A Cage of Gold and Guns

VALENTINA

Sleep is a stranger.

After my late night conversation with Lorenzo, every cell in my body is on high alert. His words are stuck in my head like shards of glass:

“Start looking in your own family first.”

What did he mean by that?

Who in my family could be involved in Bianca’s disappearance? And why?

It’s past 3 a.m. when I slip out of bed. The air is heavy, the silence louder than ever. I walk barefoot through the marble hallway, tracing my fingers along the walls, until I find the thick oak door that leads to the restricted wing of the mansion the De Luca archives.

I shouldn’t be here.

But "shouldn’t" has never stopped me before.

I use the brass pin I pulled from my hair and start fiddling with the lock.

Click.

Click.

Clack.

The door creaks open.

Rows of locked drawers, surveillance monitors, filing cabinets, and ancient looking ledgers line the room. It's like stepping into the dark heart of this empire.

I scan the room quickly and find a cabinet labeled Family Contracts.

I pull open the drawer.

My eyes scan document after document: arranged marriages, blood oath deals, alliance agreements… names I recognize from whispered conversations around dinner tables.

But then a folder labeled “Russo.”

My breath stops.

I pull it out and flip it open.

Photos. Letters. Transcripts. Surveillance logs.

Photos of Bianca. Of my father. Of me.

And a document stamped with red ink: EXTRACTION ORDER: PRIMARY TARGET - BIANCA RUSSO.

Date: Three days before the wedding.

No.

No, no, no.

She was marked before she disappeared.

This wasn’t random.

Footsteps.

I freeze.

A flashlight beam cuts across the room.

“Step away from the drawer,” a deep voice commands.

I turn slowly and face a tall man in black. Not Alessandro. Not Lorenzo. A guard I’ve never seen before.

“What are you doing in here?” he demands.

I—I got lost

He raises his radio. “Intruder in the archive!!

But I move first.

I slam the drawer shut into his ribs and run.

He recovers quickly, chasing me through the hallway. I sprint barefoot across the cold floors, heart pounding like war drums.

I make it to the main stairwell when

Bang!

A warning shot hits the wall beside me.

Then BOOM.

The chandelier above crashes to the floor in a glittering, deadly explosion of crystal. I hit the ground, arms over my head, as shards rain down.

Alarms blare.

Lights flash.

Doors slam open.

Within seconds, Alessandro appears shirtless, gun in hand, furious.

He sees the guard. Sees me.

“What the hell is going on?” he roars.

“She was in the archives,” the guard snarls. “She tried to steal!"

“She’s my wife,” Alessandro growls. “You don’t point a weapon at her.”

He fires.

The guard drops.

Dead.

Just like that.

I scramble backward, stunned, trembling.

Alessandro turns to me, panting. “What did you see?”

I shake my head. “I didn’t I wasn’t trying to,

He grabs my wrist. “Don’t lie to me!”

His grip is iron, his eyes wild.

“Let go of me!” I scream, slapping his chest. “I know about the extraction order! I saw it! My sister was a target before she vanished!”

Silence.

Alessandro releases me, slowly.

His eyes narrow.

“You weren’t supposed to see that,” he says, almost softly.

“Then maybe you should have kept it better hidden.”

He stares at me for a long, dangerous second. Then, “Follow me.”

He leads me through a back hallway, down into the sublevel of the estate. There’s a vault here. A coded lock. Three retina scans. Fingerprint access.

Inside is a chamber of secrets.

Weapons. Cash. Tech.

And in the corner: a war board covered in maps, strings, photos.

At the center?

Bianca.

Tied with red string to half a dozen others: crime families, cartels, corrupt politicians… and a photo of my father.

“I was going to tell you,” Alessandro says gruffly. “When I knew more. But since you’re already in this… you deserve the truth.”

He points to the board. “Your father made a deal behind our backs. A trade.”

“What kind of trade?”

“Bianca. In exchange for Russo territory.”

My mouth goes dry.

“You’re lying.”

“I wish I was.”

He paces. “Your sister didn’t vanish. She was delivered. But she found out too much before the handoff, tried to run. Someone got to her before I could. Now they’re hiding her. Using her.”

I stumble backward. “Why would my father do that?”

“For power. Legacy. He wanted Bianca married to me. But when he sensed she wouldn’t fall in line, he tried to negotiate her usefulness another way. You weren’t part of the plan.”

I sit down, legs shaking.

“So what now?” I whisper. “Do we save her?”

Alessandro looks at me, face unreadable.

“I don’t know who I can trust anymore,” he says.

He leans forward, voice low. “But if we’re going to survive this, Valentina, you’re going to have to choose: Are you with me… or against me?”

The door creaks open.

Lorenzo steps in. Eyes sharp. Calm.

“I think the real question,” he says, “is whether you can trust him, Valentina.”

I look between them.

One a storm.

The other a shadow.

And me?

Caught in the eye of both.