The Heir’s Obsession

“He’s been shot—!”

The words didn’t just echo.

They shattered the entire ballroom.

For a second, nobody moved.

Like the world had frozen in disbelief.

Then everything exploded.

Screams.

Shouting.

Bodies rushing in every direction.

Glass breaking again somewhere across the room.

My heart stopped so violently I thought I might collapse.

Shot?

Who was shot?

I turned instinctively—

and saw it.

My father.

Don Dante Moretti was clutching his shoulder, blood seeping through his dark suit.

My entire body went cold.

“Papa!” I screamed.

I ran toward him immediately, but hands grabbed me from behind.

Strong.

Firm.

Alessio.

“Stay back,” he ordered sharply.

His voice had changed again.

Gone was the possessive heat from seconds ago.

Now he was pure control.

Pure danger.

“I have to go to him!” I struggled.

But Alessio didn’t let go.

“Lucia—don’t move.”

Another gunshot cracked through the air.

Everyone screamed again.

Bianca appeared beside us shaking violently.

“Oh my God—oh my God—”

I couldn’t think.

Couldn’t breathe.

My father stumbled backward as two guards rushed to support him.

Blood.

So much blood.

My mother’s scream pierced the room.

Everything was collapsing.

And then—

Alessio moved.

Fast.

Too fast.

He pulled me and Bianca behind a thick marble pillar just as another shot rang out.

“This is coordinated,” he said sharply.

“What?” I whispered, trembling.

“This isn’t random,” he muttered. “This is an execution attempt.”

My stomach dropped.

Execution.

Someone planned this.

Bianca was shaking so hard I thought she might faint.

“Lucia,” she whispered, “I can’t breathe.”

“I know,” I said helplessly.

But I didn’t know anything.

Alessio pressed his hand to the side of his ear.

A hidden earpiece.

“Perimeter?” he snapped.

A voice answered instantly.

“Breached on east side. Two shooters down. One escaped.”

Alessio’s jaw tightened.

“Find him.”

He looked at me then.

Really looked.

And something in his expression shifted.

Not softness.

Not hesitation.

But decision.

“You stay with me,” he said firmly.

“That’s not your decision!” I snapped.

His hand tightened slightly on my wrist.

“It is right now.”

Another gunshot echoed.

Closer this time.

Bianca flinched violently.

“I need my father,” she whispered brokenly.

“No,” Alessio said immediately.

Her head snapped toward him.

“What do you mean no?”

“He’s being moved to safety.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because my men are doing it.”

Silence.

That answered everything.

Alessio was already controlling the situation.

Even here.

Even now.

My mind raced violently.

“Who did this?” I asked shakily.

Alessio didn’t answer immediately.

That alone terrified me.

Then—

“The Russians,” he said finally.

My stomach dropped instantly.

Of course.

The Bratva.

Bratva

Bianca shook her head desperately. “But why now?”

Alessio’s gaze stayed fixed on the chaos beyond the pillar.

“Because tonight exposed weaknesses.”

My breath caught.

“The engagement,” I whispered.

“Yes.”

Another explosion sounded outside.

The building shook slightly.

I grabbed Alessio’s arm instinctively.

And immediately regretted it.

Because the second I touched him—

he looked at me.

Really looked.

And for half a second—

the chaos disappeared from his eyes.

Only me remained.

Then it was gone again.

“We need to move,” he said sharply.

“Where?” Bianca asked.

“Safe room.”

I froze.

“Safe room?”

Alessio didn’t answer.

He simply pulled us both through the chaos.

We moved quickly through the mansion corridors.

Shouting behind us.

Security everywhere.

Bodies moving like shadows.

Everything felt unreal.

Like a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from.

Bianca clutched my hand tightly.

“I’m scared,” she whispered again.

“I know.”

Alessio led us down a hidden corridor behind a library wall.

I had no idea it even existed.

Of course he did.

The door opened into a reinforced hallway.

Steel walls.

No windows.

Cold lighting.

“This way,” he ordered.

We followed him into a secure room.

The door locked behind us with a heavy mechanical sound.

Silence.

Thick silence.

Bianca immediately sank into a chair.

I stood frozen.

My hands were shaking uncontrollably.

Alessio leaned against the wall, already speaking into his earpiece again.

“Status.”

Pause.

Then—

“Understood. Secure perimeter. No movement until I arrive.”

He removed the earpiece and finally looked at us again.

Bianca’s voice cracked.

“Is my father alive?”

Alessio hesitated.

Just slightly.

“Yes.”

Relief hit me so hard I almost collapsed.

But Bianca started crying instantly.

“Thank God…”

I closed my eyes briefly.

Alive.

He was alive.

But injured.

And everything was still falling apart.

Alessio pushed off the wall.

“This room is secure,” he said. “No one gets in without authorization.”

“What about the shooters?” I asked.

“They won’t reach you.”

The way he said it made my stomach twist.

Like he was certain.

Too certain.

Bianca wiped her tears quickly.

“What happens now?”

Alessio looked at her briefly.

“Now we wait.”

I hated that answer.

Waiting meant vulnerability.

Waiting meant fear.

Waiting meant not being in control.

And Alessio Romano did not look like a man who tolerated lack of control.

I studied him carefully.

He was still calm.

Too calm.

His suit was slightly disheveled now.

A faint mark of blood on his cuff again.

Not his.

Never his.

But something about him felt sharper now.

More dangerous than before.

Like the attack had woken something inside him.

“Why are you helping us?” I asked suddenly.

Bianca looked at me sharply.

Alessio turned toward me slowly.

“Helping you?”

“You’re not even part of our family yet,” I continued. “You’re acting like you are.”

A pause.

Then—

“I am part of this now,” he said simply.

My heart skipped.

Bianca frowned. “Because of the engagement?”

Alessio’s gaze shifted to me.

“No.”

Silence.

That one word changed everything.

Not because of Bianca.

Not because of politics.

Because of me.

My stomach tightened.

“What does that mean?” I asked quietly.

Alessio stepped away from the wall slowly.

And suddenly the room felt smaller.

Tighter.

More suffocating.

“It means,” he said, eyes locked on mine, “that whoever planned this attack made a mistake.”

My pulse spiked.

“What mistake?”

He took one step closer.

Then another.

Until he was right in front of me.

Close enough that I could feel his presence completely.

Close enough that Bianca felt like she disappeared.

His voice dropped lower.

Dangerously low.

“They shouldn’t have reminded me what I’m capable of.”

My breath caught.

“And what are you capable of?” I whispered.

A pause.

His hand lifted slowly.

Fingers brushing lightly against my wrist again.

Like earlier.

Like always.

And then—

he said:

“Keeping what belongs to me alive.”

My heart slammed violently.

Bianca stood up suddenly.

“Stop talking like that!”

Alessio didn’t look at her.

Only me.

His grip tightened slightly.

Not painful.

But certain.

And then—

a loud bang echoed outside the room.

Not distant.

Close.

Very close.

The reinforced door shook violently.

Alessio’s head snapped toward it instantly.

His entire posture changed.

Cold.

Predatory.

Alert.

Bianca gasped.

“What was that?”

Alessio reached for his gun immediately.

And as the door rattled again—

he looked at me and said calmly:

“Stay behind me.”

Another bang.

Harder this time.

The lock groaned.

And then—

the voice from outside spoke.

Clear.

Cold.

And terrifyingly familiar.

“Open the door, Alessio.”

I froze instantly.

Because I recognized that voice.

And so did Alessio.

His eyes darkened completely.

And he whispered one word that made my blood run cold:

“…Roman.”