LOGINErika peeked slightly, her heart pounding.And then she saw it.Men.Armed.Watching.Her stomach dropped.“They found us…” she breathed.Lidia’s grip tightened.“No,” she whispered, her voice steadier than she felt.“They almost did.”Her eyes darkened as she looked toward the house they had been hiding in.Their safe place.Compromised.Gone.For a moment, neither of them spoke.Because they both understood what this meant.There was no going back.No safety.No time.“They’re waiting,” Erika said softly. “For us.”Lidia nodded slowly.Her mind racing.Calculating.Adapting.If they stepped out now—They were finished.Captured.Dragged back.And whatever fate Bruno had planned…It wouldn’t be mercy.Lidia exhaled slowly, forcing her racing heart into control.“We leave,” she said firmly.Erika turned to her. “Where?”Lidia’s gaze remained fixed on the house.Cold.Determined.“Anywhere but here.”A pause.Then—A faint movement from inside the house.A figure stepped closer to the
The engine of the black SUV roared through the quiet streets, its presence slicing through the calm like a blade.Inside, silence reigned.Not the peaceful kind—but the heavy, suffocating silence that came before violence.Romano sat in the passenger seat, his jaw tight, his eyes locked on the road ahead. Behind him, two of Bruno’s most trusted men checked their weapons with quiet precision. No words. No hesitation.Only purpose.“She better not be wasting our time,” one of them muttered under his breath.Romano didn’t respond.Because deep down… he was thinking the same thing.The call had come out of nowhere. A woman. Nervous. Hesitant. But certain.“I’ve seen her… the girl on the screen… I know where she is.”Bruno hadn’t even blinked before giving the order.Go. Confirm. Don’t call me unless she’s there.So here they were.Hunting a ghost.The car slowed as they turned into a quieter neighborhood—one that looked too ordinary to hide someone Bruno had declared war over.Small hous
The next dayThe silence inside the mansion was heavy.Not the kind that brought peace.The kind that pressed down on the chest and refused to lift.Bruno stood by the wide window, one hand tucked into his pocket, the other holding a glass he hadn’t touched. The city stretched before him—quiet, obedient, unaware of the storm that still moved beneath its surface.Behind him, footsteps echoed softly.Measured.Familiar.Gennado entered without announcement.The Old Wolf did not need permission to step into his son’s territory.Not here.Not ever.Bruno didn’t turn immediately.“You’re late,” he said, his voice low, controlled.Gennado removed his coat slowly, placing it over the chair as though time had no hold on him.“I don’t rush for problems that don’t disappear,” he replied calmly.Bruno let out a quiet breath.Then turned.Their eyes met.No warmth.Only understanding.And something heavier.Frustration.“She’s still not found,” Bruno said, setting the untouched glass aside.Genna
Night did not fall all at once.It crept in.Slow.Careful.Like it, too, was watching.Inside the small room, silence stretched between two women who had learned the hard way that silence was never truly empty. It carried thoughts, fear, decisions waiting to be made.Lidia moved first.She folded the last piece of cloth with steady hands, though the slight tremble in her fingers betrayed the storm beneath. The baby lay wrapped beside her, sleeping, unaware that the world outside had already begun to hunt his mother.Erika zipped the bag quietly.Every sound felt too loud.Too exposed.“Is that everything?” Erika whispered.Lidia nodded without looking up.“Yes.”Her voice was calm.Too calm.Erika studied her for a second, searching for something—fear, hesitation, doubt.But Lidia gave her none.Only that quiet stillness that had begun to replace the girl she once knew.The door outside creaked faintly.Both of them froze.Lidia’s head lifted slightly, her ears catching every movemen
Evening settled slowly into the room, dragging shadows along the walls as the light dimmed. The air cooled, but it did nothing to ease the unease sitting between them.The question came softly.Too softly.But it struck like a blade.“Are you truly the one the mafia boss is looking for?”The nurse’s voice carried innocence, but her eyes did not.They lingered.Watching.Measuring.Lidia’s fingers tightened slightly around the edge of the blanket, though her face remained still. The baby slept beside her, his tiny chest rising and falling in quiet rhythm, untouched by the weight pressing into the room.“No,” Lidia said.Her voice came out steady.Careful.“That wasn’t me. We might just look alike.”She didn’t look at the nurse when she said it.Didn’t dare.Silence stretched.A second too long.“Okay,” the nurse replied.But she didn’t sound convinced.And that was the problem.Lidia felt it.In the way the woman lingered a moment longer than necessary.In the way her eyes flicked once
Thursday, 3rd of June.The room pulsed with heat and pain.The television light flickered against the walls, too bright for a place that smelled of blood, antiseptic, and fear. Shadows trembled with every movement, stretching and shrinking as if the room itself was breathing.“Push!”The nurse’s voice cut through everything—firm, urgent, unyielding.Lidia’s body curled forward, fingers clawing into the thin sheets beneath her. Sweat clung to her skin, her breath coming in sharp, broken gasps as another wave tore through her.It felt endless.Like her body no longer belonged to her.“Push harder, my dear—don’t stop now!”But then—A voice.Low.Familiar.It slipped through the chaos, cutting past the pain, past the noise, past everything.Lidia’s head turned sharply toward the television.“Focus!” the nurse snapped, trying to pull her back.But Lidia didn’t listen.Couldn’t.Her eyes locked onto the screen.And there he was.Gennado.Seated in a chair that mirrored power itself—dark, h







