Chapter 30 Katerina
KATERINA
Luca's hand tightens around mine as Maksim’s man steps into the room. Death has never felt so close, so inevitable.
I think of Enzo, waiting for parents who might never return.
The thought guts me.
I catch Luca's eye, and in that moment, something passes between us. In a flash, Luca moves.
He moves in front of me and fires in one fluid motion.
The man, with a stunned look on his face, drops to the hard floor.
“Come on.” He grips my hand again and we step over the man into the hall.
An alarm shrieks.
My ears ring as we move down the corridor.
"They're here!" someone shouts in Russian.
The footsteps sound like an avalanche heading toward us. Five, six, maybe more rush in, blocking our exit.
Luca steps in front of me again, his gun erupting. The first two men fall before they can aim, but the others scatter for cover.
My heart is beating so hard I’m nearly paralyzed. Bullets strike the wall inches from my head. I reach deep inside me for courage. I don’t want my fear to be the reason we die.
I register movement in my peripheral vision. “On the left!” I shout to Luca.
He pivots and fires. Another man drops.
But bullets keep flying toward us. The exit is twenty feet away, but it might as well be miles. And of course, even if we leave the basement, there’s still the house and the compound to navigate. It’s a losing situation.
Luca fires again, and a man staggers back, clutching his shoulder.
Another burst of gunfire, and Luca grunts. My blood freezes.
"Luca?"
"I'm fine," he grits out, but I see the dark stain spreading across his sleeve. It matches the one I noticed earlier but haven’t had the chance to ask about.
“Hurry.” He grabs my hand and we move closer to the stairs.
A Bratva man materializes, his weapon aimed directly at me.
"Katerina!" Luca’s body slams into mine, shoving me sideways as the gun fires.
The bullet meant for me rips through his chest instead.
The impact throws him backward, his body crumpling against me as we both crash to the floor.
"No!" I scream out.
Luca's eyes go wide with shock.
A choked, agonizing gasp escapes his lips as his hand fumbles toward the rapidly spreading crimson stain on his shirt.
His gun clatters to the concrete beside us.
My body moves on its own as I pick up his gun, raise it toward the man, and pull the trigger twice.
The man's expression shifts from confidence to confusion as the bullets hit his chest.
He stumbles backward, his own weapon discharging into the ceiling before he collapses in a heap on the floor.
My hands shake violently as I lower the gun, a wave of nausea washing over me.
I just killed someone.
Took a life.
But there's no time to process.
"Luca.” I turn my attention to him. Blood soaks through his shirt, pooling beneath him on the concrete. "Stay with me. Please, stay with me."
His eyelids flutter, gray eyes struggling to focus on my face. "Get out," he rasps. "Run."
"Not without you."
More shouts echo down the corridor. More footsteps. More men coming to finish what Maksim started.
I press my hand over Luca’s wound. There’s so much blood. Too much.
Gunfire erupts again. Bullets ricochet off the walls around us, showering us with concrete fragments. I flatten myself over Luca's body, shielding him as best I can while keeping his gun trained on the corridor.
"Enzo," Luca whispers, his voice fading. "Tell him—"
"You'll tell him yourself," I hiss, firing blindly toward the approaching footsteps. "We're getting out of here."
But even as I speak the words, I know it's a lie.
There are too many of them.
Too few of us.
And Luca is bleeding out beneath my hands.
We’re going to die here.
A deafening explosion rocks the building, momentarily silencing the gunfire.
The lights flicker and die, plunging us into darkness.
Seconds later, emergency lights flick on.
Gunfire and shouts blur into white noise as I press harder against Luca's wound, willing the blood to stop flowing.
His skin has turned ashen, lips pale and blue-tinged. Every labored breath he takes sounds like it might be his last.
"Stay with me," I plead. "Luca, please. Enzo needs you. I need you."
Another explosion rocks the building, closer this time.
Concrete dust rains down from the ceiling.
Through the smoke and chaos, new voices emerge.
Not Russian.
"Luca! Katerina!"
My head snaps up. Through the haze, I see them. The Dante men. Alessandro at the front, Adriano right behind.
Wild hope surges through me. They came for us.
But the relief is fleeting as I look back at Luca.
His eyes are closed now, his breathing shallow.
Too much blood pools beneath him, spreading across the concrete floor.
"No, no, no," I sob. My hands are slick with his blood as I press harder against the wound. "Don't you dare die on me."
The gunfight rages around us. Alessandro, Adriano and their men are running, firing, killing.
But all that exists for me right now is Luca as he slips away from me.
"Katerina." His voice is barely audible. His eyes flutter open. "Take care of Enzo."
"We'll take care of him together," I insist fiercely. "You promised you wouldn't leave me again."
A ghost of a smile touches his lips. "Never wanted to."
Alessandro materializes beside us, his expression grim as he takes in Luca's condition. "We need to move. Now."
"He can't be moved," I snap. "He'll bleed out."
"If we stay, we all die," Alessandro counters with urgency.
As if to punctuate his words, another blast shakes the foundation. Chunks of ceiling crash down at the far end of the corridor.
"I'm not leaving him," I say.
Luca's hand finds mine, his grip weak but insistent. "Go. Enzo needs his mother."
"And his father." I clutch his hand tighter.
"Alessandro," Luca rasps, his gaze shifting to his brother. "Protect them. Promise me."
Alessandro nods once. "With my life.”
"No!" I scream as Alessandro signals to his men. Two of them move toward me. "I won't leave him! I can't—"
"You have to," Luca murmurs, his voice fading. "For our son."
Our son. Enzo.
"Luca, please," I beg, even as the Dante men gently try to pull me away. "Fight. Come back to us."
His eyes lock with mine one last time. "I love you. Always did."
The ceiling groans ominously above us. Alessandro barks orders, and suddenly, I'm being lifted away from Luca, kicking and screaming as they drag me toward safety.
The last thing I see before smoke obscures my vision is Alessandro kneeling beside his brother as he tears off his jacket to press against Luca's wound.
"Get off me!" I struggle against the men's iron grip. "I won't leave him!"
Gunfire echoes through the corridor, punctuated by shouts. But all I can see is Luca, pale and bleeding on the floor.
“We have no choice,” one of the men hisses.
I twist violently, nearly breaking free. "There's always a choice!"
Alessandro hurries toward us, urging his men forward. “Go, go, go.”
“No.” I continue to flail.
"Enzo needs his mother. Luca would never forgive me if I let you die here." Alessandro looks at me with sympathy but also determination. “Don’t make me fail him by being stubborn. He wants you to live and be there for Enzo. It’s his wish. Are you really going to deny him that?”
Enzo's face flashes before my eyes. My struggle weakens, and Alessandro seizes the moment to pull me toward the exit. I stumble over fallen men.
“You aren’t just going to leave him, are you?”
But Alessandro isn’t listening to me as he and his men fight their way out of the basement.
We burst into the cold night air just as another explosion rips through the compound behind us. Ears ringing, I scream as I fear the house is going to be demolished with Luca inside.
Alessandro grips my elbow, partly dragging and partly guiding me toward an SUV.
“You can’t just leave him.”
He’s still not listening to me as he forces me into the SUV and tells the driver to get me out of here. He adds that I’m to be guarded at all times. I guess he doesn’t trust me not to try and come back for Luca. He’s right not to trust me.
“Go!”
As we speed away from the compound, I steal one final glance through the rear window. The Morozova fortress has smoke coming from the windows.
All I can think is that Luca is leaving me again.
I know this time, it’s not by choice.
I know it’s my fault for thinking I could make a deal with Maksim. That’s going to be the hardest pill to swallow.
How will I ever be able to look Enzo in the face again knowing I’m responsible for his father’s death?