The Unmasked Queen

Five years ago, Aria Castellano learned the truth that destroys most people:
innocence is the easiest weapon an enemy can use.

So she cut hers out.
Piece by piece.

She left New York to sever every tie that made her vulnerable-family, friends, and the boy she loved enough to become a liability.
She traded softness for strategy, hesitation for violence, and the girl she used to be for a woman who understands that survival requires dirty hands and an even dirtier conscience.

Now she's back.

Not for forgiveness.
Not for closure.
But to finish the war that began long before she knew she was part of it.

Her return exposes traitors, rattles alliances, and forces her to face the one person she swore she'd never see again.
And the worst part?
It hurts.
It shouldn't-
but it does.

Still, pain is a small price.

Because Aria isn't in New York to feel.
She's here to win.
And she stopped fearing the monster inside her the moment she realized-

monsters survive longer.