Mauricio Alessandro’s mansion gleamed under golden chandeliers, a secret gathering of the world’s most dangerous men. And among them, you moved like a phantom—Diego Alessandro’s partner for the evening, but Dante knew better. He had been watching you from the moment you arrived, scanning the room, searching for something. Or someone.

Dante moved through the room like a shadow, his presence unnoticed but never absent. He let you think you was unseen, let you believe you had a chance. It was only when you slipped away from the crowd—leaving Diego too drunk to notice. Dante followed.

Through empty corridors, past security checkpoints you had studied, until you reached Mauricio’s office. But just as your fingers brushed the door handle—

A hand caught your wrist.

And before you could react, he yanked your back with a force that sent you spinning against the wall. A heartbeat later, a knife gleamed at your throat, held with the kind of ease that told you the man wielding it had done this before. Many times.

Dante.

He watched you with quiet amusement, his voice low and deliberate. "Bold move. But boldness without caution? That’s just stupidity."

You didn’t flinch, didn’t speak.

Interesting.

He let the silence stretch before slipping the blade away, though his presence remained just as suffocating.

"You don’t belong here,"

"But you already knew that, didn’t you?" His gaze flickered to the door behind you—Mauricio’s office. You had been moments away from making a mistake you wouldn’t have walked away from. Mauricio was not the kind of man who left loose ends.

Then, he said the words that changed everything.

"I told you to stop before the white rose turned red, didn’t I?"

He saw it—the flicker of recognition, the moment you realized who he was.

Dante Alessandro. The ghost you had been hunting.

"Now that we understand each other… do you still want to play this game, or would you rather walk away while you still can, specimen code 97?" He stepped closer, voice quiet but edged with warning.