Kanyan (Gatti Enforcers #1)

28. Lula

28

LULA

T he air is thick, heavy like it’s pressing down on my chest, making it harder to breathe. My palms are slick, my heart pounding like it’s trying to escape my ribs. I keep my hands clenched into fists, nails biting into my palms, grounding me.

My breath catches, and for a moment, I think I might actually be sick. I force myself to swallow, to push the nausea down. I can’t afford to lose it now. I made my choice. This is the only way.

The door creaks, and my stomach drops. The sound feels louder than it should, like the air itself is holding its breath. I turn my head slowly, heart hammering as I wait for him to step into view.

Derin doesn’t rush. His footsteps are measured, deliberate, as if he knows every second of anticipation is its own kind of torment. When he finally appears, his dark eyes lock onto mine, and a cold smile tugs at his lips.

“There you are,” he says, his voice smooth, dripping with false charm. “Finally come to join the party.” He waves a knife around, like it’s nothing more than a fork.

My nails dig into my palms again, but I force my face into something close to calm. I won’t let him see my fear.

“A deal is a deal,” I say, forcing my voice to stay steady even as a knot tightens in my throat. My heart is pounding, but I won’t let him hear it in my words.

Derin grips my arm and yanks me through the heavy door. I stumble, catching myself just in time, my eyes struggling to adjust to the dim light. It’s not a dungeon, not really, but it feels like one. The air is damp and heavy, the faint scent of mildew clinging to everything. Shadows dance along the stone walls, cast by flickering lanterns that barely hold back the darkness.

Ironically, we’re in a crypt—a resting place for the dead, desecrated by his arrogance. My stomach churns at the thought of his disrespect, his utter disregard for the silence and sanctity meant for this place.

I square my shoulders, planting my feet on the cold, uneven ground. “I’m here,” I say, meeting his cold, calculating gaze. “You need to let Allegra go. She has nothing to do with this.”

My voice echoes faintly, swallowed by the oppressive stillness around us, but I don’t back down. I can’t.

Derin’s smile widens, and I see the glint of triumph in his eyes. He thinks he’s won, and maybe he has. But I can’t let myself regret this. Allegra will be free. Scarlett will have her mother. That’s all that matters.

As Derin steps closer, I fight the urge to recoil. The space between us shrinks, and I feel the weight of his power pressing down on me, suffocating.

“You’re braver than I thought,” he says, his voice low, mocking. “That’s going to make for fun times for us.”

I don’t respond. My silence is the only weapon I have left.

This is my fate now. There’s no turning back. I’m walking into the fire willingly, knowing I’ll burn. But if it means Allegra gets to go home, if it means Scarlett won’t lose her mother—then it’s worth it.

Even as I stand here, feeling the first flicker of flames licking at my soul, I tell myself this is how it was always meant to be.

The crypt feels colder with every step, the weight of the stone walls pressing down on me like a suffocating fog. Derin’s grip on my arm is firm, his fingers digging into my skin as he drags me deeper into the darkened corridors. My breath is shallow, my senses overwhelmed by the damp smell of decay and the flickering shadows cast by faint lanterns.

We stop in a small antechamber that feels almost like a twisted version of a chapel. Rows of empty benches face a simple altar, a place where people once came to mourn and pray for their lost loved ones. Now, it’s been tainted, the quiet sanctity replaced with a suffocating tension.

And then I see Allegra. She’s still dressed in the long and atrociously beautiful crimson dress she wore to the dinner.

She’s tied to a wooden chair in the center of the room, her wrists and ankles bound tightly with coarse rope. A gag cuts into the corners of her mouth, but her wide, fear-filled eyes meet mine as soon as I step into view. My heart clenches, and I have to swallow hard to keep the panic from rising in my throat.

“Allegra,” I whisper, the word barely audible over the pounding in my ears.

Derin moves behind her, his hand brushing her shoulder as if she’s a pawn he’s smugly displaying. He lowers the gag from her mouth, and she gasps for air, her breaths shallow and trembling.

“I brought you a friend,” Derin says, his voice mocking. The words are meant for Allegra, but his dark, unrelenting eyes stay locked on me. “The more, the merrier, right?”

“You said you’d let her go,” I snap, stepping forward despite the trembling in my knees.

Derin tilts his head, a smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth. “I say many things, Lula. But sometimes…” He shrugs, his tone almost casual. “Sometimes I change my mind. The only thing I haven’t been able to change my mind about, all these years…” His voice softens, and he looks at me like I’m the only thing in the room. “Is you.”

His gaze lingers, and for a fleeting moment, I think I see something vulnerable behind the arrogance—a flicker of wistfulness, something almost human.

But just as quickly as it appears, it’s gone.

Derin’s hand shoots out, shoving Allegra’s head to the side as if she’s nothing more than a nuisance. She whimpers softly, and I take a sharp step forward, my fists clenched at my sides, but the sharp gleam of the knife he suddenly holds stops me in my tracks.

“How long are you going to keep running from me, Lula?” he asks, his tone shifting from smooth and teasing to cold and sharp. He takes a step closer, his presence suffocating, predatory. “You like the chase, don’t you? Always just out of reach, making me work for it. It’s exhausting, really.”

He trails the tip of the knife along Allegra’s dark hair, lifting a strand with the blade. Allegra freezes, her whole body trembling as though any movement might make him snap. The tension in the air is thick, coiling around my chest like a vise.

“I’m here,” I say, my voice firmer than I feel. “This has nothing to do with her, Derin. She’s innocent in all this. Let her go. You wanted me, and here I am.”

I spread my arms out, an offering. A sacrifice. But a sacrifice that’s worth paying to secure Allegra’s freedom.

Derin laughs softly, a sound that chills me to the bone. “Innocent? There’s no such thing, Lula. We all have our sins to pay for.” He flicks the knife, letting the strand of hair fall, and his eyes narrow on me. “And yours? Yours is making me feel like this.”

“Feel like what?” I snap, my anger bubbling to the surface despite the fear clawing at my insides.

“Like I’d burn the whole world down to have you,” he says, his voice low, dangerous. “But instead, I get to watch you run into the arms of another man. He can’t save you. Not from me .”

His face twists with a bitterness that borders on fury, and I realize what this is really about. Kanyan.

“You think he can protect you from me?” Derin snarls, stepping closer, the knife now pointed at me. “You think he’s enough to keep you safe? He’s nothing, Lula. No one can keep you from me. You’re mine.”

“I’m not yours,” I spit back, my voice shaking but defiant. “I’ll never be yours.”

The words hang in the air, and for a moment, everything is still. Then, Derin’s smirk returns, colder and sharper than before.

“Then why are you here?” he asks, his tone deceptively calm.

He motions toward Allegra, the knife glinting in the dim light, and my stomach twists painfully.

“I’ll give you a choice, Lula,” he says, his voice dripping with false generosity. “You can keep pretending to defy me, or you can do the right thing and save her. Either way, you’ll end up where you belong—with me. But how much blood are you willing to let stain your hands before you finally give in?”

I swallow hard, my throat dry, my mind racing. He’s wrong. He has to be wrong. But as I look at Allegra’s terrified face, her trembling form, I know one thing with absolute certainty.

Derin doesn’t like to lose.