive residential hotel.
I forced myself to stop thinking about it before the memory swallowed me whole.
“This is delicate, Teresa,” Carl continued. “Only the two of us know about this parallel investigation. The police officially concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to identify a culprit. Which means what we’re doing isn’t legal. A journalist can’t infiltrate a private place like this to gather information.”
I looked at him carefully. He had trusted me years ago when I asked him for that job. Now he was risking far too much. Without his sources and the information he’d managed to uncover, I would still be completely blind.
“All three suspects belong to wealthy circles in this country. That hotel is practically their second home. They’re close friends, and we’ve received information saying they spend a great deal of their time there.”
A grimace crossed my face.
“Because it’s their den,” I said quietly. “It’s where they go to hide the things they don’t want anyone else to see.”
We both knew what kind of things happened inside that place. Power and money bought the best silence.
“I know where I’m going, Carl. I know it’s a place full of filthy libertines. I’ll endure it if that’s what it takes to uncover the truth.” I forced myself to sound certain. This was not the moment to doubt.
If I didn’t have the resolve to keep going, they would devour me.
I’m a journalist, I reminded myself. My job is to find the truth. To walk into terrible places because nobody else wants to—or can. I have to be strong.
“They can smell fear in there.” Carl’s voice tangled with desperation.
Another attempt to make me back down.
“I know.” I took a deep breath. “Damn it, I know if I act like a normal, functional woman, they’ll notice immediately. I know I’ll have to change my entire goddamn personality just to fit in. It’s the mafia, Carl. I’m not stupid.”
I was shouting now.
The fear inside me—far greater than anything Carl could possibly be feeling—throbbed violently in my chest. Marie had become tangled in something dark and dangerous, and I needed to know why they had killed her.
We had spoken a month before her death. She had sounded so full of hope.
I still couldn’t understand how life could be that cruel.
“You’re the best journalist I’ve ever known, Ter. I need you to know that.” Carl took my hand. “And if anything starts to go wrong, promise me you’ll run. Promise me you’ll escape and leave all of this behind.”
He was the closest thing I had to family besides Marie.
Lying to him didn’t feel right.
The lie resting on my tongue flooded my throat with bitterness.
So this was how the path began.
I looked him in the eyes and nodded.
I would do anything to find whoever had done this. To make the person responsible feel—even for one miserable second—the desperation my sister must have felt.
I opened the box on the desk.
The package inside was wrapped in tissue paper. A dark blue skirt immediately drew my attention.
My hips were already far too noticeable. I was almost certain this skirt would not reach my knees the way the ones I usually wore did.
The corset completing the outfit was white as snow, decorated with small silver details that shimmered under the light. It would fit me far too tightly.
This entire style felt completely foreign to me.
I had always been so modest it bordered on prudishness. At first, it wasn’t even a choice. It was simply how I survived all those years in the orphanage.
The fabric slid through my fingers as though it already knew me. Too soft. Too intimate.
The moment I tightened the corset, the air left my lungs all at once. My hands hesitated for a few seconds, but I didn’t stop.
When I looked at myself, I barely recognized the woman staring back at me.
My body was exposed in ways I had never allowed before. Every curve defined. Bare skin visible. My breathing shorter and painfully uneven.
A dangerous, unfamiliar heat stirred low in my stomach.
I swallowed hard, allowing myself the small mercy of closing my eyes for a moment.
If this was how I felt standing here with my best friend… what would happen when other men looked at me?
I had spent all twenty-eight years of my life avoiding mistakes.
Anything that meant losing control.
Desire was a luxury I had never allowed myself.
It was the safest way to survive without falling into the deceitful traps life laid out for people.
No unplanned pregnancies. No broken hearts. No opportunists trying to use me or take my money.
A solid personal mantra.
I fixed my hair, brushing it until it looked glossy and black. It fell almost to my hips, perfectly straight.
The makeup was subtle, except for my lips, painted in a deeper shade. We had researched the kind of appearance I would need to imitate if I wanted to blend into that world.
The taxi was already on its way.
Along with the fake identity, the interview, and more lies than I could count.
Everything laid out before me like a banquet I would either consume—or that would consume me instead.
I stopped in front of the door with my hand wrapped around the knob.
The point of no return.
I held my breath before opening it.
Nothing would ever be the same if I came back. The shadow of Marie’s fate coiled itself around my ankles, trying to drag me toward one just as devastating.
