Clara Valente devoted her entire life to the quest for justice. For her, the law represented more than just a career; it was a calling, an unwavering effort to establish order in a world riddled with corruption and crime. As one of Italy's most formidable prosecutors, she built her career on dismantling the very systems of power that thrived in secrecy—syndicates that twisted the law, criminals who thought they were immune, and corrupt officials who aided their actions.
Yet, beneath her tough exterior, Clara was tormented by a name she had tried to suppress for years.
Dominic Valente.
Her older brother.
The legend. The phantom. The Hawk.
A man she had spent most of her adult life pretending didn't exist.
A Career Defined by Conviction
Clara had never been foolish. Growing up in Palermo, she witnessed how organized crime infiltrated daily life. The men in tailored suits walking through the city with an air of dominance, the hushed conversations in dimly lit cafés, the unspoken rules determining who could be harmed—she had seen it all.
And she had felt a deep resentment toward it.
Even as a child, she understood the cost of power. Their father, a man who had no ties to the criminal underworld, had been consumed by it. One day, he was there, larger than life; the next, he was gone—another casualty in an unending war.
She was only eight when he died. Dominic, seven years older, transformed overnight. He morphed from an ambitious but carefree teenager into something entirely different—a young man with burning intensity in his eyes, a longing she couldn't yet comprehend.
For years, he had shielded her from the harsh realities surrounding them. But as they matured, Clara began to notice the fractures. The sudden influx of money during tough times, the dangerous individuals speaking to Dominic in hushed tones, the nights he vanished without explanation.
By the time she entered law school, the truth became clear.
Dominic Valente was not merely involved in the criminal underworld; he was destined to dominate it.
So she did what she believed was necessary. She severed ties with him.
She convinced herself it was for the best. That the brother she once knew was lost, buried beneath the weight of his ambitions.
And she immersed herself in her career, determined to rectify the harm caused by men like Dominic.
The Unavoidable Lead
For years, she carefully evaded his name in her work. Even though she had prosecuted hundreds of criminals, some likely connected to Dominic's empire, she never actively sought him out.
Until now.
One evening, a file appeared on her desk long after her colleagues had departed. Initially, she barely glanced at it, assuming it was just another case amidst the overwhelming pile of investigations she handled.
Then she noticed the name.
Antonio Leoni.
It wasn't a name she recognized immediately, but something about it felt… unsettling. As she skimmed through the documents, a wave of unease settled in her stomach.
It was a financial case—money laundering, shell companies, offshore accounts. At first glance, it appeared to be like any other investigation. But as she traced the flow of money, her discomfort intensified.
The transactions were too meticulously structured, the fund movements too accurate. Whoever Antonio Leoni was, he was not merely laundering money—he was orchestrating something far more significant.
Her instincts warned her this was greater than it appeared.
And she had learned long ago to trust those instincts.
Following the Trail
Clara dedicated the next few days to research, unraveling the complex web of financial dealings linked to Leoni's name.
The deeper she delved, the clearer the picture emerged.
The shell companies, scattered across various countries, were associated with a range of industries—real estate, technology, even renewable energy. Yet beneath their legitimate appearances lay something far more sinister.
The businesses were fronts for laundering staggering amounts of money.
What alarmed her most were the sources of these funds.
Drugs. Arms smuggling.
This was not just white-collar crime; it was organized crime on a global scale.
And at the heart of it all was Antonio Leoni.
Still, something about the case felt unfinished. The name appeared everywhere, linked to transactions, companies, and investments. Yet Clara could not uncover a face.
Who was Leoni?
Every effort to discover his true identity led to dead ends. No known photographs, no solid records of his existence prior to a decade ago. It was as if he had materialized out of thin air.
That's when Clara sensed her first spark of suspicion.
No one builds an empire like this from nothing.
Whoever Leoni was, he had a past. He had experience.
He had power.
She simply needed to uncover the source of it.
The Ghost of a Brother
Clara's nights became restless.
The further she advanced in her investigation, the more she recalled things she had long buried.
Dominic had always been the strategic one. Even as a child, he thought several steps ahead. While other kids dreamed of becoming soccer players or musicians, Dominic spoke of control. Influence.Power.
He never wanted to live according to someone else's rules.
He aimed to craft his own reality.
She remembered their last conversation, many years ago.
It had been a brief, unexpected phone call.
"Clara," he had said, his voice calm as if no time had elapsed between them.
At first, she had been too stunned to respond.
"You shouldn't be calling me," she eventually replied.
A pause followed. Then, "Are you safe?"
The question unsettled her—not because she felt threatened, but due to the way he asked it, as if he still regarded her as the little girl he once sheltered.
"I don't need you watching over me," she snapped.
Dominic laughed lightly, but sadness lingered in his tone.
"You may not need it," he replied, "but I'll do it anyway."
She hung up without saying goodbye.
That had been the last she heard from him.
Too Close to the Truth
Clara's investigation reached a critical point when late one night, she received an encrypted email.
The message contained just one attachment—a photograph.
She opened it.
Her breath caught in her throat.
The image was blurry, seemingly taken from a surveillance camera. It depicted a man sitting at an outdoor café, his face partially hidden by shadows.
But she recognized him instantly.
Dominic.
Older. More hardened. But undeniably him.
Beneath the photo was a single name typed out:
Leoni.
Clara felt her blood run cold.
Her brother was Antonio Leoni.
The empire she had been unraveling?
It was his.
The Breaking Point
Clara remained silent for a long while.
For years, she had convinced herself that Dominic was gone, just another specter in her history.
But now, he was present.
Right before her eyes.
And she was the one who had discovered him.
She took a deep breath to steady herself.
Justice does not make exceptions.
Not even for family.
Her hands clenched into fists.
She had made a vow. She devoted her life to confronting men like Dominic.
There was no turning back now.
Yet as she stared at the photograph, she realized one undeniable truth.
This was no longer just a case.
This was war.
And for the first time in her life, she wasn't certain which side she belonged to.