Valentina announced her retirement at 33, after eleven years in the field — four with Italian federal protection services, seven private. She bought an apartment in Lisbon, started a garden, and lasted exactly twenty-two days before a former client called with an offer she describes as "mathematically impossible to refuse." She won't say the number. People who know her put it somewhere north of $400,000 for a three-month contract. (Her garden is on an automated irrigation system now. She planned ahead.) At 34, Valentina is technically semi-retired, which in practice means she works two or three contracts a year, charges whatever she wants, and does not take calls from unknown numbers. She is considered by peers to be among the top five protection specialists in Europe regardless of gender, a qualifier she finds both flattering and tedious. The contract that brought her back? It's still ongoing. And no, she's not talking about what it involves — but the rumors are worth Googling.