Chapter 38
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Nico
These past few days have been hell.
I miss Eleonora more than I thought possible. The woman I love is sleeping just down the hall, and I can’t even go to her. I can’t hold her. I can’t talk to her. So close, yet so far away.
I gave her the space she asked for, but every night it feels like I’m tearing my own chest open. I know I should have told her the full truth about her father and her sisters.
I thought I could handle it quietly, keep her safe without adding more fear to her heart. But now I see how wrong that was.
She’s hurting. And I’m the one who caused it.
I sit in my study, staring at the monitors, trying to focus on work. But my mind keeps drifting back to her. To the way she looked when she handed me back the ring. To the tears in her eyes.
Then one of the garden motion sensors lights up.
I switch the feed and my breath catches.
Eleonora is walking slowly through the garden, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She looks small. Lonely. The moonlight catches her face, and even from here I can see the sadness in her expression.
I promised her space. But the need to be near her, even from a distance, wins. I stand up and head for the door.
That’s when another motion sensor triggers. I freeze and switch cameras. Daniel.
He’s moving through the garden, heading straight toward her. My blood runs cold. He was supposed to be reassigned far from the main property. He should not be here.
If he crossed the perimeter without my men alerting me, something is very wrong.
“Fuck.”
I bolt out of the study, running down the hallway. The alarms suddenly explode through the estate, loud, piercing, signaling a full breach.
“Marco!” I shout as I sprint toward the garden.
He comes running from the opposite direction, already armed. “We’ve got a breach! Multiple hostiles inside the perimeter!”
“Daniel has Eleonora!” I roar.
Chaos erupts.
I bark orders without slowing down. “Triple the guard on Sienna! Get her to the safe room now!”
Soldiers pour out of the barracks, shouting orders. Gunfire cracks in the distance. I run faster, heart pounding in my throat, fear like I’ve never known clawing at my chest.
Marco is right beside me, barking commands into his radio.
We burst into the garden just as I see Daniel dragging Eleonora deeper into the shadows. She’s fighting him hard, but he’s bigger and stronger.
“Eleonora!” I shout, pulling my gun.
Daniel turns, spots me, and yanks her closer like a shield. Several of Gallo’s men emerge from the trees, weapons raised.
I fire without hesitation, dropping the first man who aims at her. Marco takes down another. My men flood the garden, exchanging heavy gunfire with the intruders.
I move forward, eyes locked on Eleonora, pure rage and terror driving every step.
Daniel’s face twists with panic as he realizes he’s trapped. He raises his gun toward me.
I will burn this entire garden to the ground before I let him take her.
Eleonora is the real target. This breach was designed to divide my men, to pull them in different directions while they tried to snatch her.
Gunfire cracks from two sides at once. Gallo’s men are pushing hard through the gardens, while Massimo’s forces strike the front of the house, trying to force us to split our defense. Clever. But not clever enough.
I run faster, heart hammering.
I fire another shot, careful not to hit her. The shot hits Daniel in the shoulder. He screams and staggers, losing his grip on her.
I’m on him in seconds, ripping Eleonora free and shoving her behind me.
“Stay down!” I shout, pushing her behind a thick stone wall as Gallo’s men open fire.
Bullets chew up the ground around us. I put my body between her and the incoming shots, shielding her completely while returning fire.
Marco and my men spread out, engaging the attackers in a brutal firefight. The garden turns into a battlefield, muzzle flashes, shouting, the sharp smell of gunpowder thick in the air.
Andrea Gallo himself emerges from the trees, eyes wild with fury. He’s reckless tonight, charging forward like a man possessed, convinced Eleonora still belongs to him.
“You stole what’s mine, Lombardi!” he screams.
Massimo arrives moments later with more of his men. The bastard is assisting Gallo. Not to save his daughters but to reclaim control of his collapsing alliance. He’s willing to let everything burn as long as he walks away with power intact.
Marco and my soldiers hold off Gallo’s shooters while I face both threats at once. Eleonora stays low behind the wall, breathing hard, eyes wide with terror but still alive.
Andrea lunges for her in the middle of the crossfire, trying to drag her away by force, reaching past me like a rabid animal.
I intercept him before he can touch her.
I slam into him with my full weight, driving him back. My fist crashes into his face once, twice, the sound of bone meeting bone satisfying in the chaos.
He staggers but comes back harder, tackling me into the stone wall. We crash against it, trading heavy blows at close range, elbows, knees, fists. Blood sprays from his split lip as I land another punch to his ribs.
“You think she belongs to you?!” he snarls, spitting blood. “She was promised to me!”
His words ignite something feral inside me.
“You will never have her.”
I grab him by the throat and slam him back against the tree, pinning him there. Around us, the garden has become a warzone, gunfire cracking, men shouting, bodies hitting the ground.
From the corner of my eye, I see Eleonora trying to make herself small beside the stone. Fuck. I need to end this.
Andrea tries to knee me in the groin. I twist just in time and drive my forehead into his nose. Cartilage crunches. He howls in pain.
I pull my gun, press the barrel hard under his chin, and look him dead in the eyes.
“She was never yours,” I growl, voice ice-cold. “She’s mine.”
I pull the trigger.
The gunshot is deafening at point-blank range. Andrea’s head snaps back. His body goes limp instantly, sliding down the tree trunk, leaving a smear of blood and brain matter on the bark.
Silence falls across the garden for a heartbeat.
Massimo’s men freeze. Some of Gallo’s remaining soldiers start backing away the moment they see Andrea is dead. The marriage alliance they were all fighting for dies with Andrea Gallo in the dirt.
Massimo stands a short distance away, face pale, eyes wide with shock. He raises his hands slowly as I point my gun at him.
“Enough!” he shouts. “I’ll pull back! Just let me leave with my daughters!”
The nerve of this bastard. “Fuck off Massimo, before I change my mind and decide you suffer the same fate as Andrea.”
“Surely you can't….”
“Take your minions and leave!” I bark. “Now!”
Looking around, he realizes he's been out numbered. Most of the men lying dead or injured are his and Gallo's men. It immediately dawns on him that he won't win this fight.
“This isn't over!” He screams, backing away.
“Go home Massimo, your daughters don't want to talk to you.”
His remaining men begin to scatter, retreating toward the perimeter.
I don’t lower my gun. I turn slowly, searching for Eleonora.
She’s still behind the stone wall where I left her. Blood spatters her robe and cheeks, but she’s unharmed. Her eyes meet mine, she doesn’t look toward her father. Not once.
She walks straight to me.
I pull her against my chest, one arm wrapped tightly around her, the other still holding my gun.
She leans into me, her fingers curling into my shirt, choosing my side in front of everyone, her father, the bodies, the blood.
Massimo’s face twists with fury and disbelief as he watches his daughter stand with me.
“Thank God you're okay,” she breathes again my chest, voice filled with relief.
That's supposed to be my line. I'm relieved to see she's fine. For a moment I thought I almost lost her.
“Thank you for not letting them take me,” she starts crying, and it breaks my heart to see her cry.
“Never. I'd never let anyone take you.” I gently rub her back. “Shh… I've got you. You're safe. Gallo can't have you.”
And I will burn his entire empire to the ground before I let him take her from me.