"Mom, why do you like the stars so much?" Mira asked her mother, her hair tied with ribbon in two long braids that sat against her shoulders. The two swung gently in the swing on their balcony, ten year old Mira's head nestled against her mother's side as they gazed up at the sky. Her mother let out a light, melodic laugh.

"Because they're pretty." She replied, running her hand along Mira's long braids. "And because no matter what, even if we can't see them, they're always shining."

Mira's brows furrowed at what she considered a rather lousy response. Of course they kept shining; just because it was cloudy or she was inside somewhere didn't mean the stars went away.

"I like to think that we're like stars; even when we have bad days, or we feel lost, that doesn't mean we stop shining."

Mira looked up at the peaceful smile on her mom's face. She still thought it was weird that her mom liked watching the stars so much, but she liked how happy it made her mom, and because of that, it made her happy too.

***

The past few days had been rather uneventful. Mira's father was busy most of the day so she spent most of her time in her room or wandering the building, eavesdropping on conversations she had no business in and trying to better understand the dynamic here.

Luckily, she'd managed to inconspicuously make some trips to the library, playing up her nerdy reading habit to seem genuine and innocent to her father's driver who took her.

"Wow, aren't you just flying through these books," the librarian chuckled as Mira placed her stack of books onto the return desk. Suddenly, the woman's eyes went wide.

"Oh, I almost forgot, I believe you left your phone here the last time you came in," she ducked behind the desk. Mira opened her mouth to correct the woman and assure her that she had her phone with her, but clamped her mouth shut when she popped back up holding a iPhone with a picture of herself and Jada as the screensaver.

Adrian.

"Omg, I've been looking for it all over the place, you're a lifesaver!" Mira exclaimed with a smile as she took the phone.

"Of course, someone brought it to the front desk saying they found it on one of the shelves and I recognized you from the Lock Screen," she replied sweetly.

Mira quickly grabbed three new books and made her way back to the car, the phone shoved in her bra. Luckily she decided to wear a sweatshirt today.

Mira nearly sprinted back to her room when they returned to HQ, making sure to close and lock the door before slipping into the bathroom. She was fairly confident there were no hidden cameras in the room her father had given her, but just to be safe she decided she'd only use it in the bathroom.

She turned the shower on before sitting on the toilet, using Face ID to unlock the phone. There were no apps, no contacts, nothing.

She let out a disappointed sigh. Was she just supposed to wait?

Suddenly the screen lit up with a message.

Unknown Number: Don't let anyone find out about this phone. If they do, we're all fucked.

Mira smiled to herself. Finally, she could actually talk to someone. Kind of.

Mira: Adrian?

She waited eagerly for his response. She was pretty confident it was him, but she didn't want to risk overstepping if it was someone else.

Unknown number: Rule #1 of the spy phone: never use real names.

So it was him.

Mira: Yeah, well this 'spy phone' didn't exactly come with instructions. And neither did this whole spy thing.

Unknown number: Yeah, well life doesn't come with instructions sweetheart. Luckily all our messages will delete 30 minutes after they're sent so you lucked out there.

Unknown Number: Anyways, how have things been with your father?

Mira pursed her lips. What she really wanted to say was 'I want to go home' but that wasn't exactly an option and it made her sound like a total loser. She had to remind herself that she was the one who got herself in this situation.

Mira: It's weird. There are moments when I don't recognize him, and others when I feel like he never left. Still, I watched him kill someone. I knew his hands weren't clean by any means, but seeing it with my own eyes was something else entirely.

Unknown number: I'm sorry Mira, I know you wanted things to be normal between you two.

Mira pursed her lips. It wasn't like her dad had changed... this was always a part of his life, he just managed to keep it hidden from her.

Mira: It's fine, that's my issue to deal with. What's important is that I managed to get a hold of a file with in depth intel on all the families. They have a list of all your operations, including your future plans. They have dates, times, locations... more than enough information to throw the families into chaos. I'm assuming my dad plans on using this information to force you into a corner that only he can get you out of.

She waited for his response, nearly a minute passing by.

Unknown number: I see... so our best bet is to anticipate a Bonnano interception. Alright, thank you Mira, this information will definitely change how we approach things.

A loud knock suddenly came from the door. Mira quickly stood up and turned the shower off.

Mira: I gotta go, I'll be in touch.

She typed quickly, barely sparing a glance at Adrian's reply back.

Unknown number: Ok, be careful and remember to not let anyone know about this phone.

She bit her bottom lip, ducking down and slipping the phone between the folded towels beneath this sink.

She quickly left the bathroom and made her way to the door.

It was her father's driver/assistant whose name she still didn't know waiting at her door. This man felt like the real spy here.

"Your father requested a moment of your time, Miss Amira." He stated cooly. Mira bobbed her head up and down, following him as he lead her through the corridor and to her father's office.

He sat behind his computer, running his hand along his chin as he read over something. His eyes shifted to her as she walked in, raising his hand to motion for her to take a seat. She did so, her nerves all over the place.

There's no way he knew about the phone... unless there was some sort of camera in the bathroom, but that would be a low blow even for her father.

"So, have you been getting a feel for how things are around here?" He asked, leaning back in his seat and clasping his hands in front of him. Good, so she hadn't been exposed.

"Yeah, I've met quite a few people and seen most of the facilities." Mira nodded.

"That's good to hear. I wanted to make sure you became comfortable here before introducing you to the things we do outside of the facility, with our clients and such. Now with that being said, I want you to accompany a group of my people tomorrow on their operation. I need you to see the types of things we do, because I'm sure you can imagine how these operations go, but seeing it with your own eyes might be rather troubling." He narrowed his eyes at her. "In fact, I expect you to be horrified. That's why I want you to go, because our situation right now is only temporary. If you so chose after tomorrow, I can make arrangements for you to go back to school, and continue with the life you lived before. Granted, it won't be easy and things will still be different, but you won't be involved in the organization any more than necessary."

Continue the life you lived before. Mira let his words sink in. He had really just offered her a get out of jail free card right when she was beginning to doubt her chances of going back to her normal life.

"That's all I wanted to talk about for now. I'm sure you'll want to discuss things further after the events of tomorrow, so we will, but I just wanted to give you time to prepare. Honestly Amira, I just want you to be the one to decide your future; a future you want and deserve." He smiled softly, although his eyes were sad.

Mira managed a small smile.

"I know."