The heavy glass of the champagne tray balanced perfectly on my fingertips, its weight familiar, almost grounding. Around me, the hotel ballroom buzzed with the high-society chatter of elite billionaires, corrupt politicians, and A-list celebrities. They saw a quiet, beautiful waitress in a tailored black vest and slicked-back hair.They didn't see the elite assassin analyzing every exit, every security guard, and every blind spot in the room.My liquid-silver eyes scanned the crowd, keeping my head low as I moved deeper into the function. Tonight wasn't the night for the kill. Tonight was a scouting mission. I needed to see him. I needed to look at the man I was contracted to execute—the seemingly untouchable CEO, Vale. The paycheck for his head was the only thing on earth that could pay for my brother’s life-saving treatments. I couldn’t afford a single mistake.Then, the air in the ballroom shifted.The temperature seemed to drop, a sudden, unnatural chill sweeping through the crowded room. Conversations quieted near the grand entrance. I turned my head just enough to look.It was him.Vale was towering, easily commanding the room without saying a word. His custom-tailored dark suit hugged a powerful frame, and his jawline looked chiseled from cold marble. He was dangerously handsome, radiating a nonchalant, calculated aura that made everyone around him look small. But it was his eyes that caught me—a striking, deep forest green. They were cold, observant, and entirely dead.Just a man, I reminded myself, my heart rate steady. Just a wealthy target with a pulse.I navigated the floor, smoothly moving toward his trajectory. I needed to see him up close. I needed to gauge his reflexes, his awareness.As he stepped past a cluster of investors, I executed a flawless, crowded-room maneuver. I stepped backward to clear a path for another guest, purposely narrowing the gap between us.Brush.The fabric of my sleeve grazed his arm. It was a fraction of a second, a meaningless contact in a packed room. But the moment our skin almost met through the cloth, a violent jolt of static electricity snapped between us. A strange, suffocating weight pressed down on my chest, tasting like ash and iron.My instincts screamed. Danger.Without missing a beat, I melted into the crowd. I didn't sprint; I simply shifted behind a massive marble pillar, stepping into a service corridor just as the heavy kitchen doors swung shut behind me. I was a ghost. Gone in a blink.Outside in the ballroom, Vale stopped dead in his tracks. He turned his head sharply, those forest-green eyes instantly locking onto the exact space where I had just been standing. His brow furrowed, a calculated calculation running behind his dark gaze as he searched the sea of identical faces. But the space was empty.I was already deep in the shadows, smiling in the dark.