Chapter 33
The tires screeched as I veered onto the gravel road, sending a thick cloud of dust into the cold night air. Anger roared in my ears, drowning out everything but the furious thrum of the engine. Each beat of my heart was a war drum, fueling the fire raging inside me.
Alessa.
She was out there. Scared. Alone. Taken.
And I would burn this whole fucking city down before I let Nico keep her.
Gavino sat beside me, his fingers drumming a steady rhythm against his thigh, his eyes sharp. Behind us, three more cars followed, headlights off, filled with men armed and ready to kill.
"We go in quiet first," Gavino muttered, cocking his gun. "Assess the situation. We don't want to spook them into doing something rash."
I didn't respond. My grip tightened around the wheel. Assess? I didn't need to assess a damn thing. Nico had my wife. That was all that mattered.
The city lights faded in the rearview mirror, swallowed by the darkness stretching ahead.
The east highway was long and empty, lined with abandoned warehouses, forgotten gas stations, and buildings that had been left to rot.
The kind of place where men like me came to dump bodies.
The kind of place where no one heard you scream.
Ahead, a cluster of cars sat near the entrance of a crumbling casino which was one of the old Romano's properties, shut down years ago. The paint was peeling, windows shattered, the neon sign was dead.
Our men were already in position.
I killed the engine and rolled to a stop beside them. The moment I stepped out, the cold night air hit me, laced with the scent of oil and rust. Gravel crunched beneath my boots as I approached. A group of my men stood waiting, dressed in black, weapons in hand.
"Perimeter is covered" one of them reported, his voice low. "No movement so far."
I gave a sharp nod.
"You take left," I murmured to Gavino.
He didn't argue. He just disappeared into the shadows, moving like a phantom.
The silence was suffocating. Not a single sound, no distant traffic, just an eerie stillness as if the night itself was holding its breath.
Then, a flicker of movement. A figure near the side door, pacing lazily, cigarette glowing between his fingers.
He never saw me coming.
I moved fast, silent as death. Before he could even register what was happening, I pressed my silencer to the back of his skull and pulled the trigger. A muffled pop. He crumpled to the ground like a ragdoll, his cigarette tumbling from his lips, burning a small ember into his skin.
Another guard rounded the corner, gun in hand. He barely had time to register my presence before I struck. My knife found his throat, slicing deep, warm blood spilling over my fingers as he gurgled and collapsed.
Gavino and the others moved just as efficiently, dropping bodies without a single wasted movement. A strangled cry was muffled by a blade, a silencer whispered death into the night. One by one, they fell.
I signaled to my men and we moved.
The back door creaked as I pushed it open, the rusted hinges whining under the pressure. Inside, the air was thick with dust and the lingering scent of cigarettes. Dim, flickering lights cast long, twisted shadows over the broken slot machines and overturned tables.
Then a movement. A figure at the end of the hall. He saw us, eyes going wide and bolted through a door.
"Fuck" I muttered, picking up the pace. Gavino and the other men covered the area.
I reached the door just as he swung it open from the inside. The man rushed out, breathless, panic scrawled across his face.
"Boss-"
I shot him at the back of his head.
The body crumpled at my feet and I stepped over it, heart hammering in my chest as I took in the scene inside.
The sight inside blurred my vision with rage..
Alessa stood behind Nico, her body tense, wrapped in a white dress that looked out of place in this fucking hellhole. Her eyes were red-rimmed, lips swollen and bloodied, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
And to the left. A priest, trembling, his hands clutching a book. His gaze flickered between Alessa and Nico, sheer terror in his expression.
My stomach turned to ice. The bastard was trying to fucking marry her.
My fingers twitched over the trigger.
"Nico" I said, my voice a low, dangerous rasp.
He grinned like a psycho. "Luca. Glad you could make it. We were just about to start."
The sight of her pale, trembling, dressed like a bride in the middle of this shithole sent something molten rushing through my veins. My grip tightened around the gun, finger flexing against the trigger. Every instinct screamed at me to put a bullet between Nico's eyes.
But not yet.
Not until I knew Alessa was safe.
"Let her go." I said slowly.
Nico chuckled, shaking his head. "You think I went through all this trouble just to hand her over?
" He gestured lazily toward the priest, who flinched at the attention.
"We are in the middle of something important, Luca.
Maybe if you had waited a little longer, you could have given us your blessings. "
I took a slow, measured step forward, my men fanning out behind me. The air in the room grew heavier, the tension thick enough to choke on. Gavino's gun was already raised, aimed squarely at Nico's skull but I lifted a hand, stopping him.
But just as Gavino raised his gun to Nico's head, the bastard movedfast.
He yanked Alessa forward, using her as a shield, his arm clamping around her waist like a fucking vice. The muzzle of his own gun pressed against her temple.
"If I can't have her," he hissed, eyes wild with desperation, "you won't either."
Alessa gasped, her hands gripping his arm but she didn't struggle. She knew better than to make a sudden move.
Nico's grip on Alessa was too tight, his gun pressed hard against her temple. But his breathing was ragged, wild, like a cornered animal that knew it had already lost.
I took a slow step forward, keeping my gun steady. "Let her go and I will make it quick."
He let out a broken laugh, shaking his head. "She was supposed to be mine. She was always supposed to be mine." His fingers twitched around the trigger.
Alessa stayed perfectly still, her chest rising and falling in shallow, controlled breaths. But then, with a sudden sharp movement, she drove her foot backward into his groin.
Nico flinched, just for a second. But that was all I needed.
The gunshot cracked through the air before he could even react. My bullet tore through his shoulder, sending him stumbling backward. His gun clattered to the floor, his hand slick with blood as he grasped at the wound.
He gasped, eyes going wide. "F-Fuck," he choked out but I wasn't done.
I walked toward him, slow and steady, as he scrambled back, blood dripping from his shoulder. "You really thought you could take her from me?" My voice was calm. Deadly.
He spat blood, forcing a grin. "She will never love you."
Wrong fucking answer.
I aimed lower and pulled the trigger. The bullet tore through his knee with a sickening crack. His scream echoed through the hollow walls of the abandoned casino.
I crouched beside him, gripping his jaw in a bruising hold. His skin was clammy, his breath shaky. I forced him to look at me.
"That was for taking her."
He whimpered, shaking his head. "L-Luca-"
Another shot. This time, his other knee.
"That was for touching her."
Nico's entire body convulsed as he writhed in pain, his hands now uselessly grasping at his shattered legs. Blood pooled beneath him. His chest heaved, his face pale.
Still, his lips curled into a weak, trembling smirk. "You think this changes anything?" he rasped. "She will always remember me."
I pressed the barrel of my gun between his eyes, tilting my head. "And this for thinking you ever had a fucking chance."
And then I pulled the trigger.
The shot was sharp and final. His head snapped back, his entire body covered in his blood now.
The tension in my chest didn't ease until I looked at Alessa. She was still standing there, still trembling, her wide eyes locked on Nico's lifeless body.
I stepped over him without a second glance and reached for her, pulling her into my arms. She didn't resist. She melted against me, burying her face into my chest as I ran a hand down her back.
I turned my head slightly, my eyes locking onto the priest.
He stood frozen in place, his hands gripping the Bible so tightly his knuckles had turned white. His face was pale, his chest rising and falling with panicked breaths as he stared at Nico's lifeless body.
"P-Please," he stammered, shaking his head. "I-I had no choice. He forced me."
I exhaled slowly, rolling my shoulders. The adrenaline was still thrumming in my veins, my trigger finger itching for more. But I wasn't a man who killed without reason.
I stalked toward him, watching as he flinched with every step. "You married them?" My voice was cold, devoid of anything human.
He swallowed hard. "N-No," he rushed out. "I hadn't even started. It-it wasn't official."
My gaze swept over him, reading the terror etched into every inch of his face. He wasn't lying.
I leaned in slightly, lowering my voice. "Then you walk out of here and you forget this ever happened."
He nodded frantically. "I-I swear. I won't speak a word."
The priest wasted no time. He bolted out of the room, his footsteps echoing down the empty halls until they faded into silence.
I looked down at Alessa, brushing my knuckles along her jaw. "It's over."