Rome never truly slept.
Even at 2:00 a.m., the city breathed beneath them… amber streetlights glowing over ancient stone, Vespa engines humming in the distance, and the faint echo of laughter spilling from late-night cafés. But high above the city, from the terrace of their penthouse suite, Elise felt none of its warmth.
Only the weight of the silver drive in her hand.
ROME FILES
Philip set the laptop on the table between them, rainwater still drying on the sleeves of his black jacket from Prague.
“Moment of truth.”
Elise inserted the drive.
The screen flickered.
Encrypted folders.
Agency seal.
Then another symbol appeared over it… a black crest shaped like a crown enclosed by a circle.
The Council.
A chill moved through her.
Philip began decrypting.
Lines of data scrolled across the screen: mission reports, financial transfers, covert routing maps through concert venues, and then something worse.
Names.
Agents.
Embedded operatives.
Compromised personnel.
Then Elise saw it.
Her breath caught.
PHILIP MARCHAND
Status: Embedded Asset: Contingency Protocol
Her eyes lifted slowly.
Philip had already seen it.
His face went pale.
“No.”
Elise’s voice dropped.
“What is Contingency Protocol?”
He stared at the screen like it had reached inside him.
“It’s a failsafe program.”
Silence.
“For operatives who become liabilities.”
Elise’s stomach turned.
“Liabilities?”
Philip swallowed hard.
“They build people into missions years in advance. False identities. Constructed careers. Deep cover lives.”
The words settled like ice.
Their music career.
The duo.
The fame.
The international access.
Elise looked at him, something sharp and terrible forming in her chest.
“Philip…”
He shook his head.
“No. No, Elise, I didn’t know.”
But the file kept opening.
A classified psychological evaluation.
SUBJECT CONDITIONING SUCCESSFUL
PAIR-BOND REINFORCEMENT RECOMMENDED
USE ELISE HART AS PRIMARY EMOTIONAL ANCHOR
Her blood ran cold.
Use Elise.
Not protect.
Not partner.
Use.
Philip looked stricken.
“I swear to you, I never knew they wrote this.”
Before Elise could answer, the room lights died.
Again.
Blackout.
Her pulse slammed.
Not coincidence.
Philip was already armed.
“Down.”
Glass shattered.
A tactical unit stormed the suite.
No insignia.
Council operatives.
Philip fired first, forcing them back behind the marble columns while Elise grabbed the drive and rolled behind the sofa.
The penthouse exploded into chaos.
Gunfire tore through silk curtains.
Fragments of glass glittered across the floor.
Elise ducked low and moved for the adjoining terrace doors.
“Philip!”
He was pinned behind the bar.
Three hostiles advancing.
She fired twice.
One dropped.
The second turned…
Philip disarmed him with a vicious strike and sent him crashing into the grand piano.
The third operative raised a rifle.
A red laser fixed on Elise’s chest.
Then a shot rang out from the terrace.
The operative dropped.
Elise spun.
Rowan Vale stepped out of the darkness, trench coat soaked from the Roman rain.
Alive.
Still.
Always one step ahead.
“No time,” Rowan said. “They’re moving the Council summit tonight.”
Philip frowned.
“Where?”
Rowan looked toward the city skyline.
The Vatican dome glowed in the distance.
“Beneath the old archives.”
Elise stared.
“The Council is meeting under Vatican City?”
Rowan nodded once.
“They’ll be gone by dawn.”
The realization hit instantly.
This was the chance.
No more running city to city.
No more decoding fragments.
This was the center.
The source.
The heart of the betrayal.
Philip looked at Elise.
The silence between them carried everything… the file, the doubt, the hurt.
Then he held out his hand.
“Whatever they built…”
His voice softened.
“What’s between us is real.”
Elise looked at him.
Then took his hand.
“Then let’s burn it down.”
Outside, thunder rolled across Rome as the bells of midnight began to toll.
Below the city, beneath centuries of stone and silence, the people who had orchestrated every betrayal were waiting.
And for the first time, Elise and Philip were coming for them.
About the Creator
Amber
I love to create. Now I have an outlet for all the stories and ideas the flood my brain. If you read my stories, I hope you enjoy the journey as much, if not more than I.
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