Chapter 3

On the helicopter, Luciano held the trembling Loretta, a sharp ache tightening in his chest.

This pain had nothing to do with the pacemaker.

An ominous feeling rose in his heart.

"Luciano, where are we going?" Loretta asked, sobbing softly in his arms.

Luciano didn't reply or lower his head to look at her.

He stared at the silent phone in his hand, waiting for any information on me, even if it were just one word.

An unease gnawed at him, and all he could do was comfort himself again and again.

The safe house was secure. He had dispatched Team A for extraction, which was the most elite force the family had to offer. They would definitely arrive before the explosion.

Everything was going according to plan.

But why?

But why? The unease inside him did not ease. Instead, it grew heavier by the second.

Tension and restlessness closed in, as if something vital was being torn away, leaving him in a quiet panic.

A soft ding sounded.

His phone screen lit up. It was a text from me that read, "Luciano, we're even now."

There were no questions or curses.

All I did was send a curt, cold text.

Even?

They had spent seven years together. How could I cut ties with him with just a short text?

No, that didn't seem like something I would say.

Unless…

In an instant, he realized the enormity of his mistake.

"Tati!"

In that very second, a massive fireball erupted into the night, instantly engulfing the entire manor.

Even the helicopter flying midair was caught in the searing blast.

After the shock, Luciano shoved Loretta away and stumbled to the window, peering down at the manor below.

"No!"

He lunged for the control stick like a man possessed, his eyes bloodshot and blazing with fury.

"Turn back! Turn back now! Now!"

"Don, calm down! It's too dangerous down there!" the pilot shouted.

"Tatiana is still inside! I said, turn back!"

Luciano slammed his fist onto the dashboard, and the device erupted in a shower of sparks.

In the end, the helicopter landed on a helipad three miles away from the manor.

Luciano anxiously leaped from the helicopter before it could even touch down properly.

The blast tore holes in his trench coat, and a haze of black smoke stung his eyes.

"Tati!" he shouted, charging toward the inferno like a madman.

"Luciano, you can't go inside! You'll die!" His loyal aide, Zeno Allegri, and a few men grabbed him by the waist.

"Get out of my way! Let me go!" He thrashed wildly, trying to free himself. "Let me go! I promise I'd come for her!"

He broke free from their grip and stumbled toward the ruins of the manor.

The searing heat scorched his skin, yet he felt nothing.

He knelt on the scorching ground, digging fiercely through the rubble with his bare hands.

He was desperate to find any trace of her, yet terrified that I was here.

He prayed I had managed to escape, even as fear washed over him in waves.

His subordinates, who had rushed over, doused the flames or lent a hand where they could, but not one dared step forward to stop him.

Shards of glass cut his fingers, and the scorching metal seared his palms, yet he barely noticed and continued scraping with his hands frantically.

Without warning, the main beam on the second floor collapsed with a boom.

A massive wave of heat threw Luciano to the ground.

Burning planks rained down, crashing onto his back.

"Don, we have to leave now!" Zeno shouted as he charged forward, dragging Luciano away from the edge of the blaze with the help of his men.

Luciano let them pull him along, but his eyes remained locked on the raging inferno until the thick plumes of smoke obscured his vision.

Just as they were pulling him clear of the fire, he clutched Zeno's collar.

A hoarse, strained sound tore from his throat. "T-Tatiana…"

Before Luciano could finish, his head lolled to the side, and he blacked out.

…

When Luciano regained consciousness, the fire had been put out entirely, leaving behind nothing but charred ruins.

He stumbled into the master bedroom.

Beneath the charred cabinet, he dug out a ring, coated in soot and blood.

It was the ring he put on for me on the day he proposed to me.

Luciano gripped the ring tightly. It still carried a bit of warmth.

The blistering metal bit into his palm, a sharp pain that shot straight to his chest.

The bloodstains on it had been scorched dry, impossible to wipe away.

He didn't dare imagine what had happened here after he left.

"I-Impossible…" he muttered, his body trembling profusely.

Tears streaked through the soot on his face, carving two dark lines across his face.

Suddenly, he remembered the last time I had tied his tie. My fingertips had felt just this warm.

"Tatiana…"

He lowered his head and pressed a soft kiss to the ring.

Right then, the inner band of the ring cracked open, revealing a tiny storage card.

His hands were trembling as he inserted it into a laptop. The screen lit up.

"Luciano, can you answer one last question for me?"