For five years Ethan has been the hidden blade of Lorenzo, heir to a criminal empire. By day he does the dirty work; by night he endures a master who treats him as property. Three times he absorbs punishment meant for Marco, Lorenzo's beloved younger brother, and that loyalty costs him dearly. After a prison humiliation breaks him, Ethan's heart goes cold, and he decides he will never be anyone's shadow again.
When Lorenzo finally grieves over an urn he believes holds Ethan's ashes, the man has already vanished. Ethan reappears as a prodigy in artificial intelligence, shielded by Fabrizio, the mafia don and Lorenzo's uncle. The old ties, buried lies and family rivalries are about to collide again. Ethan now plays a game of his own, and the people who used him are about to learn what he has become.
