Chapter 13
13
LUCIANO POV
Metal groans overhead as I lead our team through the warehouse’s shadows. Each step brings a fresh assault on my senses—rust and damp concrete, the ghost of machine oil, the copper tang of blood from my split knuckles. Behind me, Dominic’s elite squad moves like smoke, their weapons ready. My earpiece crackles with Marco’s voice: “East wing secured. No sign of Aurora.”
The Rossis have kept their end of whatever deal Dom struck—Alessandro’s location delivered on a silver platter, though Dom’s grim expression when he briefed us suggests the price will be steep. Whatever terms he’s agreed to, they can wait. Right now, only Aurora matters.
“Copy.” My voice sounds foreign, stripped raw by rage and fear. Ahead, fluorescent lights flicker through broken windows, painting grotesque shadows across abandoned machinery. Every dark corner could hide Alessandro’s men—or worse, Aurora’s body.
Enzo’s whisper cuts through my comm: “Second level’s rigged. Tripwires on the staircases.”
“Noted.” I scan the catwalks above, remembering how Alessandro always loved the high ground. Even as children, he’d climb to the highest point, looking down on everyone like some fallen angel. “Dom?”
“West entrance covered,” Dominic responds, his voice carrying that deadly calm I know too well. “He’s not getting out this time.”
A woman’s scream pierces the air—Aurora’s voice, twisted with pain. The sound slices through me, and I surge forward before Dominic’s sharp command freezes me.
“Hold position,” he orders. “It could be?—”
Another scream, followed by Alessandro’s laugh echoing off metal walls. “Coming, fratello ? Your principessa’s getting impatient.”
Every muscle in my body screams to charge forward, but years of training force me to wait. To think. To remember how Alessandro always loved his traps.
“Marco, status on those snipers?”
“In position. But the angles are shit through these windows.”
I gesture to the team, using hand signals to split our approach. The warehouse’s main floor opens before us—a killing ground of rusted equipment and twisted shadows. Perfect for an ambush.
“Well, well.” Alessandro’s voice bounces off steel beams. “The cavalry finally arrives.”
He appears on a catwalk above, bathed in harsh fluorescent light. Below him, Aurora sits bound to a metal chair, her face bruised but her spine straight as steel. Even from here, I see the defiance burning in her eyes.
“Quite the family reunion,” Alessandro continues, pacing above Aurora like a shark. “Though we’re missing a few key players, aren’t we? Maria sends her regards from the grave.”
Ice slides down my spine as Aurora’s eyes lock with mine. In them, I see a desperate warning—one I’m too late to heed.
Gunfire erupts from multiple positions. The trap springs, but not how Alessandro planned. Marco’s men had already taken out his snipers, leaving only the ground force to deal with.
“Luciano!” Aurora’s warning comes just as a shooter emerges from behind a pillar. I drop and roll, returning fire in one fluid motion. The man falls, but others take his place.
“Push forward!” Dominic’s command cuts through the chaos. “Enzo, take the left flank!”
I catch Enzo’s slight nod as he moves—the same signal we’ve used since we were kids running ops together. Dominic appears at my right, his shoulder brushing mine in silent support. Despite our recent tensions, in this moment we’re united by blood and purpose. Aurora isn’t just my heart at stake—she’s their baby sister. The look that passes between us carries years of shared battles and unwavering loyalty.
I advance through the firefight, every sense hyperaware of Aurora’s position above. Alessandro watches the chaos with that same damn smirk, like this is all some game he’s already won.
“Let’s give them something to really fight about, shall we?” His voice carries even over the gunfire. “Tell me, fratello , did you ever wonder why Maria visited the Rossi compound so often?”
“Shut up,” I snarl, taking out another shooter.
“She was quite the actress, you know.” He strokes Aurora’s hair, making my blood boil. “Had you completely fooled. Had us all fooled, really.”
“He’s trying to get in your head,” Enzo warns through the comm. “Stay focused.”
But Alessandro’s next words stop me cold. “Show them, piccola .” He forces Aurora’s head up, pressing the gun harder against her temple. “You have the same look in your eyes that Maria had when she realized I knew about her betrayal. That same stubborn defiance right before I pulled the trigger.”
The warehouse tilts sideways as the truth slams into me. Every detail of that day crystallizes—Maria’s car found at the Rossi compound, the single bullet wound, the phone clutched in her hand with a half-typed message to me. I’d always blamed myself for not being there, but Alessandro... he’d orchestrated everything. And now history threatens to repeat itself as I watch him hold another woman I love at gunpoint.
“She begged me to spare her,” Alessandro continues, his voice carrying an edge of madness. “Swore she’d keep our secret. But love made her weak—just like it’s made you weak, fratello .”
“She was mine first,” Alessandro continues, his voice carrying genuine pain now. “We planned it all together—her meeting you, her careful seduction. The perfect spy in the perfect position.”
“You’re lying.” But even as I say it, memories flash like strobe lights—unexplained absences, hushed phone calls, the way she’d sometimes look at me with something like guilt.
Each word peels back years of grief, replacing sorrow with bitter understanding. But Aurora’s eyes hold mine steady, anchoring me to now, to her. I won’t lose another woman I love to Alessandro’s obsession.
“Am I?” He pulls out a phone, tossing it down. Photos spill across the screen—Maria and Alessandro, intimately wrapped around each other. Dates I recognize. Times I was away on business. “She played her part beautifully. Until she actually fell in love with you.”
My throat constricts as memories assault me—Maria’s nervous glances at her phone, the way she’d startle when I entered a room, all the signs I’d buried beneath my grief. Bile rises as I realize how perfectly she’d played me, how completely I’d fallen for the performance. But worse is the razor-sharp knowledge that Alessandro had been right—she did fall in love with me in the end. Enough to die for it. Now, watching him press a gun to Aurora’s head, history threatens to repeat itself in the cruelest way possible.
“Luciano.” Aurora’s voice cuts through my rage. “Don’t listen to him. He’s trying to?—“
Alessandro backhands her, the crack echoing off metal walls. Before any of us can move, his gun appears at her temple again.
“That was her mistake, you see.” His voice breaks slightly. “Choosing you. Always you. Even when I loved her first.”
“So you killed her.” The words taste like poison.
“She betrayed us!” His control finally cracks. “She was going to tell you everything, expose our whole operation. I couldn’t let that happen.”
Through my earpiece, I hear Dominic’s quiet command: “Hold your positions. Wait for my signal.”
“You’re surrounded,” I tell Alessandro, forcing my voice steady. “It’s over.”
“Is it?” His laugh turns manic. “I don’t think so.” He unties Aurora and yanks her up, his gun never leaving her head. “Drop your weapons, or I paint these walls with her blood.”
“Like hell.” Aurora drives her elbow back, catching him in the ribs. The gun wavers—just enough.
Chaos erupts again, but this time it’s different. Personal. Raw. Aurora twists free, but Alessandro recovers too quickly. His arm locks around her throat as he drags her across the catwalk.
“Stay back!” he shouts, but there’s desperation in his voice now.
“Let her go, Alessandro.” I advance slowly, hands raised. Through my peripheral vision, I see Marco’s men taking position. Dominic and Enzo flank me, their presence solid and deadly. “This isn’t about her.”
“Isn’t it?” His grip tightens, making Aurora gasp. “She looks so much like Maria sometimes. Same fire in her eyes. Same way of looking at you like you’re her whole world.”
“I am nothing like Maria,” Aurora spits, struggling against his hold.
“No?” His laugh is bitter. “Then why does history keep repeating? Why does my brother always take what’s mine?”
“I was never yours,” she says fiercely. “And neither was she.”
Time fractures into crystalline moments. My pulse pounds in my ears as I register every minute detail—the slight shift in Alessandro’s stance, the way his finger whitens around the trigger, the sudden metallic taste of fear flooding my mouth. Aurora’s eyes meet mine, and my chest constricts with terrible understanding. Every muscle coils to spring, even as my mind screams that I won’t be fast enough. Not this time.
“Don’t,” I warn, but it’s too late.
Everything happens at once. Aurora stomps on his instep as I lunge forward. The gun goes off, the sound deafening in the enclosed space. For one endless heartbeat, the world stops spinning.
Then Aurora crumples, and my universe shatters.
The sound of her body hitting the concrete reverberates through my bones. My hands shake as I catch her, her blood hot and slick between my fingers. The metallic scent fills my nostrils, making my stomach heave. Each of her shallow breaths feels like a knife in my chest, every heartbeat under my palms a desperate prayer.
“No!” The word tears from my throat as I run to her. Warm blood seeps through her dress, staining my hands crimson. Behind me, I hear Dominic’s roar of rage, Marco’s men charging forward, but none of it matters.
Alessandro’s laughter echoes as he disappears into the shadows. “Some stories are worth repeating, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Stay with me,” I beg, pressing my hand against the wound. “Aurora, look at me. Stay with me, Principessa .”
“Luciano.” Her voice is barely a whisper, her skin growing colder under my touch. “I’m sorry about Maria?—“
“Shh.” I brush hair from her face with trembling fingers. “None of that matters now. Just stay awake. Please.”
Dominic appears beside me, his face carved from stone. “Medics are three minutes out.” His hand grips my shoulder, steadying me. “We’ll find him, Luciano. Whatever it takes.”
“I can’t lose her.” The words scrape my throat raw. “Dom, I can’t?—“
“You won’t.” His voice carries absolute authority. “We won’t.”
Aurora’s eyes flutter, each breath more shallow than the last. Blood continues to seep between my fingers, carrying her life away with each heartbeat.
“ Ti amo ,” I whisper against her hair, no longer caring who hears. “Do you hear me? I love you. So don’t you dare leave me.”
Her fingers weakly grip my shirt. “Promise me...”
“Anything.”
“Promise you’ll end him.” Her eyes lock with mine, burning with that same defiance that first stole my breath. “Make him pay for everything—for Maria, for us, for all of it.”
“I swear it.” I press my forehead to hers, feeling her shallow breaths against my lips. “But you have to live. You have to stay with me.”
Sirens wail in the distance as her eyes close. Marco barks orders, organizing our retreat, but I can’t move. Can’t breathe. Can’t do anything but hold her and pray to a God I stopped believing in years ago.
“Hang on, Principessa ,” I whisper. “Just hang on.”
Enzo appears with medical supplies, his usual charm replaced by grim determination. “Keep pressure here,” he instructs, helping me stabilize the wound. “Dom’s got the route cleared to Chicago Med.”
In the shadows, Alessandro’s laughter still echoes, a promise of violence yet to come. But for now, my world has contracted to the precious weight in my arms and the desperate prayer that I haven’t lost everything. Again.
“Luciano.” Dominic’s voice cuts through my fog. “We need to move. Now.”
I lift her carefully, cradling her against my chest. Her blood soaks through my shirt, warm and accusing. Every step toward the exit feels like walking through quicksand.
“Stay with me,” I whisper against her hair. “Stay with me, and I’ll give you everything. Any truth you want. Any future you choose. Just stay.”
Behind us, the warehouse stands silent except for the drip of blood on concrete. Somewhere in the darkness, Alessandro watches, his victory written in Aurora’s blood.
But this isn’t over. Not while I breathe.
I carry her toward the waiting vehicle, my promise burning like fire in my veins. Alessandro wanted to repeat history? Fine. This time, I’ll make sure the story ends differently.
This time, I’ll make sure it ends with his death.