LOGINAdriano The fact that my mother was back - alive, breathing, - home, safe —still hadn’t fully settled in my bones. Even sitting at the table, surrounded by family, it didn’t feel real. Zia Maria had gone all out. The table was filled—more food than we could possibly eat. The kind of spread she reserved for celebrations… for joy. But tonight? There was no laughter and jokes. Everyone spoke in hushed tones when they did speak. There was certainly no teasing, no easy conversation. Just silence stretched thin over everything between courses. The atmosphere was stifling, tense...fragile. Like a comment too loud might shatter the relief we all felt. I watched them. My aunt… my uncle… Both of them had red-rimmed eyes. Subtle. Hidden behind forced composure—but I saw it. It was obvious they’d been crying. Of course they had. It could have easily gone the other way today. We all knew it. One wrong move… one miscalculation…And we wouldn’t be sitting here sharing a meal. We’d be planni
Liam M father had called out to me, but I hadn’t stopped. I just wanted to get away. To process my pain and heartbreak elsewhere in private. As I got to the top of the stairs, his hand grabbed my shirt, trying to stay my escape. I was too enraged, throat locked and tears burning my eyes. I just wanted to get away - I surged forward and tore free. Then—The sound. A shout. A sickening thud. The sound is wrong. A dull, wet thud,crack, thud, thud as my fathers body rolled down the stairs. I froze midstep, the fall playing before my eyes like a nightmare come to life. The rage drained out of me in an instant leaving ice in it’s place. “Dad?” I had said in a hoarse whisper. My breath hitched. Even now, even after all this time. I saw it like it was happening again. His body at the bottom of the stairs. Broken. Still. Blood trailing from his head. I moved without thinking, taking the stairs three at a time, nearly tripping over myself. My father lay there, body crumpled, blood already
Chapter 78 – My Father’s Eldest Son Part 1 Liam The drive home should have felt like victory. Hell, by every measure—it was. I had outmanouvered the Morettis. Secured port access that would expand my operations beyond anything I’d built through the docks and my Florida Keys outlets. Power. Reach. Control. Everything I had fought for. And yet…I sat there in silence, staring out the window as the city blurred past, unease coiling low in my gut. Luigi’s last words echoed in my head. Over and over. A quiet warning wrapped in something heavier… something I couldn’t quite place. “All good?” Ronan asked, glancing at me from the driver’s seat. Of course he noticed. He always did. I forced my expression into something neutral, something believable. I tapped the folder resting on my lap—the deeds. “This...this comes at a price,” I said evenly. “There’s going to be a war. We need to be ready.” Ronan’s lips curved into that familiar smirk—the one that belonged to the killer in him. “
Adriano Zio Luigi’s call came just after the exchange. I stepped away from the noise, my pulse still hammering from everything that had just gone down, and answered on the first ring. “All is a go,” he said, his voice steady, controlled. “We have Yvette. No incidents. We’re on our way back.” For a second… I couldn’t breathe. The tension that had been strangling my chest for days finally loosened, like a vice cracking open. My eyes shut briefly as I exhaled, slow and heavy. “She’s alive?” I asked, needing to hear it again. “She’s alive,” he confirmed. “Weak, sleeping now. Denton treated her as best he could, but she’ll need a doctor when we get in. Head wound, some bruising… but she’s strong.”Strong. That word overpowered all the other clamouring thoughts.A shaky breath left me, something dangerously close to relief threatening to break through the steel I’d been holding myself together with.“Grazie, Zio,” I murmured, voice thick with overflowing emotions.When the call ended
Luigi My mind was a whirlwind. Grief, shock, disbelief but most of all regret. So many lost years… all crashing into me at once. The letter had torn something open inside me that I didn’t know how to close again. But I couldn’t think about that now. Couldn’t afford to. Not here, not today. Right now—There was only one priority. Get Yvette back, get out alive. Everything else…Could come later. As we rolled into the outskirts of Scranton, the area was exactly what we expected. Desolate. Industrial. Abandoned warehouses and crumbling workshops lining the road like ghosts of something long forgotten. No civilians. No witnesses. Perfect place for a hostage exchange. We pulled in with fifteen minutes to spare. The engine idled. nThe air inside the car grew heavier with each passing second. The tension ratcheting up so tightly it felt like it might snap. Then—Movement. Five blacked-out SUVs. They rolled in like predators. Slow. Deliberate. Two flanked us on either side. One stopped
Denton The only good news— And I couldn't emphasise it enough - The only good news in all this chaos— Was the update from the hospital that Remi’s operation had been a success. Clean. No complications. The valve had been replaced without issue. He was stable and resting comfortably. For the first time in what felt like days, I had allowed myself to breathe. But even that relief was short-lived. Because everything else was falling apart. Arianna had held me tight after I told her, tears of relief streaming down her cheeks. But not long after she had gone quiet. Too quiet. I looked at her huddled under a blanket on the sofa. She had been carrying too much for far too long. Worry for Remi. Fear for me. And whatever had passed between her and Adriano on that call…That had drained her. I could see it in her eyes. The way the light had dimmed. The way she moved slower… like something inside her had simply given up trying to keep up. This wonderful girl—Just seventeen years old. And
I am still at the door trying to process what I have overheard.Two Doctors pass to enter probably to brief them on the transfer. I nod in greeting and steps away from the doorway, pulling out my phone. I dial Mason’s number. I have my own guy normally and have only needed him for rivals, never
Liana I had just finished making take-away bags for all the guys and putting away the balance of the food. I entered the Den and it was already humming with anticipation, laughter and cigar smoke in the air. Cards were being shuffled, chips stacked with ritualistic precision, voices overlapping
Liana Adriano called after 5pm to let me know he and Luca would be a bit late. A last minute emergency came up. It shouldn’t have bothered me. It absolutely did. “How could he leave me alone to welcome his guests?” I checked the spread on the kitchen island for the third time, nudging bowls i
Adriano Denton pulls the car around just after eight. As I slide into the back seat, adjusting my cuffs, I say it like it’s a business instruction—precise, unemotional. “Please pick up Liana at 1pm and take her to the hospital. She wants to catch the doctors after rounds.” Denton nods. “Of cou







