LOGINWe got lucky. The vehicle Adriano had used was from the security fleet so it was equipped with a dashcam. I uploaded the coverage in the server room and sent it to Mason, dialling him as I pressed send. Liam was pacing like a caged tiger while I waited for Mason to answer, phone pressed tight to my ear. “Mace… yeah, just sent it… yeah, lucky break he took that one…” I paused, listening, my jaw tightening in response to what he had to say. “Okay… if you’ve got the room footage too, we’ll wait to hear from you.” Another pause. “Yeah… I understand. Thanks, Mace… for everything.” The call ended, but the tension didn’t. Liam leaned against the doorframe. “Anything new?” My shoulders sagged, wishing I could give him better news. “Seventeen cars leaving the Bronx. He’s narrowed it down to five. But running plates, digging into each one… it’ll take too long. If that dashcam doesn’t give us something—anything—we’re blind.” We looked at each other. That was too long. Arianna didn’t have
MariaMost people would call me weak. To simply accept Liam, a child that wasn’t mine. A product of adultery. Proof of my husband’s fidelity. Weak - to accept – to open my home—my heart—to him.But most people have never known me. They see what I allow them to see—quiet, composed, devoted. A homemaker. A wife who stands in the background while men make decisions and wars are waged.And yes… I am all those things. But not because I am weak. Because I choose to be. I had finished nursing school, qualified, was working before I fell pregnant with Luca. And decided that my family came first. Chose not to return.Luigi was my first everything. My first crush. My first love. My only love. And I have never once doubted him. Not then. Not now. Not even when the truth came out. Because I knew my husband. I knew the man he was at his core and what family meant to him.And the man I loved, had already lost a child that he never knew about. Never got a chance to hold him and he broke when he to
AdrianoMy body ached.Every step pulled at something torn, bruised, battered. But I barely felt it. Not really. Not with everything else raging inside me. Adrenaline. Anger. And something heavier… something I didn’t want to name.The study had left its mark. Not just the words. Not just the truth about Liam. But the look on my father’s face. On Zio’s. Disappointment. Not anger. Not fury. That would have been easier.No… this was worse. This was knowing I had fallen short of everything they had ever taught me. Everything we stood for.And then—Luca. My cousin. My elder brother really in everything including blood. And I couldn’t even turn to him. Not now. Not with him sitting beside *him.*I was already running on fumes when I got to my room. But I didn’t hesitate. Didn’t give myself time to think. I plugged in the drive. Pressed play.And I broke. Worse than at the safehouse. Worse than I thought possible.Because this time—There was no rage. No drug clouding my thoughts. No adrenali
Chapter 101 LucaThe door hadn’t even stopped vibrating from Adriano slamming it when my phone buzzed. Same time as Liam’s. We both looked down. And I knew. This was it. “Mason,” I answered immediately, pushing up from my chair and pacing a few steps away. “Talk to me.”There was a pause on the other end. Then—“I’ve got good news and bad news.”My jaw tightened. “Start talking.”“The area?” he said. “Worst part of the Bronx. Coverage is shit.”I stopped pacing. “Define shit.”“No direct street cams,” he replied. “Nothing from the actual safehouse street. Too many dead zones.”I swore under my breath.“Closest we’ve got is entry points into the area,” he continued. “And even those are patchy.”Of course they were. “Numbers?” I pushed.“After Adriano entered—twenty-three vehicles came through,” he said. “After he left—seventeen.”I turned slightly, glancing at Liam. He was still on his call, listening, face tightening with every second.“I’m running plates now,” Mason added. “Looking
LiamI stayed under the shower longer than I should have.Long enough for the heat to fade and the water to turn lukewarm. Long enough to feel every bruise, every cut, every welt as it came alive under the steady stream.I braced my hands against the tiles, head bowed, letting it run over me. That fucker could fight. Not just some goodlooking fuck-boy headline or spoiled rich brat CEO the press liked to paint him as.No. Adriano Moretti knew exactly how to throw down. I winced as the water hit my ribs, my jaw, the split skin across my knuckles.But despite it—A slow, grim smile tugged at my mouth. I’d given as good as I got. Maybe better. I know he had felt it too.I was already dressed when my phone buzzed. I picked it up off the charger, screen lighting up in my hand.A message. From Luigi. *Come to the study. We are all waiting.*I exhaled once, steadying myself. One against three on foreign territory. Then I headed downstairs.A maid pointed me in the direction of the study. I pau
AdrianoWe went straight to the study after breakfast.No detours. No small talk. No one even pretended. The tension that had been suffocating the dining room followed us in, thicker now—heavier, more deliberate.The moment the doors shut behind us, it felt sealed. Like whatever was about to happen… there was no walking it back.We all took our seats. I didn’t miss the way my father and Zio Luigi positioned themselves—side by side.United. That alone put me on edge.Then my father looked at me. His expression was blank. Controlled. Too controlled. “Adriano,” he said evenly, “your Zio is going to speak, and I want no interruptions.”My jaw tightened immediately. I held his gaze. Waiting.He didn’t waver. If anything his face hardened. “What you are about to hear will be as shocking to you as it was to us,” he continued. “I am warning you now—the facts are what they are. We cannot change them.”A pause. Heavy. “For the sake of a unified family… we all need to accept it.”Something in my
DentonThen I slowed. Because this part—This part mattered.“She didn’t know who you were,” I said quietly. “Not really. Not what your name meant. Not the history between the two families. She and Remi were never exposed to that part of Seamus' business...he left it to the eldest...Liam”I let that
Denton It took everything in me to step back. Everything. Because the sight of his blood—split lip, dazed eyes, the mark of my fist still fresh on his face—It didn’t touch the rage inside me. Didn’t even come close. If anything, it made it worse. Because it wasn’t enough. Not for what I had jus
Adriano Years of training and conditioning kicked in. If you preceive a threat, you don't think, you react. The second I heard movement in the hallway, every instinct I had kicked in. I moved fast, silent, pressing myself behind the door, my 9mm already in my hand, safety off, finger steady along
Adriano I woke up with her voice still in my head. Not the words. The sound. That broken, desperate edge in her scream when she called my name—It echoed through me like it had carved itself into my bones. I squeezed my eyes shut, dragging a hand over my face as the pounding in my skull pulsed h




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