The mansion was quiet.Not the uneasy quiet that had settled after the bloodshed, but a different kind—gentler, deeper. It was the hush of a house learning peace again, of walls no longer echoing with betrayal, rage, or secrets. For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, Alessio could breathe.The heavy weight of vengeance had lifted, leaving behind something fragile but honest. Gabriella remained close, not out of obligation or fear, but out of something they’d both fought hard to reclaim: trust.A week had passed since the night of reckoning. The bodies had been buried. The halls scrubbed clean. The old tapestries—once embroidered with the legacy of the Martini name—had been taken down. Alessio didn’t want reminders. Not of the man he had to become, and certainly not of the empire his brother had twisted into something monstrous.One bright morning, Gabriella stood at the bottom of the grand staircase, dressed simply, one hand resting gently on her belly. Alessio watched her f
Gabriella's Pov The sound cracked through the night like a curse. One shot—sharp, final.I spun around.“Leonardo!” I screamed, as my brother’s body crumpled to the ground, his breath hitching as if the air had betrayed him. Blood poured from the wound in his back, dark and thick, staining his shirt like ink spilled from a shattered bottle.I caught him before he hit the stone floor. His weight folded into me, heavier than I remembered, like the life was already ebbing out of him. Gabriella dropped to her knees beside us, hands trembling, eyes wide with disbelief. Her voice caught in her throat as she tried to speak, but no words came out—just a gasp, choked and broken.Vandel stood across the room, still holding the smoking gun. His face was stone. No regret. No hesitation. Only hatred.I cradled Leo's head against my chest. “Stay with me,” I begged, my voice breaking. “Just hold on. Please, Leo…”He coughed, and a thin line of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. “No... it’
Gabriella's Pov The night was supposed to be over. We had escaped. I thought we were safe—just for a second. Alessio’s hand gripped mine tightly, his other hand on the wheel, speeding through the darkened street like he could outrun the world. But safety, I was learning, was just an illusion. And illusions don’t last.Two headlights suddenly swerved into view behind us, fast and aggressive. My stomach twisted before my brain could catch up."Alessio..." I murmured, my voice already trembling.He glanced in the rearview mirror, his jaw tightening. "I see them."Another car came at us from the left. That’s when I knew—we weren’t being followed. We were being hunted.Gunfire cracked through the silence.Glass shattered.“DOWN!” Alessio barked.Without thinking, I threw myself across the console and lunged at him. We dropped below the dashboard as bullets punched through the windows, glass raining down in jagged pieces. I could hear my own heartbeat pounding in my ears, deafening me.“I
Alessio's Pov My heart jolted like someone had driven a knife straight through it. Unborn child—that was what Martini had just said. The words echoed in my head, bouncing around with disbelief, confusion, and something dangerously close to hope.I stared at Gabriella.Everything else—Martini’s gun pointed at my forehead, the sweat dripping down my back, the pounding in my ears—faded into the background as I searched her face for the truth. Her lips parted slightly, her eyes shimmering with something raw. Something real.“Yes,” she whispered, barely audible. But I didn’t need her to say more.She was pregnant.With my child.I blinked. My vision tunneled, not from the pressure of the gun still threatening my life, but from the gravity of her words. She was carrying my baby. Our baby.A tremor ran through me, knocking the air from my lungs. I hadn’t seen this coming—hadn’t even considered it. But as shock gave way to awe, a warmth bloomed in my chest. A fierce kind of joy. The kind of
Alessio's Pov She looked like she hadn’t aged a second—but she wasn’t the same girl I once knew.Gabriella stood across the room, framed by the long shadows of dusk bleeding in through the tall windows. The light touched her skin like it belonged there, softening the lines of worry etched into her face. But I could still see it—the fear hidden beneath the surface, the way her fingers curled around the edge of her coat just a little too tightly. She was nervous. And she should be.Because I didn’t trust her.Not anymore.I had no idea what game she was playing by coming here again, by standing beside Martini of all people. That bastard had never shown mercy a day in his life. I didn’t even know how she’d ended up in his custody—or why she hadn’t tried to escape.I studied her face, looking for something familiar, something real.And that’s when it happened.She winked.A slow, subtle flutter of her eyelid. Barely noticeable, but unmistakable.I froze.It hit me like a punch to the gut
Gabriella's Pov The morning sunlight slipped through the thin curtains like golden fingers, brushing against my face, warming my cheek. I blinked slowly, my lashes fluttering against the pillowcase as I stirred, trying to resist the gentle nudge of daybreak. My body ached in places I didn’t even know could ache, a dull soreness clinging to every limb like a second skin. Sleep had claimed me like a thief in the night, but it hadn't been kind—just necessary. I felt as though I'd fought a war in my dreams and lost.For a long moment, I just lay there, staring up at the ceiling, trying to remember how it felt to wake up without dread pressing on my chest. The events of the past few days had blurred into one tangled mess of adrenaline, pain, and fear. But there was something else too—something sharp and persistent beneath it all. A name. Alessio.Just the thought of him sent a shiver down my spine. I hated how his presence lingered in my mind, how the memory of his voice could still echo