All Chapters of Hunted Heart:The Mafia's Plaything.: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

The warehouse was on fire when they got there.Alex saw the flames from a mile away, orange and red against the night sky, smoke billowing up like a signal. Vincenzo was driving, his hands tight on the wheel, his face hard. They'd gotten the call twenty minutes ago—an anonymous tip about a meeting, about Vincent Marek, about the man who had been doing Bianca's dirty work for years.Now the warehouse was burning, and Alex knew, deep in his gut, that they'd walked into a trap."Stop the car," Alex said.Vincenzo didn't slow. "If he's in there—""He's not in there. This is a setup. Bianca's people. They want us to go in. They want—"The explosion came before he could finish.The warehouse went up, a wall of fire and debris that lit up the night like a bomb going off. Alex threw his hands up, felt the heat through the windshield, heard the shatter of glass and the scream of metal.Vincenzo slammed on the brakes. The car skidded, spun, hit something hard. Alex's head snapped forward, his v

Alex was asleep, curled against Vincenzo's side, the warmth of him a steady presence in the dark. The phone buzzed once, twice, three times before his brain caught up. He reached for it, his hand fumbling on the nightstand, his eyes still half-closed.Cole's voice was tight, urgent. "She's out. Bianca. Someone on the inside. They got her out an hour ago. We think she's heading for the estate."Alex was awake now, his heart pounding, his mind racing. "How?""We don't know. The guards at the facility were compromised. Two of them are dead. She had help on the outside. People who were waiting."Alex swung his legs over the side of the bed. Beside him, Vincenzo was already moving, already pulling on clothes, his face hard."How long do we have?"Cole's voice was grim. "Maybe twenty minutes. Maybe less. She's coming for you, Marchetti. She's coming for both of you."The line went dead.Alex stood in the dark bedroom, the phone in his hand, his heart pounding. Vincenzo was beside him, his f

The days after the shooting blurred into something Alex didn't have a name for.He spent most of them at the hospital, sitting beside Vincenzo's bed, watching him sleep. The doctors said he was healing. The bullet had missed his heart, his lungs, everything vital. He would be okay. But Alex couldn't stop watching him, couldn't stop touching his hand, couldn't stop counting his breaths.The news was everywhere. Bianca's escape, the shooting, the death of the Don. The reporters camped outside the hospital, their cameras pointed at the windows, their voices a constant hum. Alex ignored them. He had more important things to worry about.Cole came by on the third day. His face was tired, his eyes red, but he was smiling."They're moving Bianca to a maximum security facility. No more escapes. No more deals." He sat in the chair beside Alex, looked at Vincenzo's sleeping face. "How is he?"Alex's hand was on Vincenzo's, their fingers interlaced. "He's getting better. The doctors say he'll ma

Alex found the envelope on Thursday, wedged between the front door and the frame, no stamp, no return address, just his name written in handwriting he didn't recognize. The paper was thick, expensive, the kind of stationery that came from places where money was never discussed.He stood in the doorway, the envelope in his hand, and felt something cold settle in his chest. Old habit. The kind of instinct that had kept him alive for seven years on the force.Vincenzo was in the kitchen, his back to Alex, his hands busy with coffee. The smell of it filled the house, warm and familiar, the same smell that had been there every morning for months.Alex opened the envelope.Inside was a photograph. Old. Faded. The edges soft with age. Two men, young, their arms around each other, their faces turned toward the camera. One of them was his father. The other was the Don.He'd seen this photograph before. Liam had given it to him. His father and the Don, young and in love, before everything fell

The morning light was thin through the study windows, the kind of gray that made everything look washed out. Alex had been sitting on the couch for three hours, staring at the wall, trying to piece together something that kept slipping through his fingers.Vincenzo was in the kitchen. Alex could hear him moving around, the clink of a cup, the hiss of the coffee maker. Normal sounds. Domestic sounds. The kind of sounds that belonged to a life Alex had started to believe was possible.Then the front door opened.Alex heard the footsteps before he saw who they belonged to. Heavy. Measured. The kind of footsteps that came from someone who knew they had the right to be there.Enzo appeared in the doorway. His face was hard, his jaw set. Behind him, two men Alex didn't recognize waited in the hallway."The council is here," Enzo said. "They want to see you."Vincenzo came out of the kitchen, a coffee cup in his hand. He set it down on the table, slow and deliberate."Which council?"Enzo's