Chapter 19
Showdown
The day of the meeting with the Castillo cartel had finally arrived, and the entire house was on edge. The air was thick with tension, the kind that made your skin prickle and your stomach churn. Luca stood in front of the mirror in his room, buttoning his shirt with hands that were steadier than he felt. His reflection stared back at him, his face a mask of calm, but inside, his thoughts twisted into knots.
He was pulling on his jacket when he felt Caleb step up behind him, his presence grounding, familiar. Caleb’s arms slid around Luca’s waist, pulling him close, and without thinking, Luca let himself sink into the embrace, his body fitting against Caleb’s like it always had.
He closed his eyes, exhaling slowly as he tilted his head, pressing his nose into the curve of Caleb’s neck. The scent of him, clean, sharp, and something undeniably Caleb , filled Luca’s lungs, settling him in a way nothing else could.
“You okay?” Caleb asked, his voice low and warm, his breath brushing against Luca’s ear.
Luca nodded, though he wasn’t sure if it was the truth. He wanted to be okay, needed to be, but his mind was too cluttered. The meeting, the risks, the consequences; it all loomed over him like a storm waiting to break. And then there was Caleb. The memory of their conversation in the garden had refused to leave him alone, the words playing on a loop in his head.
What if you did?
He had spent years convincing himself that he had no way out, that his fate was sealed. But Caleb had dangled something in front of him that Luca had never dared to consider; a choice. Freedom. A different life. And it terrified him just as much as it tempted him.
Caleb had always been his anchor, the one person who could steady him when everything else felt like it was spinning out of control. And yet, even with him here, holding him, Luca felt like he was standing at the edge of something he didn’t know how to navigate.
He would have to choose soon; Morettis or Caleb. The life he had always known, or the one he had never let himself imagine.
His chest tightened as Caleb pressed a lingering kiss to his temple. "I love you," he murmured, the words barely above a whisper, but they might as well have been a gunshot in the quiet room.
Luca froze.
Before he could react, before he could even breathe , Caleb pulled away. The warmth of his body vanished, and Luca was left standing alone in the room, his mind struggling to catch up with what had just happened.
I love you.
The words echoed, wrapping around him, sinking deep. He stared at his reflection, his pulse hammering in his ears, his throat suddenly too tight. He wanted to say it back. God , he wanted to say it back. Wanted to chase after Caleb, pull him close, tell him he had never stopped loving him, that he couldn’t lose him again.
But the words wouldn’t come.
His hands curled into fists at his sides, frustration and longing twisting inside him. There was no time to unpack this, no space to break apart and figure out what it meant, not when the meeting was looming, not when the weight of his entire world was pressing down on him.
He inhaled sharply, forcing himself to stand straighter, to pull the mask back on. He could deal with this later. Right now, there was only one thing he could afford to focus on.
Survival.
???
The abandoned warehouse was eerily quiet, the air thick with tension as the Moretti brothers stood in the center of the vast, empty hall. Their men formed a protective perimeter, hands resting on their weapons, eyes scanning every shadow. There was an unspoken understanding between them all; this could go south in an instant.
Luca stood just behind Enzo; his expression unreadable but his senses razor-sharp. He had convinced Caleb to stay behind, though it hadn’t been easy. Caleb had argued, stubborn as ever, but Luca had put his foot down. This was Moretti business, and it had nothing to do with Caleb.
The low growl of approaching engines broke the silence. Luca’s gaze snapped toward the massive steel doors as a fleet of cars rolled into the courtyard, headlights cutting through the dim haze. Doors swung open, and Castillo’s men spilled out, moving with tight precision, sweeping the area before their leader finally emerged.
Miguel Castillo stepped forward, looking as arrogant as ever. He wore a smirk as he approached, his men close behind, their weapons ready. But the man himself was relaxed, as if he had already won.
Enzo took a slow step forward. “Miguel,” he greeted, his voice even, controlled. “Appreciate you coming.”
Miguel inclined his head, that smirk widening just a fraction. “Enzo. Always a pleasure.”
The words were civil, but the tension was thick enough to choke on. Luca didn’t move, didn’t speak. He simply watched, every muscle in his body coiled tight. He knew better than anyone that in meetings like this, words were just a prelude to bullets.
Miguel’s smirk faded, his posture shifting. “Now that we’re done pretending to be friends,” he said, voice sharp, “let’s get to the real issue.”
For just a flicker of a second, Enzo hesitated. Barely noticeable, but Luca caught it. Then, smoothly, Enzo smiled, his voice taking on that effortless charm he wielded like a weapon. “Of course. I just wanted to clear the air after Mexico. Make sure there were no misunderstandings about where our loyalties lie. Maybe even find a way forward, like before.”
Miguel’s gaze darkened, his smirk turning cold. “Loyalty,” he said, rolling the word over his tongue. “Interesting choice of words, considering your little brother is cozying up to a DEA agent.”
The air shifted. Luca felt it like a punch to the gut.
Everything stilled. The men behind them tensed, fingers hovering over triggers. Luca forced his expression to remain neutral, but his grip on his gun tightened. Enzo, to his credit, barely reacted, only the subtle clench of his jaw gave him away.
Enzo chuckled, low and dangerous. “You really wanna talk about loyalty, Castillo?” he said smoothly. “Because from where I’m standing, I hear you’ve got a fed of your own. Or did you think we wouldn’t find out?”
Miguel’s smirk vanished in an instant, his face darkening with fury. “You...”
A flicker of movement. A glint of metal.
In a strange sense of Deja vu, Luca’s instincts screamed at him. He moved without thinking, lunging forward, crashing into Enzo just as a gunshot shattered the air. The bullet cut through the space where Enzo had been standing a second before.
And then chaos erupted.
Gunfire exploded from all sides, the deafening sound bouncing off the warehouse walls. Luca hit the ground hard, rolling before springing up behind a stack of crates. His gun was in his hand before he’d even registered pulling it, his body moving on instinct.
He took out one of Castillo’s men with a clean shot to the chest, pivoted, and fired again. Another body dropped. The air was thick with smoke, the acrid scent of gunpowder burning in his nose. Around him, men shouted, bullets tore through the warehouse, bodies hit the ground.
Luca barely noticed the pain in his side where he had slammed into the concrete; adrenaline drowned out everything but survival. He moved fast, calculated. Shoot, cover, move. His pulse pounded; his focus razor-sharp.
A blur of movement to his right. He turned, raising his weapon, but as he pulled the trigger he realized that he was out of bullets.
Time slowed. The barrel of the gun was locked onto him, a tunnel leading straight to his end. He had no cover, no time to react, no way out.Then a weight slammed into him, knocking him off his feet. The shot rang out, deafening, as he hit the ground hard.
For a split second, he couldn’t process what had happened. Then; Caleb .
Luca’s breath caught, his vision tunneling as he registered the body on top of him, the warmth seeping between them. Caleb had tackled him. He had taken the hit meant for him.
His hands scrambled, desperate, as he turned Caleb onto his back. His stomach dropped. Blood. A dark stain spread across his white shirt, pooling beneath him.
Caleb’s eyes were wide, his breathing choppy and strained as he stared up at Luca. Blood seeped through Luca’s fingers, warm and sticky, as he pressed his jacket against the wound in Caleb’s abdomen. His heart was pounding, his mind a whirlwind of panic and desperation.
He screamed like a man possessed, his voice raw and guttural, as he grabbed Caleb's gun from the holster and fired a single shot into the head of the man who had pulled the trigger. The body crumpled to the ground, but Luca didn’t even register it. His entire world had narrowed down to Caleb, to the way his breath hitched and his body trembled.
“Help!” Luca growled, his voice cracking as he pressed harder against the wound. “Someone help!”
The chaos around him seemed to slow, the sound of gunfire fading into the background as Moretti men surged forward, rounding up the remaining cartel members. Miguel Castillo was among them, his face pale and his hands raised in surrender.
He started to beg, his voice trembling as he pleaded for his life, but Enzo didn’t hesitate. He stepped forward, his expression cold and unyielding, and pulled the trigger. The shot echoed through the warehouse, and Miguel’s body hit the ground with a dull thud.
Luca barely registered it. His focus was entirely on Caleb, on the way his breathing was growing more labored, his skin pale and clammy. Matteo and Aldo were at his side in an instant, their movements quick and efficient as they lifted Caleb from the ground. Luca stayed close, his hands still pressed against the wound, his jacket soaked with blood.
“Move!” Matteo barked; his voice sharp as they carried Caleb to one of the waiting cars. Luca climbed in after them, his hands never leaving Caleb’s body as they sped back to the house.
The drive was a blur, the world outside the car windows passing in a haze of colors and lights. Luca’s mind was a mess, his thoughts racing as he stared down at his face.
“Stay with me,” Luca begged, his voice trembling as he pressed his forehead against Caleb’s. “You hear me? Stay with me. You don’t get to do this, Caleb. You don’t get to leave me again.”
Caleb’s eyes fluttered, his breath hitching as he tried to speak, but the words wouldn’t come. Luca’s chest tightened, his hands shaking as he held him closer. “I love you too,” he whispered, his voice breaking. “I should have said it earlier. I should have told you every damn day. Just… just stay with me, okay? Please.”
The car screeched to a halt in front of the house, and Luca barely registered the doors opening or the hands pulling him away. Julian was already waiting, his face grim as he directed them to bring Caleb inside. Luca followed, his hands still covered in blood, his mind a whirlwind of fear and guilt.
As they laid Caleb on the table, Julian got to work, his movements quick and precise. Luca stood frozen in the corner, his arms wrapped around himself as he watched, his heart pounding in his chest. He felt like he was drowning, the weight of everything pressing down on him until he could barely breathe.
“Please,” Luca whispered, his voice barely audible. “Please save him.”