Chapter 29 Luca
LUCA
I feel like I might come out of my skin. Agitation crackles along all my nerves.
I keep replaying Katerina's distance, wondering if this incident has pushed her away again. I can’t blame her. I’m the source of what happened.
But if I hadn’t, he’d have still urged her to betray my family.
He’s the one who took Enzo.
I was justified in killing him and the men with him to protect them both.
But I made the mistake of thinking we’d be safe inside my brother’s walls.
My phone buzzes with another update from the security team.
Still no sign of her on the property.
I can’t believe she’d have left of her own accord.
Even if she was finished with me, she wouldn’t abandon Enzo.
But there’s no evidence anyone else got on the property or that she left.
Maybe she’s just hiding somewhere I haven’t looked yet. Perhaps she needs space to process the events of the day and doesn’t want Enzo to see her upset.
But as the clock ticks past another hour, my instincts scream that something's wrong. Where is she?
If the answer wasn’t crystal clear to me before, it is now. I have to hand myself over to the Bratva.
I'll walk into Maksim's compound with nothing but destruction on my mind.
I'll look that psychotic bastard in the eyes before I put a bullet between them.
I might not make it out alive, but neither will he.
And if that's what it takes to keep Katerina and Enzo safe, then it's a price I'm willing to pay.
My life for theirs.
It's not even a choice.
"Daddy?"
I turn to find Enzo standing in the doorway, his hair mussed from sleep.
"Hey, buddy. Good nap?" I crouch to his level, forcing my voice to remain steady.
"Where's Mommy?" He rubs his eyes, glancing around the room.
"I'm not sure. Did she tell you where she was going?"
He shakes his head. Four hours. She's been gone four hours without a word to anyone.
“I guess I should go find her.” I ruffle his hair, keeping my movements casual despite knowing after tonight, I may never see him again.
"Can I come?" His little face looks so much like Katerina's when he's worried.
"Not this time. How about we ask if you can make cookies?" I take his hand, leading him toward the kitchen.
“Maybe Mommy will want some when she comes back.”
“I bet she will.”
After depositing Enzo with Maria, I move through the house methodically, one more time checking every room and requestioning every staff member. Still no sign.
I burst into Alessandro's office without knocking, finding him standing by the window with a glass of scotch in one hand and his phone in another.
“Fuck,” he says under his breath.
Whatever the problem is will have to wait. "Katerina's gone. I need men to help search—"
"She's not missing." Alessandro's voice is flat. He doesn't even turn to look at me.
"What are you talking about? She's been gone for hours."
He takes a slow sip before setting his glass down and handing me his phone. "This just came minutes ago."
My heart pounds against my ribs as I snatch the phone from his hand.
Have you not noticed you’re missing something? I have Katerina. Luca Dante is to come to the Morozova compound alone and unarmed by midnight if he wants her to live. Any sign of Dante men or weapons, and we'll send her back in pieces.
"How the fuck…" I can’t wrap my head around how they got her.
He glances at me as he takes his phone back. “She must have gone on her own. There hasn’t been a breach.”
I can’t wrap my head around that. “If there’s no breach, then how did she leave?” I have a flash of memory of an old abandoned gate back in the overgrown area of the property. “Fuck!” I run my hands through my hair as frustration peaks. “That back gate.”
He frowns. “What back gate?”
I explain briefly where it is and how Katerina and I used to sneak out through it. “But why? What was she thinking?” I can only imagine Alessandro thinks she’s disloyal, but she’d never leave Enzo. Never.
“Maybe she thought she could reason with them,” he surprises me by saying. “It is her job to mediate.”
“But they took her instead.” Rage pulses through me. "I'm going after her."
"That's exactly what they want."
"I don't give a fuck what they want!” If I were holding something, it would be flying across the room and shattering against the wall. "They have Katerina."
“Yes, and they’re using her bait. Surely, you don’t want to give them what they want.”
“I do if it will free her.”
Alessandro studies me. "You'd walk into certain death for this woman?"
I stare at him nearly gaping. Hasn’t he been paying attention? "Without hesitation."
I move toward the door. "I need more guns."
"You heard the message. Unarmed."
"They'll kill me either way. I'm at least taking that psychotic bastard Maksim with me."
Alessandro is silent for a long moment. "What about Enzo? If you both die, what happens to him?"
My gut clenches at the idea of never spending another moment with my son. I still haven’t taught him to play catch. Or to tie a tie on his first date. "You protect him. And Katerina, when I get her out."
"If."
"When," I growl. "I'm not letting her die because of me."
"Then we need a plan better than you walking in there with guns blazing." Alessandro reaches for his phone.
“You do what you have to, I’m leaving.” I turn to leave, my mind already mapping the fastest route to the Morozova warehouse.
I don't need Alessandro's permission or help. I've been on my own for seven years. I know what to do, maybe even better than he does.
"Luca, stop." Alessandro's voice hardens. "You're not walking out that door."
"Watch me." I don't even turn around.
"Jesus Christ, if you go in there half-cocked, you're signing both your death warrants."
I whirl around. "What the fuck do you want me to do? Sit here and wait while they torture her?"
Alessandro steps toward me, his expression shifting in a way I've rarely seen. "I'm not telling you this as the head of this family. I'm telling you as your brother."
The unexpected sincerity stops me cold.
"I just got you back," he continues. "Seven years, Luca. Seven years of wondering if you were even alive."
"You had men watching me?"
"Not watching. Just… confirming." He runs a hand over his face. "You think I wanted you gone? You're my blood. My little brother."
Something tightens in my chest. All this time, I thought Alessandro was glad to be rid of me. One less competitor for the throne. But the sincerity in his eyes tells a different story.
“We live in a dangerous world, Luca, but this is not the way for you to go out. Not now. Not like this."
If I had time, I’d want to savor the moment of connection with my brother. But there is no time.
I shake my head. "I appreciate what you're saying. I do. But there is no other way."
He gives me a curt nod. I turn and leave, wondering if I should have said something more poignant to him since I probably won’t ever see him again.
The Morozova compound looms ahead in the darkness. I park half a mile out, avoiding security cameras as I approach on foot through the woods.
Two handguns and three knives are strapped to various parts of my body.
But five weapons on one man is still no challenge to an army. But I’m resolved to die.
As long as Maksim goes first.
The perimeter guards are my first obstacle.
I take them silently, one by one, leaving dead bodies hidden in the shadows.
All that changes when I reach the eastern entrance.
A guard spots me, shouts a warning.
My silenced pistol fires twice. He drops.
Two men appear around a corner. I fire without hesitation. The first catches a bullet in the throat. The second manages to squeeze off a shot that grazes my shoulder before a bullet hits the center of his chest.
I ignore the warmth of blood dripping down my arm as I slip inside and navigate the maze-like interior.
I’ve been here before during meetings with my father and the Bratva.
Katerina is family, so she could be put in a room, but I suspect they see her as a prisoner, so I head to the basement.
"Where is she?" I growl, pressing my gun against a guard's temple.
“You’re a dead man, Dante.”
“So are you. Where is she?”
“Fuck you.”
I have no choice. I use my knife to slit his throat.
The basement reeks of mold and old blood.
Another Bratva man guards a heavy metal door.
He doesn’t see me coming until it's too late.
I grab him by the head, cranking it until his neck cracks and he drops.
The hallway beyond holds a row of locked rooms.
My heart pounds as I move past the first, then the second.
And there she is.
Katerina sits huddled in the corner, her face bruised. But her fierce blue eyes flash with defiance when I enter.
For a moment, they morph to relief, but then panic. "Luca. It’s a trap. You shouldn’t have come."
“What else could I do?” I pull her into my arms, and for one brief moment, I allow myself to hold her, to breathe her in. She’s alive. So far. “How did you get here?”
“I came to offer myself—"
"You what?"
"After the cottage attack, I couldn't bear it anymore. Enzo was almost killed, and I could negotiate with Maksim. Convince him to take me instead."
"Jesus Christ, Katerina." My chest constricts at the thought of her walking into this hellhole by choice. For me.
"I should have known better." She touches her bruised cheek. "The moment I proposed the trade, he laughed. He said he’d use me to draw you out instead." Tears fall down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Luca. I've gotten us both killed."
"We're not dead yet." I check the ammunition in my guns.
"Please." She grabs my arm. "Just go. Leave me.”
I cup her face in my free hand, careful to avoid her injuries. "That’s not happening."
Her eyes search mine, desperate and pleading. "Enzo needs you alive."
"Enzo needs both his parents." I press a quick kiss to her forehead. "And I need you. So we're getting out of here together, or not at all."
Gunfire erupts somewhere above us. I pull her closer, sheltering her with my body.
"Can you walk?" I ask, scanning for injuries.
She nods, wiping blood from her split lip. "They wanted me alive to watch you die."
"Maksim's in for a disappointment. Stay close to me." I study her to make sure she’s up for what we’re about to do. Chances are high we’re going to die, but it won’t be without a fight.
She nods.
"Stay behind me." I grip her hand tightly. "When I move, you move. Don't stop for anything."
“Okay.”
We're not going to die here. Not when I've just found her again.
Before I can turn to lead her out, a slow clap echoes in the room.
"Touching reunion," a voice calls from the shadows. "But I'm afraid neither of you are leaving alive. Won’t Maksim be pleased to finally have the black sheep of the Dante family?”