CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE – MISSION CONTROL

As the sun dipped below the horizon, she found herself making final preparations alongside Marco, their movements brisk and efficient in the deepening gloom. "You know what's at stake here, right?" Marco growled, his hands deftly checking the action on his sidearm. "One wrong move, one stupid mistake, and we're both dead." Joan nodded, her throat too tight to speak. She knew the risks, had weighed them endlessly in the long hours leading up to the mission. But there was no turning back now. This was her chance to prove herself, to cement her place within Antonio's ranks once and for all. They moved like wraiths through the night, their footsteps whisper-soft on the dusty earth. The Rossi compound loomed before them, its walls bristling with armed sentries and harsh, sweeping beams of light. Joan's heart thundered in her chest as they crept closer, every sense heightened to a razor's edge. She could smell the acrid tang of gunpowder, the pungent reek of sweat and fear. Marco led t