Prologue

A fiery storm brewed within Silvio's gaze, his eyes ablaze with a tempest of fury. Silas clasped onto my arms, his grip growing ever tighter, as Silvio's searching gaze followed the path of Silas's touch. I could sense the grinding of his teeth, and witnessed a deep well of loathing fill his eyes, like a piercing flame.

“Guards!” Silas shouted loudly, causing me to startle at the sound of his voice. I kept my gaze fixed on Silvio's face while he simmered with anger and a group of men closed in around us. I felt a lump form in my throat as I assessed the predicament we were in. Silvio was at a clear disadvantage, and Alejandro approached Silas with a manic grin on his face.

“Give me the girl,” he said and Silas shook his head. His eyes were on Silvio as he said.

“She’s coming with me.” With his words, he jerked me to him as his arm slid from my bicep to my waist and he squeezed as Silvio roared.

“Don’t fucking touch her.” He said calmly, too calmly. And my eyes shed tears as Silas smirked and said.

“I’ll do more than just touch.” He said and Silvio took a threatening step forward when Silas’s men surrounded him. Silas dragged me with him to the stairs and grinned.

“You lost, Salvatore,” Silas said as my screams echoed his men raised their guns at Silvio and he dragged me to the stairs before he disappeared from my sight.

****

Micah and Donovan rushed to the elevator.

“I-I have to take Silvio and Dante out.” Micah panted pressing several buttons on the elevator as it opened. The ground floor was clean. Miranda was dead. “You stay here and watch out for Silas.” He said as Donovan nodded and tightened his grip on the gun.

“Bring my sons back.” He said as doors closed. Simultaneously, as the door opened to the fifth floor, Micah immediately took cover behind the pillars. His ears shot up as he heard several gunshots and his blood run cold. Sneaking behind the pillars and he finally reached the area. His eyes widened and his chest filled with pride.

“Took you long, Morris,” Silvio grumbled wiping his bloodied hands with his pants as he knelt and grabbed the gun before stuffing one in his belt as he raised his head key to Micah’s eyes. “Look for Dante. I’ll go after Silas.”

Micah shook his head.

“They’ll be out by now. The building is wired with bombs. We’ve to get out now.” Silvio frowned.

“But Dante. We can not leave him behind.” His mind ran wild. Silas had Sadie, and Dante was somewhere injured. “Find him. I can not leave her.” Silvio commanded as Micah sighed as Silvio ran to the stairs. His eyes took over the mess Silvio created. There were ten to twelve guards he mercilessly killed. And blood was splattered all over. He cursed as he looked for Dante.

*****

Silvio rushed cursing to the ground floor. His eyes looked around when his gaze is Meg Donovan's. His eyes narrowed and he asked.

“Did Silas escape?” He asked and Donovan frowned.

“No one.” If Silas' hand escaped, he was still somewhere in the building.

“Fuck!” He cursed as he slammed his fist on the wall. Every fibre in his body roared with rage. He wanted to end what Alejandro started years ago and he didn’t know how to do it. His breathing was unstable as he runs to the stairs again before barking. “Hide somewhere.”

He searched the second floor and still no sign of any living being. The building seemed empty. Cursing and gritting his teeth he was about to go to the third floor when he heard incoming footsteps but he frowned when he saw Micah carrying unconscious Dante down.

“The building’s empty,” Micah grumbled. Silvio felt an invisible force clasping around his throat. Sadie wasn’t here. He was this, this close to her and now he had lost her. His anger intensified when Micah groaned with pain. Silvio noticed a bullet wound in his abdomen and carried Dante himself.

“We have less than two minutes left, we’ve to leave now,” Micah said as they rushed downstairs. Donovan was pacing with worried eyes as his gaze landed on unconscious Dante. He was about to ask when Silvio interrupted.

“You go, I’ll look for it again,” Silvio said as he led them all to the outside. His muscles straining.

“They are not here. Building’s empty.” Micah argued. Silvio gave him a death glare and grinned his teeth. The muscle beneath his jaw twitched.

“She might be still there. I can not leave her to “

An explosion was heard as the top floor of the building blasted, Donovan panicked. “We need to find shelter!” He said as Silvio looked wide-eyed at the explosion.

“Twenty seconds till the second last floor!” Micah screamed as he tried to grab Dante but rather groaned as the pain become unbearable. At the last floor, the ring of capacitors fired, dumping their stored electrical power into a precisely-constructed network of wires.

Silvio contemplated. Sadie might be still inside and he would never forgive himself if something happen to her. At the end of his thought, he was already walking to the building as Micah yelled. “I can not pick Dante. We all will die!”

Silvio’s stilled and cursed as he ran back and picked up Dante as they all ran to the far end as fast as they could.

The blast happened again, and the second last floor blasted. Heat, radiation, and mechanical force erupted outward in a thunderous explosion of atomic energy. Screams of surrounding people could be heard. With each heat, his heart followed. What if-

But it didn’t stop there. The mechanical pressure and radiation of the primary stage attacked the secondary core of depleted uranium at the heart of the bomb. Metals merged with bricks, and the expanding fission reaction was magnified by another explosion followed by another explosion after explosion.

The force of the explosion send them ten feet away flying back as he watched while his heart screamed as the building blasted fully.

As the ominous mushroom cloud ascended towards the ethereal expanse of the Italian sky, it mirrored the solemn ache in his heart. Helplessly, he watched as she slipped away, swallowed by the devastation. His heart tightened, a bittersweet mixture of sorrow and disbelief filling his being. And then, in a poetic twist, he became aware of the heavens weeping alongside him. Tears, like silent messengers of grief, streamed down his face unchecked. But amidst the chaos, not a soul caught sight of his quiet despair. The heavens cried with him, showering him with heavy raindrops that mirrored his own tears, each drop hitting the ground with a resolute finality. In that sorrowful moment, he knew that his loss would be eternal.

Forever.