The Devil’s House

The car tore through Brooklyn at terrifying speed.

Rain blurred the city outside into streaks of red brake lights and neon signs while Ava sat frozen in the passenger seat, trying to process everything at once.

Luca was captured.

Vittorio had him.

And somehow she was trapped in a car with Luca’s wife racing toward a mafia compound in the middle of the night.

Her life officially made no sense anymore.

Sofia kept one hand on the steering wheel and the other near the gun resting beside her thigh.

Calm.

Focused.

Deadly.

Ava hated how naturally all of this seemed to come to her.

“Where are they taking him?” Ava asked quietly.

Sofia’s eyes stayed on the road.

“Vittorio owns a private estate outside the city.”

“A mansion?”

“A fortress.”

That sounded worse.

Ava wrapped her arms around herself tightly.

“What will they do to him?”

Sofia didn’t answer immediately.

And that silence was enough.

Fear crawled slowly through Ava’s chest.

“You said they wouldn’t kill him.”

“I said not yet.”

Ava looked out the rain-covered window, fighting panic.

Everything inside her screamed to run from this world.

But Luca’s face kept appearing in her mind.

The way he looked at her.

Protected her.

Held her during gunfire like losing her would destroy him.

It was insane how quickly he had become important.

Sofia suddenly spoke again.

“Luca changes around you.”

Ava glanced at her cautiously.

“What does that mean?”

“I’ve known him for years.” Sofia’s voice remained calm. “He doesn’t let people close. Ever.”

“But he married you.”

Sofia gave a cold smile.

“He married an agreement.”

The words landed heavily.

Ava studied her carefully for the first time. Beneath Sofia’s elegance and confidence, there was exhaustion hiding in her eyes.

Pain.

Not romantic pain exactly.

Something deeper.

Like she had survived too much.

“Why are you helping me?” Ava asked.

Sofia was quiet for several seconds.

Finally she answered:

“Because Luca would burn this city to the ground for you.”

Ava’s heartbeat stumbled.

“And you?”

Sofia tightened her grip on the steering wheel.

“I owe him.”

Before Ava could ask more, Sofia’s phone buzzed again.

This time she cursed softly.

“What now?”

“They found the bridge cameras.”

Ava frowned. “What does that mean?”

“It means Damien knows I took you.”

Fear instantly returned.

“Is he coming after us?”

Sofia looked at her briefly.

“He never stops.”

That answer felt disturbingly honest.

The car sped onto a dark highway leaving Manhattan’s lights behind. The storm worsened overhead, thunder shaking the sky while trees lined the empty road ahead.

Then suddenly—

Headlights appeared behind them.

Fast.

Too fast.

Sofia checked the mirror.

Her expression hardened instantly.

“Seatbelt.”

Ava obeyed immediately.

The black SUV behind them accelerated violently.

“Oh my God.”

“They found us.”

Another SUV appeared ahead.

Blocking the road.

Ava’s pulse exploded.

“What do we do?”

Sofia smiled faintly.

And somehow that was terrifying.

“We improvise.”

Instead of slowing down, Sofia accelerated harder.

The engine roared.

“Aren’t you stopping?!”

“No.”

The SUV ahead turned sideways across the road completely.

Trap.

Ava’s breathing became frantic.

“Sofia—!”

“Trust me.”

“I absolutely do not trust you!”

Gunfire suddenly erupted from behind them.

Bullets shattered the rear windshield.

Ava screamed and ducked.

Sofia swerved sharply while firing one-handed through the broken glass behind them.

The calmness she showed while shooting terrified Ava almost as much as the attack itself.

The roadblock ahead grew closer rapidly.

Twenty meters.

Ten.

Five.

Ava shut her eyes.

Then Sofia jerked the wheel violently.

The car flew off the side of the road.

For one horrifying second Ava thought they were crashing.

Instead the vehicle smashed through a hidden opening in the trees and sped down a narrow dirt path invisible from the highway.

The SUVs overshot them completely.

Sofia killed the headlights instantly.

Darkness swallowed the car.

Silence.

Only rain.

Ava’s chest heaved painfully as the car rolled slowly deeper into the forest.

“What is this place?” she whispered.

“A backup route.”

“You have backup routes?”

“In our world,” Sofia said quietly, “survival depends on planning for betrayal.”

That sentence stayed with Ava.

Because suddenly she realized something horrifying.

Everyone in Luca’s world expected betrayal eventually.

Family.

Marriage.

Loyalty.

None of it meant safety.

Sofia finally stopped the car near an abandoned-looking cabin hidden among trees.

“This is one of Luca’s old safe houses,” she said.

Ava stared at the isolated cabin nervously.

“This looks like the beginning of a horror movie.”

“It usually is.”

They stepped out into the rain and hurried inside.

The cabin was surprisingly warm and modern compared to its exterior. Weapons lined one wall. Maps covered another. Emergency supplies filled shelves near the kitchen.

Luca had planned for war long before Ava met him.

Sofia locked the door behind them carefully.

Then her phone vibrated again.

This time her face lost all color after reading the message.

Ava’s stomach dropped instantly.

“What happened?”

Sofia looked up slowly.

“They moved faster than expected.”

“What does that mean?”

Sofia hesitated.

Then handed Ava the phone.

A single photograph filled the screen.

Luca.

Bruised.

Bloodied.

On his knees.

And standing behind him—

Vittorio DeLuca.

Holding a gun to his son’s head.

End of Chapter Eight