LUCAI slammed the office door behind me, hard enough to rattle the glass in its frame. Alina followed, hurrying behind me like the last breath of sanity I had left. I felt her eyes on my back, but I couldn’t turn around. Not yet. Not while my fists were still clenched like I was ready to punch walls again."Luca?" Her voice was soft, cautious. She stood in the center of the room like she didn’t know whether to reach for me or stay out of the way. "What happened down there? What did he say?" She asked. I exhaled through my lips, forcing my fingers to loosen. My temples throbbed. The adrenaline was still pounding just under my skin. I turned to face her slowly."Analide," I said. I said just the name, but the sound of it was a curse in my mouth now.Alina blinked, confused, and worried. "What about her?""She ordered the hit."Her mouth parted, but no sound came out."The first one," I clarified. "The one on our wedding night. The attack that started everything. That was her."Al
LUCA The soldier was shoved into the dungeon with all the subtlety of a bag of meat. He hit the stone floor with a grunt, arms zip-tied behind him, blood already crusting along his temple from where my men had roughed him up. He looked young—mid-twenties maybe—but not naive. There was stubbornness in his jawline and something glassy behind his eyes that said he’d already calculated his odds and found them lacking. I didn’t speak right away. I just stood there in the shadows, watching him like a wolf might watch a rabbit bleeding out in the snow. The soldier’s breath came heavy. “I told you…” The dungeon stank of old rust and blood, and his blood was about to soak the floor. The man was tied to the chair. His head lolled forward, hair slick with sweat, a trail of red down the side of his face from where Rafael had hit him earlier. He wasn’t trembling. Not yet. But he would be I stood, arms folded, watching the rise and fall of his breath. Rafael stepped beside me. “He ha
LUCAThe tires squealed again.I barely dove aside in time, knees skimming pavement, Bruno barking furiously in my arms, as the car drove forward like a predator. I rolled, bracing my hand on the rough ground, feeling gravel bite into my palm. The car roared past, a snarling blur of silver.It didn’t keep going, and it should have, because I was so angry then I felt as though I could burn the world down with my father in it.The brake lights stopped across the road.Slowly, the car reversed and straightened, turning to face me like it had a score to settle. Like it hadn’t just tried to kill me, like it wasn’t being driven by the man who’d taught me how to load a gun before I learned how to shave.My father.Matteo’s face stared me down through the windshield. Unapologetic, and flat. Like this was just business.My heart thundered, anger pumping through me hotter than fear ever could. My fingers tightened around Bruno’s body. The pup whined softly, ears flattened.I couldn’t do this
LUCA “Luca? What are you doing?” I heard Alina’s voice and her fingers around my arm, pulling me back, away from my father. My knuckles still ached. I could feel the pulse of it everywhere in my anger. It was a dull throb like my hand was trying to remind me of what I'd done. Ws if I could forget the sound of my own fist landing against his jaw. As if I could unsee the way his head jerked to the side. Bella’s eyes flashed before her palm came crashing across my face. She slapped me, shaking me the very next second. I didn't move, just stood there, my jaw clenched, cheek burning. “Have you completely lost your mind?” she hissed, her voice sharp enough to saw through bone. “You’re still that angry little boy inside, aren’t you? Still looking for a fight. We haven't done anything. What are you trying to do?” I didn’t look at her. My eyes were on Matteo. He stood a few feet away, fingers brushing the side of his face, jaw already coloring with a bruise. He didn’t look hur
ALINA The morning light in our bedroom had a golden quality to it. And it was just the perfect day for that, because it was my first ante-natal appointment with my doctor. I'd woken up almost jittery with excitement. Luca stood by the dresser, half-buttoning his shirt, his hair still damp from the shower, and I watched him from the bed, my hand on my stomach. "Are you going to come with me today?" I asked, though I already knew the answer. He looked at me, the edge of his lips curling as he walked back toward the bed. "Of course, I’m coming. I wouldn’t miss it." I didn’t know what it was about seeing him barefoot, with his shirt open, his body brushed faintly by the sun, but something tightened in my chest. It wasn’t just lust, though there was plenty of that. It was the way he looked at me now, the way his eyes softened when they dropped to my belly, like he still couldn’t believe what we’d made. He leaned over and kissed me, slow and tender, and I pulled him down wi
LUCAI dialed Alina as I turned the wheel, my eyes pinned to the taillights ahead of me.She picked up on the second ring. "Hey. Is everything okay?""Yeah. Just checking in. Where are you?""Still home. Valentina came by so we’re just talking. Nothing dramatic."I exhaled, nodding to myself. Her voice grounded me. It made it okay to be calm. She was safe, and at home. "Good. I’m following Marco.""Following him where?""That’s the thing. I don’t know. He’s not headed anywhere specific. Just circling.""Be careful.""Always. I’ll be home as soon as I’m done with him."I ended the call and tossed the phone into the passenger seat. Marco’s car turned again, heading back toward the same stretch we started from. I kept two cars behind, just close enough to track him but far enough that he wouldn’t notice, though I was beginning to think he already had.We made another turn, then another. He was circling blocks like he was waiting for a tail to shake loose. There was no real destinatio