20/10/2026
🩸🔪 𝐓𝐎 𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐊𝐀𝐄𝐋 𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐎 🔞
{🖤...𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐒𝐨 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝...🥀}
🌺𝐁𝐲, 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐏. 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐬 🌺
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ARIA RESORTS & CASINO, LAS VEGAS...
Valentina stood among a crowd of fangirls, journalists, and paparazzi, all fighting for Kael's attention. Microphones were shoved toward him as questions came from every direction.
"Kael, over here!"
"Are you really getting married?"
"Is it true your company is taking over the Romano Group's European branch?"
The questions came one after another, but Kael handled them with irritating ease.
"The European expansion is already underway," he answered smoothly. "As for the engagement, I don't discuss my private life with the press."
"So you're confirming the engagement?"
Kael's lips curved into a faint smile. "I believe I just said I don't discuss my private life."
The crowd erupted again.
Valentina almost rolled her eyes.
God, these people were embarrassing.
She'd barely landed in Vegas, and now she was standing in the middle of a crowd of screaming women, watching a man she intended to put six feet under act like he was doing the world a favor by breathing.
"Eyes on target," she murmured into her hearing device.
Kael had trained bodyguards surrounding him, but Valentina wasn't worried. She'd taken down men with tighter security than this. Besides, she never left a job unfinished.
And Kael was about to become her next completed assignment.
She slipped a poisoned needle between her index and middle fingers, keeping her hand low as she watched him through the gaps between the bodies around her.
One clean shot.
That was all she needed.
She waited until the crowd shifted, giving her a brief opening.
Then she flicked her fingers.
The needle shot forward.
And missed.
Kael turned toward another reporter at the exact wrong moment, causing the needle to graze his suit collar before embedding itself in the microphone stand behind him.
Then Kael's gaze dropped to the tiny object lodged beside him.
His expression didn't change, but his eyes did. He stared at the needle for half a second, then lifted his head and started scanning the crowd.
"F**k," she muttered.
His eyes swept past faces, searching.
Then they stopped in her direction.
She didn't look away. She adjusted her dark shades as though she were just another obsessed fan. The blonde wig, brightly colored outfit, and ridiculous accessories she'd thrown together made her look like she'd spent the entire morning planning her wedding to the man.
Around her, the fangirls lost their minds.
"OMG! He's looking at me!"
"Kael, we love you!"
"Kael, over here!"
One girl screamed so loudly that Valentina nearly flinched.
Jesus Christ. Did they have to be this f**king loud?
To be fair, she understood the appeal.
Kael was drop-dead handsome. Tall as f**k, with the kind of height that made your neck hurt just looking up at him. His porcelain skin looked almost unreal beneath the lights, and his broad shoulders filled out his black suit perfectly. Thick jet-black hair was brushed back from his face, though a few stubborn strands had fallen over his forehead.
And his lips...
Small, pink, and annoyingly perfect.
The kind of lips that made women forget they had brains.
Kael blew the crowd a kiss, and several women nearly collapsed.
Valentina resisted the urge to gag.
Cøcky bastard.
She'd give him credit for one thing, though. He knew exactly how to work a crowd.
Unfortunately for him, she wasn't here to join his fan club.
His gaze swept over her again, lingering just long enough to make her skin prickle beneath her disguise.
For the first time since arriving in Vegas, Valentina wondered if she'd underestimated her target.
She wasn't about to stick around and find out.
Keeping her head down, she slipped through the crowd and disappeared between the people pressing toward the barricades.
Kael watched the spot where she'd been standing.
Then he turned to his assistant.
"Follow her."
Without another word, his assistant nodded and spoke quietly into his earpiece.
Kael turned back toward the reporters, his faint smile returning as though nothing had happened.
VALENTINA'S APARTMENT...
Valentina ripped off her disguise the moment the door closed behind her.
This wasn't her first time in Vegas, the agency already prepared a hideout for her. She pulled everything off so quickly, as though wearing those ridiculous colors for another second might infect her.
She hated bright colors.
It was black or nothing.
Black matched her personality perfectly.
Left in nothing but her lace p@nties, she headed toward her laptop, her long black hair falling freely down her back. Bras had never been her thing, and she wasn't about to start wearing one just to please anybody.
Without the blonde wig and ridiculous outfit, she looked nothing like the harmless fangirl she'd pretended to be earlier.
Her features were sharp and delicate, with almond-shaped dark eyes that always seemed one second away from sizing up a target. A straight nose, naturally pink lips, and long black hair framed her face, making her striking features even harder to ignore.
She dropped into her chair, opened her laptop, and clicked on the files in her document folder.
KAEL ROMANO.
She hadn't even had time to properly review his file after landing in Vegas. She'd been in such a damn rush to get the job done that she'd barely glanced at his picture before running out to catch him at the casino.
A rookie mistake.
But she had never needed to study a file to put a man six feet under.
Still, after that embarrassing little stunt at the casino, curiosity had finally gotten the better of her.
She opened his profile.
KAEL ROMANO
Age: 25
Nationality: Italian-American
Occupation: Business Magnate
Estimated Net Worth: $80 Billion
Public Reputation: Las Vegas' Most Influential Bachelor
Security Threat: Extreme
Known Attempts on Life: 10+ confirmed assassins eliminated within one month
Combat Assessment: Highly trained and unpredictable
Personality Profile: Calm, calculating, rarely loses emotional control
Known Weaknesses: Unknown
Romantic History: Extensive
Women: Numerous
Current Betrothal: Gina Martinez
Threat Level: ██████████
Valentina leaned back in her chair, a slow grin spreading across her face.
She scrolled through the reports, studying the previous attempts on his life and how each assassin had met their end.
Snipers. Poison. Explosives. Seduction. Close-range attacks.
Different methods. Different people.
The same result.
Kael survived.
The assassins didn't.
Her smile faded slightly as she opened the last report. Ten assassins in the past three months, and not a single one had succeeded.
Either Kael was exceptionally lucky, or the man was far more dangerous than his public image suggested.
Probably both.
"You're more interesting than I thought, Romano."
She shut the file and glanced toward the window.
Something caught her eye.
Across the street, on the rooftop of a nearby building, a figure was setting up a r***e.
Valentina went still.
For a moment, she simply watched, her expression hardening as the person adjusted the weapon and positioned themselves toward her building.
Well, f*ck.
She hadn't expected company this soon.
Her gaze flicked toward the window again. She couldn't tell who the sniper was targeting, but the position gave them a clear view of her apartment.
And she wasn't stupid enough to sit around and wait to find out.
"Too f**king slow," she muttered.
She shut her laptop, pulled an oversized black T-shirt over her head, and grabbed her bag. The shirt fell past her arse.
She moved quickly, grabbed the gallon of gasoline she'd kept beneath the counter, and splashed it across the carpet and into the corners of the room. She wasn't about to leave her equipment, files, or anything else behind for some stranger to find.
Once she reached the exit, she glanced back at the apartment.
Home sweet f**king home.
What a waste.
She flicked open her lighter and tossed it onto the soaked carpet.
Flames caught almost immediately, spreading across the floor as thick smoke began to fill the room.
Valentina slipped out and pulled the door shut behind her.
By the time she reached her bike, smoke was pouring from the apartment windows. She swung onto the seat, started the engine, and sped away before anyone could stop her.
She glanced back once at the burning building, then returned her attention to the road.
Someone had been waiting outside her apartment with a r***e.
That was no coincidence.
Her thoughts drifted back to the casino, to Kael's sharp eyes and the way he'd watched her disappear into the crowd.
A faint smirk tugged at her lips.
"Well, Romano. If you're already curious about me, you should've just sent an invitation."
She twisted the throttle.
The bike roared beneath her as she sped into the night.
ROMANO ESTATE...
The Romano Estate sat behind massive black gates.
The gardens were perfectly trimmed, with towering fountains and rows of luxury cars parked out front.
And the mansion?
Pure sin.
Dark stone, massive glass windows, elegant pillars, and golden lights glowing from within.
Inside, polished marble floors gleamed beneath crystal chandeliers, while expensive paintings lined the walls. Everything screamed money.
Kael sat in his private lounge, one arm dr***d lazily over his black leather chair, listening while his guards reported everything that happened at the casino.
His face gave nothing away.
"Who was she?" he asked, low, almost bored.
"We're still working on it, sir. The footage hasn't been helpful. Her face was mostly covered."
Kael leaned back slowly. His eyes dropped to the table in front of him.
The small evidence bag was sitting right there.
Inside it was the needle. The same needle that had nearly gone into his throat in the middle of a f**king crowd.
The little b*tch had actually thought she could kill him like that. In public. With reporters everywhere.
Interesting.
"Find out who sent her," he said.
"Yes, sir."
"And the poison?"
"It has been sent for analysis, sir."
He gave a small nod, but his eyes stayed on the needle. He picked up his glass and took a slow sip, still staring at it like it personally offended him.
Most assassins who came for him were either too impatient, too arrogant, or too f**king stupid to even get close.
This one got close.
She missed, yes.
And that pi**ed him off and intrigued him at the same time, which was a dangerous combination for her.
"Keep looking," he ordered.
"Yes, sir."
The guards turned to leave. His voice stopped them before they reached the door.
"And don't underestimate her."
They turned back around.
The guards exchanged a quick look.
They left without another word.
Kael settled back into his chair alone, swirling the drink in his glass, eyes still on that stupid little needle in the bag.
DOWNTOWN LAS VEGAS, FREMONT EAST...
Valentina stepped into the bar. It was dim, music playing low in the background. She came here for one person. Rook.
He was her handler. The one who handled everything she needed while she focused on the target.
She spotted him in the corner booth and slid in across from him.
"Rook."
He shut his laptop halfway. "Hey badass. Didn't expect you to come see me. What happened?"
"Someone was on a roof across from my apartment with a r***e. I burned the place and left before he got a clear shot."
Rook expression turned serious. "You see who it was?"
"No. And now I need a new place. Somewhere clean. No name, no trail back to me."
"I'll find one tonight." He opened the laptop again. "The casino?"
"Missed."
"I'm not chasing Romano all over Vegas hoping for another five seconds. I need to be inside."
Rook was already typing. He pulled up Romano Group security, then the estate listings, scrolling past the usual driver and gate guard posts. Valentina watched his eyes stop.
"Here."
He turned the screen. Romano Estate. Recruiting for personal security.
She read it twice. "Bodyguards."
"Gets you in the house. Maybe even on his detail if you're good."
She scrolled down to the requirements and snorted. "Men only."
"Yeah, that's the catch."
She looked up at him. "Then I'll be a man."
Rook didn't argue. He never did when she sounded like that. "I'll build the identity. Papers, background, everything they'll check. You'll have to cut your hair."
"I figured." She hated that part already.
"Just passing the drills won't be enough either," he said. "There'll be fifty trained men there. You need a reason for them to pick you."
She knew where he was going. "Stage something."
"During the assessment. Someone goes for Romano, you stop it. Clean, fast, looks real."
"Find someone who won't mess up," she said. "And who can keep his mouth shut after."
"I know a guy."
"Good." She stood and picked up her bag. "Text me when the apartment's ready. And Rook?"
He looked up.
"Make the name normal. I'm not dying as some dramatic Italian movie character."
He almost smiled. "I'll see what I can do."
ROMANO ESTATE...
The recruitment was in the private training courtyard behind the mansion. A line of men stood waiting while Adrian, Kael's chief of security, went through their applications with a clipboard in his hand. Guards were posted around the edges, instructors standing off to the side watching everything.
Valentina was in the middle of them in a black suit cut for a man's frame. She'd cut her hair short that morning and hadn't stopped hating it since. The badge pinned to her chest read Valentino Rossi.
She kept her face blank and her shoulders straight like Rook told her. All she had to do was not look like a woman trying to kill their boss.
"Next group," Adrian called out. "Let's see what you've got."
It started with drills. Running, push-ups, basic defensive moves with the instructors. Valentina held back just enough. She wasn't about to flop around like an idiot and get sent home, but showing everything she could do on day one would have been even stupider.
Kael walked into the courtyard halfway through.
She noticed him before most of the others did. He didn't announce himself, he just stepped out from the side entrance adjusting his cuff, watching the assessments like he was bored already.
Then a man by the gate moved.
He broke away from the two guards near him and came straight for Kael, and Valentina saw the blade in his hand before anyone shouted.
"Mr. Romano!"
The guards were already reacting but he was too close and too fast. She moved without thinking about the plan anymore.
She caught his wrist mid-swing and twisted. The knife hit the pavement. She drove her shoulder into him and took him down hard, keeping him pinned with her knee until the guards got there and dragged him off her.
Kael was staring at the man on the ground. Then he looked at her.
Valentina let go and stood up, straightening her jacket. Her heart was beating too fast but she kept her face where it needed to be.
Adrian rushed over. "Are you all right, sir?"
"I'm fine." Kael didn't even look at him. "What's your name?"
"Valentino Rossi, sir."
He studied her for a moment longer than was comfortable. "Good reflexes, Rossi."
"Thank you, sir."
"Question him," he told Adrian. "I want to know who he is and how the f**k he got past security."
"Yes, sir."
Kael turned like he was done with it, then stopped and looked back at her again. "Put Rossi on my personal detail."
What the f**k?
She hadn't expected him to hand her the position because Rook's staged attacker actually worked that well.
She kept her mouth shut.
"Understood, sir," Adrian said.
Kael nodded and headed back toward the mansion. Valentina watched him go, trying not to look too pleased about it. The devil had just opened his front door and waved her in.
"Rossi."
Adrian came up beside her. "Stay close to Mr. Romano. You'll get your full instructions shortly."
"Yes, sir."
He walked off to deal with the man still being held by the guards. Valentina turned to follow Kael inside.
A red dot bloomed on the front of her suit.
She froze.
Before she could move or trace the direction of the sniper, Kael turned back. He saw it the same second she did.
"Move!"
He grabbed her by the waist and yanked her into him. A shot cracked through the courtyard and chipped the stone pillar right where she'd been standing.
His arm was tight around her, holding her against his side behind the pillar while his men scattered for cover and started yelling out positions.
That shot wasn't for Kael. It had been aimed at her chest.
Kael pulled her further back, his eyes scanning the roofs around them. Then his hand tightened on her waist.
He frowned. He glanced down, just briefly, like something didn't add up.
How the hell could a man's waist be so f**king slim?
🖤....T.B.C.....🖤
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