LOGINMy hands wouldn’t stop shaking.No matter how many times I told myself to breathe, to think, to stay calm, they just wouldn’t stop.The message on my phone glowed like fire.He’s with me.Those three words didn’t just cut through me—they killed something inside me.Luca was already calling out orders, his voice steady but sharp. Sofia stormed into the room with two guns slung at her sides, and even through the chaos, the world around me blurred.I couldn’t hear. Couldn’t think.All I saw was my son’s face.Alessio’s laughter from this morning.His little hands clinging to my fingers.His sleepy voice asking, “Mama, can I have pancakes again?”And now he was gone.“Amara!” Luca’s voice snapped me back, loud, commanding. “Look at me.”I blinked, realizing I was still holding my phone like it might turn back time.“He has him,” I whispered. “He has my son.”Luca took the phone gently from my hand, reading the message. His jaw tightened, his gray-green eyes darkening. “No name. No number
I didn’t sleep that night.No one did.The house was too quiet, the kind of quiet that didn’t feel peaceful—just heavy. Luca’s men had doubled the guards, Sofia hadn’t stopped pacing, and every time the wind hit the windows, I flinched.Not because I was afraid.Because I was angry.He’d followed us. He’d photographed my son.He’d found me.The moment I closed my eyes, I saw his face again in that courtyard—calm, confident, untouchable. Like the past five years hadn’t burned him at all.But I’d seen the flicker.The moment his eyes landed on Alessio, something inside him cracked.And I was going to use it.By dawn, I was in the strategy room, hair tied back, robe thrown over silk pajamas. The coffee in my hand had long gone cold. Sofia was already there, leaning against the table, scrolling through a tablet.She looked up when I walked in. “You didn’t sleep either.”“Sleep is a luxury,” I muttered, setting my cup down.“Yeah, well,” she said, yawning, “you might need it before you sta
The sound of guns being cocked always hits the same way—it freezes the air. Makes everything too sharp, too quiet, like the whole world’s holding its breath waiting for the first drop of blood.That’s what it felt like standing in the middle of Luca’s courtyard, caught between the man who had once destroyed me and the man who’d taught me how to rebuild.Luca’s men aimed steady, their hands sure. Marco didn’t flinch. And Dante—he just stood there in that dark tailored suit, his expression carved from calm fury, like he owned the ground we stood on.His eyes were still the same. Storm-gray. Unforgiving. The kind of eyes that could make a person forget how to breathe.But I wasn’t that person anymore.“Call them off,” I said to Luca quietly.He didn’t look at me. “Not a chance.”“Luca.”His voice stayed low, cold. “He’s trespassing on my land.”“I know,” I said, stepping forward. “But this isn’t how this ends.”Luca’s jaw flexed. “He’s lucky I haven’t ended it already.”Dante’s smirk fli
The room smelled like power.That particular mix of whiskey, gunmetal, and smoke that always clung to war plans. The map stretched across the table looked more like a body we were about to dissect.Luca stood at the head, sleeves rolled up, his quiet authority filling the space. Sofia lounged beside him with a cigarette dangling from her lips, her eyes sharp, amused, like she was already picturing Dante bleeding.And me? I was trying not to think about how much of my soul I was about to trade for revenge.Luca’s voice cut through the low hum of conversation. “We move on the North docks first. Matteo Rinaldi has debts with half the city. You can use that.”“Already planned to,” I said, tracing my finger along the map. “He’s desperate. Desperate men are predictable.”Sofia smirked. “Predictable men are easy to break.”“Good,” I replied, glancing up. “Because I’m done playing gentle.”Luca’s eyes flicked toward me. For a second, something unreadable passed between us. Admiration, maybe.
Amara's POVMornings in the Romano estate didn’t start with silence.They started with war being built.The sun climbed lazily over the courtyard, spilling light across the cobblestone path where Luca’s men trained like clockwork—boots striking ground, guns being checked, orders being shouted in low voices. It was the rhythm of power, steady and dangerous.I stood at the window with a mug of coffee warming my hands, my silk robe brushing against the tops of my thighs. Alessio’s soft laughter carried through the hallway behind me, cutting through the steel of the world outside like a beam of light.Five years ago, I’d woken up to loneliness.Now I woke up to this—power wrapped in quiet, and a little boy with Dante Moretti’s eyes.“Mama!” Alessio’s voice echoed down the hallway, followed by quick footsteps.I turned just in time for him to barrel into the room, holding a toy plane in one hand and dragging one of the house cats with the other. His dark hair was a mess, his little tuxedo
Amara's POVFive years laterThe chandeliers above glittered like captured stars, their light scattering across the room in soft golden shards. Laughter spilled through the ballroom, warm and practiced, the kind of laughter that belonged to people who hid knives beneath their silk.The Romano annual gala wasn’t just a party. It was a stage. And tonight, I wasn’t a guest.I was the performance.The heels on my feet clicked against the marble floor with steady rhythm, my black silk dress gliding around me like smoke. My hair was pinned up, exposing the sharp lines of my jaw—the same face Dante Moretti used to touch with careless fingers. I wasn’t that girl anymore. The one who had looked at him like he was the sun.Now, I was the storm that followed after.“Breathe,” Sofia murmured from behind me, her sharp eyes sweeping the room as she handed me a champagne flute. “Your game face is perfect, but your fingers are too tight.”I forced my hand to relax. “I’m fine.”“You’re lying,” she sai







