Chapter Nineteen – Severo
Forest Edge, East of Melbourne
She’s still asleep.
The fire has died down to a lazy line of embers.
Grey ash clings to the stone ring. My back leans into the log, and she’s curled against me, her cheek on my chest, her arms drawn into herself.
Her face is pale from fatigue. Even in sleep, her brows tug together slightly, as though her mind won’t release what her body needs to forget.
I glance down at her hands.
The skin across her wrists is raw, red, and swollen.
Rope burns like rings of quiet violence.
Her knuckles are scabbed where she clawed at the bindings, where she fought like hell for both of us.
I reach for her fingers, trace the edge of the damage with my thumb, and close my hand slowly around hers.
She stirs a little and presses closer.
I tilt my head back, stare at the canopy overhead—patches of dim morning light breaking through.
How could I use you?
The words taste like dirt. I whisper them aloud, barely more than breath. “You weren’t a weapon. You were a warning. And I…I’d burn for you. It would still look like strategy, like revenge—but it would be the kind of fire I’d walk into without blinking.”
Her head shifts slightly on my chest.
I adjust the suit jacket draped over her, tucking the lapels in closer to her ribs so the cold doesn’t reach her. Her breathing is shallow, slow.
The sun crawls out inch by inch, throwing blue into the treetops.
She moves again.
I glance down just as her lashes flicker. She opens her eyes—still groggy, but focused—and the moment she sees my face, she smiles.
A small, soft smile. No words. Just that.
“Good morning,” she murmurs, voice rough.
I huff a laugh under my breath. “Good morning.”
She pushes herself upright, stretching her arms overhead, shoulders cracking from the strain. The long black dress clings to her legs, and her hair is wild, uncombed, still tangled from the truck. She twists her spine gently, working through the stiffness, and her ankles crack as she stands fully.
Her eyes find me again.
She walks to where I sit, crouches low, and presses her hands to either side of my face.
“You didn’t sleep,” she says. It’s not a question.
Her gaze drags over me—each corner of my face, the set of my jaw, the bruised circle near my temple. I feel it in my chest, the way she looks at me. Like I’m something that could matter. Her fingers are warm against my skin.
I don’t know what to do with the way she sees me.
I pull her hands away gently, keep them in mine. “Don’t worry.”
She tilts her head slightly, unconvinced.
I rise to my feet, brushing off dirt and ash. The forest is quieter now—less menacing and more distance.
She watches me carefully. Her breath catches between sentences. “So how are we getting out?”
I look at her.
Then I say it.
“You’re going to Italy.”
Her eyebrows lift, slow and sharp. Her mouth opens, but the sound is drowned by the shuffling of boots across dirt.
Matteo steps out of the trees first. Mico follows half a second later.
Lira’s eyes widen. Her body stiffens beside me.
I gesture vaguely behind the trees. “There’s a road,” I say, flat. “A service road just beyond the creek bend. About ten meters west. We’ve been next to it the whole time.”
She looks between them. Then back at me.
“What is this?”
Matteo moves to my side, arms crossed, face unreadable. Mico heads straight for her.
She flinches. “Stay back!” she shouts.
I hold still.
She turns to me, voice cracking. “Severo, what are you doing?”
My jaw sets.
“I’m done using you,” I say. “You can go.”
Inside, I’m screaming. Don’t look at me like that. That soft pain in her brow. The disbelief in her mouth. It cuts.
Don’t make this harder than it already is.
She needs a man who doesn’t choke on his own name. She needs blood that won’t betray her, a future that doesn’t bleed. I can’t give her that.
She takes a step toward me. “What the hell are you talking about?”
I keep my voice cold. “Is it really so hard to believe? I used you. I got what I needed. The inheritance is mine. You’re not.”
Mico steps forward again.
“Let’s go,” he says to her.
“No!” she shouts. “Don’t touch me.”
She turns back to me, eyes blazing. “Severo, what is this? Just fucking tell me—”
I don’t blink.
And that’s when Mico grabs her.
She screams, thrashes as he lifts her off the ground and throws her over his shoulder. Her fists beat against his back. “Put me down!” she yells. “Severo— talk to me! ”
I stay still.
Every cell in me wants to rip her back, cradle her against me, tell her she’s mine.
But I can’t.
Matteo watches it all. Says nothing.
Lira kicks harder. Mico carries her down toward the edge of the trees where the car waits, tucked in shadow. The engine’s already running.
Her voice fades.
Branches crack as they disappear behind the ridge.
My legs give way, and I fall.
Before I even found Lira, Uncle Nero had come to me. He gave me the update. Mina and Maksim were moving to find the heir before me. They didn’t care about timing anymore. Nero laid out their steps, and I gave him one order: slip Matteo in.
They thought Matteo hated me. They believed I boxed him out, took too much power, worked too far beyond the rules. It didn’t take much to let them think he’d betray me. They took the bait faster than expected. I fed them just enough resentment to give the lie shape.
They believed Matteo had turned. And when Lira signed the bond, I knew exactly what would come next.
She was the key. The third heir.
The bond put everything in our hands, and my siblings wouldn’t let that stand. So, they reached for the only pressure point I’d left open—Matteo.
Matteo played it well. Told me when Salvatri showed up at the Marrazzi estate, when he walked through the gates like he belonged there. Said he wanted his woman back. Said he could help them take me out .
The plan was straightforward: kidnap me and Lira, pressure her to cross the border. Use me as leverage, then disappear me we were out of jurisdiction. Make it look like I ran. Let her believe I chose to vanish.
They’d strip her of every truth she had.
And I was going to let them try.
At first, I planned to use it. Matteo would feed us every location, every name, every movement. My men would be waiting. Maksim and Mina would be caught red-handed breaking code. An assassination attempt against family is blood-law. Salvatri would burn with them.
But that night—she looked at him and called him family.
Not out of pity. Not from weakness. She meant it.
And something shifted.
She wasn’t supposed to have that kind of loyalty left. Not after what he did. But she held it close. Guarded it.
And I saw it clearly. She loved him.
That’s when I changed the plan.
I told Matteo to stand down. Told him to let the abduction play out. I would walk her right to the pickup point. I’d give her over like I was done with her. They’d think they won. Let them.
I didn’t want her stuck here. Not with my siblings. Not with me.
She deserves something cleaner.
Something safe.
Even if it isn’t real.
Even if it’s Salvatri.
I hear her voice in my head again—raw, hoarse, desperate—shouting my name while he carried her away.
My stomach knots.
This is what surrender feels like. Not noble. Not brave. Just… necessary. I met with Salvatri a week ago. Matteo brought him to me.
He kept one hand in his coat. The other curled near his side like he didn’t trust the air between us.
“I know your plan with my siblings,” I said flatly. “You want her back? Work for me instead.”
He scoffed, weight shifting like he might reach for something stupid. “Why would you make that offer? You don’t exactly strike me as generous.”
“I’m not. I don’t deserve her.”
He stared at me. Then his jaw ticked. “If this is a trick—”
“Go along with it,” I cut in. “Back out and they’ll know. You don’t need me as bait. I’ll make her follow you willingly.”
He blinked . “How?”
I didn’t flinch. “Use the airport. My men are waiting. You’ll be on a special flight.”
His lip curled. “You’re just giving her up? That easy?”
“I can kill you here and now. Don’t ask me questions. Do what I said.”
I walked away first.
Now, in the present, Matteo stands just behind me, boots half-buried in forest loam. The fire’s out. The trees are quiet.
He doesn’t clear his throat. Doesn’t ask gently. Just: “Are we still going through with the rest of the plan?”
I nod .
I’m going to meet with Maksim and Mina today. I’ll sign over the majority stake in the port shares. I’ll give them what they wanted. And in return, I’ll ask for one thing: leave Lira alone.
They’ll pretend to agree.
But Mina already gave Matteo quiet instructions—once Lira and Salvatri land in Italy, their men are to kill both of them. She’ll say it’s cleaning up. No loose ends.
But I’ve already put measures in place. My men in Italy know the real play. They’ll protect them both like blood.
Still. My siblings are relentless. They don’t give up. They never did.
Matteo shifts. “Love makes you a loser, huh?”
I don’t answer at first.
Then I feel it. A single drop breaking free. Heat under my eye. It cuts down my cheek. I wipe it away without thinking.
“It does,” I say quietly.
He exhales through his nose, tone subdued. “The lawyers are waiting. You want a minute? I can tell them to hold.”
I shake my head. “No. Let’s go.”