CATALINA'S PERSPECTIVE
LA ROSA NERA MARCINI'S WAREHOUSE - NIGHT Marcini’s throat bobbed as the barrels leveled at him. His eyes kept flicking, desperate, toward Dante, toward Nico, toward me. Nico’s arm cinched tighter around my waist, dragging me further into his lap, like I was the seat of his throne. His pistol stayed steady on Marcini, but the curl of his lips was for me alone. “You hear that silence? He thinks it’ll save him. Adorable.” Dante’s jaw locked, but his voice was all gravel and blade. “Silence won’t save you, Marcini. Not from us.” His gun didn’t so much as tremble. Marcini stammered, “If I speak… they’ll carve me alive. If I don’t… you’ll-” I lifted my gun, slow, deliberate. The black steel caught the light as it aligned with his chest. No eyes to see, no lips to read, only the muzzle staring him down like a cold, unblinking gaze.DANTE’S PERSPECTIVE MARCINI’S WAREHOUSE – NIGHT That bitch just shot him. No hesitation. Just steel, smoke, and silence where a man’s begging used to be. Marcini’s body slumped, his blood running like filth across his own floor. Worthless bastard. Gave up an alias and then died like the rat he was. The Driver. I clenched my teeth so hard it rattled through my skull. The fucking Driver. Roman Voronin. A Russian thief dressed up as a king, thinking he can carve highways through Europe and step foot into Italy like it’s his racetrack. My racetrack. And she, La Rosa Nera, she sat there like the execution was nothing. Veil, voice twisted mechanical through that changer of hers, tone cutting into me like iron. “Marcini was already dead,” she said, cold, like it was fact, not choice. “He gave us what we needed. Nothing more.” Needed? I didn’t need scraps. I needed that Russian
CATALINA'S PERSPECTIVE LA ROSA NERA MARCINI'S WAREHOUSE - NIGHT Marcini’s voice cracked under the weight of pain and fear. “You....you think you stopped something? That fire, that shipment you burned-” he coughed, shaking, blood pooling around his ruined foot. “That wasn’t just random stock. That was the final delivery.” Dante’s eyes sharpened, the predatory stillness settling over him. “Final to who?” Marcini hesitated. A mistake. Another soft click echoed as I pulled the hammer back again. His eyes bulged, panic forcing his tongue loose. “Moretti! It was Moretti’s! His collection...cars, prototypes, guns fitted inside. He’s been waiting for months....months!” The name dropped like acid. Dante’s jaw flexed, his teeth grinding audibly. “Carlos Moretti.” Nico gave a low whistle, amusement dripping from him like smoke. “Well, isn’t that poetic. Italy’s golden collector unknowingly being sp
CATALINA'S PERSPECTIVE LA ROSA NERA MARCINI'S WAREHOUSE - NIGHT Marcini’s throat bobbed as the barrels leveled at him. His eyes kept flicking, desperate, toward Dante, toward Nico, toward me. Nico’s arm cinched tighter around my waist, dragging me further into his lap, like I was the seat of his throne. His pistol stayed steady on Marcini, but the curl of his lips was for me alone. “You hear that silence? He thinks it’ll save him. Adorable.” Dante’s jaw locked, but his voice was all gravel and blade. “Silence won’t save you, Marcini. Not from us.” His gun didn’t so much as tremble. Marcini stammered, “If I speak… they’ll carve me alive. If I don’t… you’ll-” I lifted my gun, slow, deliberate. The black steel caught the light as it aligned with his chest. No eyes to see, no lips to read, only the muzzle staring him down like a cold, unblinking gaze.
CATALINA'S PERSPECTIVE LA ROSA NERA MARCINI'S WAREHOUSE - NIGHT I didn’t waste breath on games. My voice cut clean, steady. “The name of the Russian you’re in contact with, Marcini.” Marcini’s eyes narrowed, suspicion sharp in the flicker of his gaze. “Why?” His tone carried a bite, curiosity laced with caution. “What purpose does La Rosa Nera have with my contacts?” Before I could speak, Dante’s voice broke in, iron-edged. “Is it for yourself?” His stare pinned me, every word ground out through his teeth. “Or do you have other plans?” The tension pulled taut. And then Nico, smiling, lips curled with that dangerous amusement, leaned back as if the room belonged to him. “Whatever she does,” he said, voice low, fever-bright, “I’ll be there beside her.” “I don’t wan
CATALINA'S PERSPECTIVE LA ROSA NERA MARCINI'S WAREHOUSE - NIGHT The sun was already sinking when I left. I knew what waited on the other side of this city. Dante’s wrath was never a thing that could be reasoned with, it burned until there was nothing left to burn. And tonight, he wouldn’t stop at threats. If I stayed here, Nico and Marcini would be gone by morning. The crimson dress slid over me like a second skin. The hat and veil hid everything else. Not a trace of me showed. That was the point. La Rosa Nera was not a woman. She was a shadow. I didn’t take Nikolai. His face cannot be tied to me yet. Alfonzo drove instead, loyal, silent, trained to obey without question. I needed that tonight. By the time we reached the warehouse, it was already coming apart. Gunfire cracked through the walls, men fell on both sides. Marcini and Nico were pinned, barely holdin
DANTE'S PERSPECTIVE LIBRERIA FIORETTA - AFTERNOON Out of my desperation to see her, to be with her, I lead myself in her bookstore. Every step toward her felt like ripping my own flesh apart. I wanted to crush her body into mine, bury my face in her neck, bite down until her skin wore my mark. Pride strangled me, held me back. A man like me doesn’t crawl. Doesn’t beg. But fuck, every nerve in me wanted to drop to my knees and chain myself to her ankles just to make sure she never walked away again. The second her lips touched mine, I shattered. That kiss ripped through me like a blade. All the sleepless nights, the rage gnawing my chest open, the filth of this city I carry on my back, burned away in one breath. Her mouth was fire, and I was nothing but raw nerve. I wanted more. I wanted to rip her