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Chapter 48

Penulis: Steve C. Slanzer
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-11-25 10:25:13

Aftermath of Escape

The bedroom door clicked shut behind Alessandro. Livia stood in the center of his private residence, still wearing the torn dress from Dante's villa. Her wrists bore rope burns. A bruise darkened her left cheekbone.

She didn't move when Alessandro approached.

"Let me see," he said quietly, reaching for her face.

She caught his wrist. "No."

His jaw worked. "Livia—"

"I said no." Her grip tightened. "I don't need you to fix this."

For a long moment, they stood locked like that—her fingers white-knuckled around his wrist, his eyes searching hers for cracks. She wouldn't give him any.

"Then what do you need?" His voice dropped lower, rough.

She released him. Crossed to the window. Milan's lights sprawled below, indifferent to her ten days in hell.

"I need..." She pressed her palm against the glass. Cool. Real. "I need to feel something that isn't him."

Behind her, Alessandro went still.

"Livia."

She turned. "Don't say my name like that. Like I'm fragile." S
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  • His Trophy His War   Chapter 68

    The First NightLivia’s stomach growled.She sat on the stained mattress, back straight against the concrete wall, ignoring the ache in her muscles. Dante had left her with a bottle of water and a protein bar an hour ago. She’d taken small sips of water but left the bar untouched on the floor beside her.Outside the locked door, footsteps echoed. Heavy, unsteady.The lock turned.Dante stepped in, still wearing the same rumpled suit from the ambush, but his tie was gone. He held a bottle of whiskey, half-empty, and two glasses. His eyes were bloodshot, his breath reeking of alcohol when he spoke.“You didn’t eat.”“I’m not hungry.”He poured whiskey into both glasses anyway. “You should. You’ll need your strength.”“For what?” Her voice was steady despite the adrenaline still humming under her skin.“For us.” He handed her a glass. “Drink. It’ll help.”She took it but didn’t lift it to her lips. “Where are we?”“My family’s old place. Outside the city.” He sat on the edge of the mattr

  • His Trophy His War   Chapter 67

    The Ambush“Keep your eyes open.”Livia didn’t answer Alessandro. She just nodded, walking a half-step ahead down the narrow Milan alley. The rain had let up, but the cobblestones gleamed slick under the streetlights. Her coat was open, her hair loose—deliberately careless, like someone who’d finally stopped looking over her shoulder.They’d spent the morning laundering the first €800K recovered from Russo’s villa. Celebrated quietly with espresso and silence. For the first time in months, the air didn’t taste like smoke.That should’ve been her warning.A shadow shifted in a service doorway. Livia’s pulse spiked—but before she could react, a hand clamped over her mouth and yanked her backward.Alessandro spun, gun already out. “Livia!”She kicked, elbowing hard—but Dante’s grip was desperate, iron-tight. Two other men surged from the darkness. One tackled Alessandro low. The other jammed a pistol into his ribs.“Drop it, or I blow her head off,” Dante snarled.Alessandro froze, eyes

  • His Trophy His War   Chapter 66

    The Watch Begins“Burn it all.”Livia didn’t look up from the kitchen table as she spoke. Her fingers traced the edge of a fresh burner phone—her third this week. Outside, Milan’s afternoon sun painted the balcony in gold, but the safehouse felt like a vault. Everything tight. Everything ticking.Carlo, hunched over two laptops with energy drink cans stacked like sentinels, barely glanced at her. “You mean launder it. Not burn it.”“Same difference,” she muttered. “If Rossi finds even one marked bill, we’re back in cuffs.”Alessandro stepped in from the balcony, rolling up his sleeves. His knuckles were still scraped from the villa raid two nights ago, but his posture was calm. Controlled. Like he wasn’t watching every shadow the way she was.“You’re jumpy,” he said, not unkindly.“I’m realistic.” She pushed the burner toward him. “Russo’s still texting. He’s not bluffing about telling Rossi. And now the news has footage of that black sedan pulling up right after we left.”“He saw sil

  • His Trophy His War   Chapter 65

    The Heist"Feeds are looped. You've got forty-five minutes."Carlo's voice crackled through Alessandro's earpiece as they crouched in the trees overlooking Russo's villa. The building sat dark against the lake, windows empty, no signs of life.Livia checked her watch. Midnight exactly. "Marco, Sergio—perimeter clear?""Clear," Sergio's voice came back. "No cars, no movement. Place is dead.""Let's keep it that way." Alessandro moved forward, Livia right behind him. They'd done this route before—knew the footholds on the wall, where the razor wire had gaps.Inside the courtyard, everything looked the same as their last visit. The fountain still trickled. Gardens still smelled of jasmine. But the emptiness felt different now. Like the villa knew they were coming.Alessandro tried the service door. Locked. He pulled out his picks, working fast. The lock clicked after thirty seconds."We're inside," he whispered into his comm."Copy," Sergio said. "Clock's running."The villa's interior w

  • His Trophy His War   Chapter 64

    Seven Days"Three days until the villa opens."Carlo's voice cut through the safehouse kitchen, where Livia stood making coffee that tasted like burnt regret. She turned, finding him hunched over his laptop at the table, eyes red from staring at screens."You've been up all night," she said."Clara sent the crime scene photos. Been analysing them." He turned the laptop around. "Look at this."Livia set down her mug, leaning over his shoulder. The screen showed thermal imaging of the villa's wine cellar—rows of racks, stone walls, and one corner that glowed a different temperature."What am I looking at?""Temperature differential. Most of the cellar reads uniform, but this corner—" He tapped the screen. "—drops several degrees. Either there's a crack in the foundation, or there's empty space behind that wall."Her pulse kicked. "A hidden room.""Big enough for what we're looking for." Carlo pulled up another image. "Rossi's team didn't find it because they weren't looking. They proces

  • His Trophy His War   Chapter 63

    Testimony DayThe conference room at the prosecutor's office smelled like old carpet and tension. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked Milan's legal district, the morning sun painting everything in harsh white light. A court reporter sat in the corner, fingers poised over her machine.Livia sat at the long table, Alessandro beside her. Across from them—Rossi, a prosecutor named Giulia Conti, and two assistants with laptops and stacks of folders."Before we begin," Giulia said, her voice crisp and professional, "I want to be clear about what this deposition entails. You're providing testimony under oath. Everything you say can and will be used in court against Russo. Understood?""Understood," Alessandro said."And you've been granted immunity for the villa incident in exchange for your full cooperation?""Yes."Giulia nodded to the court reporter. "Let the record show that Alessandro Moretti and Livia Rossi are present voluntarily, having waived their right to counsel for this depositi

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