Semua Bab A Deal with the Mafia Lord: Bab 31 - Bab 40

The firing died and the world was silent, but the ringing in the ears of Aurora and the acridity of smoke in the air. Bodies, broken crates, and a stale scent of blood littered the floor of the warehouse. There were wailing sirens somewhere in the distance, but they were too far away to hear.Julian came out of the back of the crate, fast and smooth in his movements, and still pointing his gun at the shadows. Aurora was behind, her bosom swelling. She sought Ray Masha, and he had disappeared, as a phantom out of the dark, the coin in his hand.The whispers in her head lingered, faint but insistent, as though the coin had imprinted itself on her even from a distance. She pressed her palms against her temples, willing the voices to stop.Julian’s hand closed around her arm, steadying her. His grip was strong, protective, but his eyes burned with something else entirely when they shifted past her—onto Dave.Dave stood across the wreckage, gun in hand, his stance calm, his expression unre

Aurora’s heart pounded against her ribs as the footsteps grew louder in the hall. Heavy. Measured. Julian. She froze, her breath caught somewhere between her lungs and her throat. Dave was only a few feet away, his shadow cut sharp against the pale wash of moonlight through the curtains.“Hide,” she whispered, her voice barely more than a desperate rush of air.Dave shook his head. His jaw was set, his eyes unwavering. “I’m not running from him.”Aurora’s stomach dropped. “Please. If he finds you here—”The doorknob rattled.Dave moved faster than she expected. In one smooth motion, he stepped close, grabbed her by the waist, and pulled her into the shadowed corner by the wardrobe. His body shielded hers, his breath hot against her ear. She could smell smoke and rain on his clothes, sharp and real.“Don’t move,” he whispered.The door swung open.Julian stood framed in the doorway, a tall shadow against the dim glow of the hallway light. His eyes swept the room like a predator scannin

The night air stung Aurora’s cheeks as she slipped through the gates of the Blackwood estate. For a moment, the cold freedom felt intoxicating. She drew in deep breaths, as though the air beyond those walls were somehow cleaner, though she knew it wasn’t. New York smelled of oil, of smoke, of too many lives stacked on top of each other. But tonight, it smelled like escape.Her heart pounded as she moved quickly down the quiet street, her satchel heavy against her hip. She couldn’t think about Julian’s voice echoing in her head, that thunderous warning: If you walk out that door, you’ll be running straight into his hands.Maybe he was right. But Aurora couldn’t keep being the piece everyone fought over. If the coin wanted her, then she needed to see it for herself. She needed to look into the wolf’s den with her own eyes.She hailed a cab with shaking hands and gave an address she barely trusted. It wasn’t Ray’s exact location, but she knew how men like him operated. He would be close

They rushed to the SUV at one end, banging the glass with bullets on their way as they hurled themselves into it. Lucas threw himself against the door, groaning as blood dripped through his shirt. Julian gave the chauffeur commands in a cold and commanding voice. The motor started, and the tires burst as the car ran out of the docks.The gunshot split the night.Aurora’s scream cracked through the alley as the bullet slammed into concrete inches from her hand. Sparks flew, and the coin rattled against the ground, rolling away with a metallic clink.Her chest heaved, tears streaming down her face. For a heartbeat, she thought he had shot her. She looked up, wide-eyed, to see Julian lowering his gun, his expression raw with fury and something even sharper—fear.“I told you to let it go,” he rasped.Aurora’s pulse thundered. She reached for the coin again on instinct, but Julian’s boot came down hard, pinning it to the ground. His eyes burned into hers.“Not this time,” he growled.From

Beyond the great door in the farther end, she could hear the rumbling of water.Aurora woke to the sound of water. Not the city’s pipes or a leaky faucet, but something bigger, heavier, like an ocean moving behind walls. Her eyelids fluttered open to a dim, pulsing blue glow that painted the ceiling above her. She tried to move, but the world tilted and her limbs felt heavy, her hands trembling around something cold.The coin. It was still in her palm, but now it no longer burned. It pulsed gently, like a heartbeat syncing with hers.She sat up, gasping, and took in her surroundings. This wasn’t the Blackwood mansion. The room was underground, circular, lined with concrete and steel. Strange symbols etched into the walls glowed faintly with that same blue light, like veins of a living thing. Dave was sitting in a chair across the room, elbows on his knees, watching her. He wasn’t smiling. His face was pale under the glow, the scar at his temple dark and angry. For the first time since