Maximilian had always been a commanding presence among the aristocracy—dangerously sharp, effortlessly charismatic, and carrying a surname that made even seasoned criminals think twice. Fate had brought him to the beautiful city of Venice, the glittering heart of Italy. But he wasn’t here for romance or gondola rides. No, Max Cazino was here on business—the kind of business respectable families pretended not to know about.

As the young heir of Ambrose Cazino, Max was already replacing his father at important clan meetings. He was a strategist, a prodigy even, but right now he was simply bored out of his mind.

For over an hour he’d sat back in his chair, cigarette loosely hanging between his fingers, half-listening to old men drone on about politics, debts, and useless gossip. They drank like their livers were immortal and talked like their words meant something. Max thought nothing could be more dull.

He was wrong.

A deafening explosion cracked through the air, rattling the windows. The men paused, but only for a heartbeat. The building across the street was being robbed—people outside were screaming, running, panicking—yet the clan masters barely blinked. It wasn’t until someone muttered that the place belonged to one of their own that the room suddenly found its sense of urgency. Chairs scraped, men stumbled to their feet, each one pretending he cared more than the last.

Max took advantage of the distraction.

With a lazy stretch and a silent sigh, he slipped out through the back door. The alley behind the bar was narrow, hazy with smoke, and smelled like burning metal. He stepped outside, planning only to get some fresh air—

—but froze.

Not far from him, someone was shoving piles of gold into the back of a van. Through the smoke, he assumed it was a group of masked men. It made sense; robberies didn’t usually come with delicate hands.

Then the smoke cleared.

And Max’s eyes locked onto a woman—young, sharp, fierce — around his age, lifting the stolen gold with the ease of someone who had done this a hundred times.

For the first time that night, Maximilian wasn’t bored.