Cassian’s Pov;

Dawn came without warmth.

The sky over the city was pale and heavy, the color of unfinished steel. The kind of morning that promised nothing good.

I stood on the balcony of the safe house, coffee cooling in my hand, watching the streets below. The operation would move within the hour. Every contingency, every backup, every escape line had already been written. But my mind wouldn’t stop rewriting them, adding layers, angles, traps within traps.

Naomi was the center of it all. The bait. The flame. The risk I couldn’t let go of.

Inside, the team was already assembling. Rubio oversaw logistics, five vehicles, staggered positions, each with...