Dante’s POVMy pulse hammered against the inside of my skull, shoving reason aside. Gabriel’s hand curled tighter around her throat, the blade glinting red against her skin. Blood. Hers. My vision blurred for a second.No.Focus.If I dropped the gun, she’d die. Gabriel didn’t make threats. He made corpses.I could see the dead calm in his eyes. He wasn’t bluffing.“Last chance,” he hissed. “Drop it.”I ignored the demand. My stance remained steady, feet planted, arms up. The Glock weighed heavy in my grip, because now it held more than bullets. It held our lives.But I was watching. Calculating.His left shoulder was slightly forward. He was angled toward me, trying to keep his own body shielded with hers. Smart. Trained. But he wasn’t perfect.His hand had dipped slightly. He wasn’t expecting me to shoot.I only had one shot.One.Any slower, and Lucia’s throat would be carved open. Any faster, and I’d miss.“Okay,” I said, letting my voice crack, just a little. “Okay.”I slowly beg
Lucia’s POVThe engine hummed as we drove down the long, empty road, the tires crunching over gravel and broken glass. A thick fog hung close to the ground, like the world was holding its breath. The old warehouse stood ahead, rusted and silent, like a grave. My heart pounded with fear and anger.Dante was in there.Alive. Probably bleeding. And surrounded by monsters. “Stay in the vehicle,” one of the mercenaries growled. “We clear the perimeter, eliminate hostiles. You move only when we give the go.”“The hell I will,” I snapped, already unfastening my seatbelt. My voice was steel.The leader glared at me from the passenger seat. “This isn’t a rescue op for civilians.”“No,” I agreed. “This is a paid mission. And if you want your money, I’m coming with you—because he’s not dying tonight.”There was a tense beat of silence.Then, with a reluctant grunt, he nodded. “Stay close. Don’t get in the way.”I grabbed my baseball bat and followed them into the abyss, wishing I had learned ho
Dante’s POVThe sound of the bullet cracking through flesh was sharp and satisfying. Vincenzo’s shoulder jerked back as blood bloomed like a flower across his suit. He dropped to one knee, roaring in pain. His guards panicked, shouting, aiming their rifles. But I didn’t flinch. I fired again. One down. Then another.And then…Click.Empty. Again. I’d counted wrong.Fuck.The next second hit me like lightning. A shot rang out from my left, and heat seared through my shoulder. My whole arm jerked as if someone had plugged it into a live wire. The gun fell from my hand, clattering against the dirt and gravel.I stumbled back, air knocked from my lungs.Everything blurred.Someone shouted my name but I couldn’t tell who. Maybe it was just the ringing in my ears. My knees hit the ground first. Then I reached for the pistol, fingers inches away.But a heavy boot came down hard on my arm.I grunted, pain exploding up my nerves like wildfire.“Not so fast,” a cold voice sneered.Then came the
Lucia’s POVI didn’t know where to go.Dante’s place was safe, but it didn’t feel right. Not when I had no idea where my father was or if he’d even make it back. What if he escaped and came looking for me? What if he returned to the only place he knew—our house?Even if it was burnt to a skeleton of its former self.So I stayed.Among the ashes, among the memories.The front door barely hung on its hinges, and the roof sagged in the corner, charred and ruined.I sat on the steps with my arms wrapped around my knees, looking down the street every few minutes, hoping for something. Anything.But the night was cold. And still.I stared at my screen, willing it to light up.Still no word from Dante. I’d called. Texted. Begged. Nothing. And the longer I sat there, the heavier the weight in my chest grew. A weight full of fear, guilt… and something I didn’t want to name.It was almost midnight when I finally stood, rubbing my arms to keep warm. I thought maybe I’d imagined it at first—the s
Dante’s POVI watched Lucia’s face as she begged me to be careful, her voice cracking, her eyes swimming with fear. But I couldn’t look at her for long. Not when everything inside me was boiling, bleeding, breaking.Gabriel Rucci.That fucking name echoed in my skull like a war drum. I had stared at the footage—grainy, but damning. Saw the conversations and receipts. Watched him move like a phantom through the ruins of my past. The bastard had been there the night my parents died. Smiling. Calm. Efficient.He wasn’t just involved.He orchestrated it.And I’d spent my whole life pointing my rage in the wrong direction.“You can’t just go after him like this,” Lucia said, stepping in front of me as I loaded a fresh clip into my pistol. “He still has my father, Dante. If you strike without proper planning—”She reached for me again, and for a split second, I almost let her in, almost let the fury break into something softer.“I don’t care about your father,” I snapped. Her mouth fell ope
Lucia’s POVGabriel turned to leave, like we’d just finished some sick business deal. Like that was it.I took a shaky breath, the taste of smoke and adrenaline still coating my tongue. “Wait—” My voice cracked. “What about my father?”He paused mid-step, glancing over his shoulder with a flicker of amusement. “You really think you’ll be seeing him anytime soon?”My heart stuttered.“We had a deal,” I said, louder this time, desperation creeping in. “I gave you the drive.”He smiled, slow and cruel. “And I didn’t kill him. Yet.”Yet.I took a step forward, fists clenched. “Where is he?”“Don’t bother,” he said, voice like ice. “You won’t be seeing him for a long time.” Then he turned and walked away without a glance back.A low growl of an engine caught my ear. I turned just in time to see headlights flare in the distance. A black van, no plates, speeding off down a dirt road that cut through the trees behind the warehouse. The door swung open, and for a split second, I saw a figure i