The set-up

Oh God, no!

This can’t be happening.

My heart pounded as I refreshed the screen again. Nothing. I checked the deleted files, dug through the backups, turned the camera off and back on still nothing. The video was gone. The one video that would have blown the Otto cartel wide open. The one piece of evidence that could have brought them to their knees.

A cold sweat slicked my skin. My breathing unsteady. This wasn’t just a setback it was a death sentence.

My mind raced.

Had they gotten to it? Hacked my device Or worse… had someone close betrayed me?

A sharp knock at the door snapped me back to reality. I froze.

No.

They knew.

I swallowed hard, backing away, my pulse hammering in my ears. This was it. The mission was over. The Otto cartel had come for me.

Oh God, what would I do now? I was out of moves.

My heart pounded so hard I struggled to breathe. My cover was blown, and if I didn’t move fast, I wouldn’t live to regret it.

Snatching my phone, I reached for the window at the back of my apartment. The wooden frame creaked as I forced myself through. There was no turning back. I was done with this undercover mission. I had to make it official.

The vice chancellor. I had to reach him first.

Pulling my hood low, I hurried down the street, walking as fast as I could go. My breath came in short, ragged gasps, my ears hyper-aware of every sound around.

Everything seemed suspicious - the shuffle of footsteps, the distant hum of traffic, the eerie rustle of leaves. Was someone following me?

I spun around, but the street was empty. Still, the fear of been caught paralyzed me.

When I reached the vice chancellor’s home office where we only ever met in the deepest secrecy, something felt wrong. Terribly wrong.

The air felt thick, the tension something I couldn’t quite explain. I felt someone was around with a presence I couldn’t see. And then my heart nearly stopped.

Otto’s car.

It sat there, parked at the adjourning street, gleaming under the dim overhead light in the street.

No. This was impossible.

I had left Otto barely an hour ago fast asleep, his body warm against mine after we had sex. There was no way he could have beaten me here.

Unless…

A sharp chill ran down my spine.

Unless he was never really asleep. Unless he had known about the undercover mission all along.

I stepped back, pulse hammering, suddenly feeling like a pawn in a game I didn’t even understand.

And then I saw it. Two shifting shadows flickered behind the vice chancellor’s window.

I froze solid.

He wasn’t alone.

I crept closer, heart hammering against my ribs. The faint murmur of voices reached my ears, low yet unmistakable. A deep, familiar tone echoed in the air.

It was Otto’s.

My stomach tightened. My vision blurred. Otto was here.

The realization almost gave me a heart attack. Did he know? Had he found out? Were we already marked as traitors?

A cold sweat slipped down my neck. I had to move. Now.

I turned and hurried down the street, every nerve in my body screamed for me to run. To hide. To disappear. I fumbled for my phone, my trembling fingers jabbing at the screen. Luca. He had to know.

No signal.

I tried again. Nothing.

My pulse spiked. Had they already gotten to him?

The thought nearly stopped me in my tracks, but there was no time for doubt. If Otto knew, if they’d already moved on Luca… then I was next.

And I was running out of time.

If I was running away, I was running with Luca. No questions. No hesitation. He was my safe haven, the only one I trusted the most. So I headed for his apartment, my mind a storm of panic and desperation.

“Luca, you won’t believe wh…”

The words never fully left my lips. They never did. They died, strangled in my throat the moment my eyes landed on the scene before me.

“Huh?” I exclaimed. A sharp breathe escaped my lungs. My knees caved in.

There, tangled in the sheets, was Luca or someone who looked exactly like him. I wouldn’t dare believe this was him. I wished I was dreaming. He was having sex with a woman like I never even existed.

My world collapsed around me.

A sharp ringing filled my ears. My vision blurred, not from shock but from the betrayal piercing my heart like a dagger.

"Luca?" I barely recognized my own voice. It was fragile, broken. A single syllable filled with disbelief.

The man froze, his eyes locking onto mine. But there was no guilt in them. No panic. Just... confusion.

My stomach twisted violently.

My Luca. The Luca I knew would be scrambling for an explanation, begging me to listen. He’d never just stare.

Something was wrong.

I took a step back. My heartbeat thundered in my ears. The air in the room felt heavy. Unnatural.

“That’s it? You won’t even try to explain?” My voice rose, sharp with anger but also with fear. Fear of losing him.

No answer.

I didn’t care. I was done with his cheating ass. I turned sharply, ready to walk out the door but the moment my fingers touched the doorknob, it swung open.

I slammed straight into a hard chest.

The scent of familiar cologne hit me first. Strong hands steadied me.

“Whoa, you okay?” Luca’s voice. It was real.

Dread poured down my spine like ice water.

Slowly, I lifted my head.

And there he was.

Luca. The real Luca.

My breath stopped. My pulse quickened as my gaze flickered between the two identical figures.

“What the hell” My voice cracked, my throat dry with disbelief.

“You had a twin, and you never mentioned it?” I shouted, my pulse hammering in my ears.

Luca opened his mouth, but before a single word escaped, a sharp, resounding knock shattered the silence. The door burst open without warning, and two cartel members stormed in, their faces serious as they looked straight at me.

“Otto and the Vice Chancellor are dead. You’re needed at the cartel. Now.”

A cold shiver rippled through me. My stomach twisted violently.

Dead? Both of them? How?

A great disbelief took over me. My breath came fast and shallow. Was this a setup? Was I being framed? Who would believe me?

But there was no time to think. We had to go.

Both cartel members led the way, the air thick with tension as we hurried away from Luca’s apartment. The streets were eerily quiet. Too quiet. Then…

A loud scream echoed through the night, followed by a desperate, strangled cry. The voice was familiar. It was Luca’s twin.

We spun around and raced back, dread pounding in my chest.

Luca’s twin staggered just outside the door, clutching his side. Blood seeped between his fingers, dripping onto the cold pavement. His breath was ragged, his eyes wide with shock.

“Who… who did this?” My voice barely came out.

Far ahead, a shadowy figure darted away. My blood turned to ice.

It couldn’t be.

The figure’s posture, the way it moved, it looked just like Otto. But Otto was supposed to be dead.

I fumbled for my phone, my hands trembling as I tried to call an ambulance. But just as I pressed the power button, my screen lit up with an incoming call.

The name on the screen made my heart stop.

Vice Chancellor.

The same Vice Chancellor who was supposed to be dead.

I stared at the glowing screen, my breath frozen in my lungs.