Chapter Fifteen
“So,” Dominic said, breaking the silence, “we didn’t get our traitor.”
Luca’s house still smelled faintly of antiseptic and gun oil. Someone had opened windows, letting in the cool night air, but the tension clung to the room anyway. The dining table had become a command surface again, maps and devices scattered across it like they’d always belonged there.
Mara was curled up on the couch beside Luca, knees tucked in, his arm a solid band around her shoulders. She hadn’t let go of him since they’d walked in. He hadn’t even thought to try making her.
“No,” Elias said calmly. “But we got confirmation.”
Mateo leaned back in one of the chairs, fingers steepled. “Confirmation that someone else is setting the board.”
Dominic grimaced. “Which begs the question—do we shut it all down?”
The room stilled.
Elias’s gaze lifted, sharp. “I considered it.”
That earned attention.
“Then why aren’t we?” Luca asked.
“Because shutting down doesn’t erase what we’ve already built,” Elias replied.
“It just hands it over to people who don’t care about the Code.
The networks would still exist. The money would still move.
The traffickers would still operate—just without us leading with a code and interfering where we need to.
And because,” he continued, voice lowering, “the moment we disappear, whoever did this knows they’ve won. ”
Mara shifted slightly, pressing closer to Luca. He felt the tremor she tried to hide.
“We’re exposed,” Mateo said. “At least partially.”
“Yes,” Elias agreed. “Which means we adapt.”
Luca straightened a fraction. “My place stays operational. All of our safehouses are compromised or predictable. This house isn’t.”
Dominic’s brow lifted. “You sure?”
“I am,” Luca said. “And it’s mine. Anyone who wants to touch it will have to come through me.”
A beat.
Elias nodded. “Accepted. I think we might start securing properties around this one, make this a strong hold for us all.”
“Makes sense,” Luca agreed.
Rafael and Dominic both nodded.
Kol, who’d been quiet until now, spoke up. “I’ll stay on a bit longer if that’s okay. There are ... threads I want to pull.”
Luca studied him, then inclined his head. “Do what you do best.”
Mateo pushed to his feet. “I need to check in on my teams. Money doesn’t earn itself.”
Dominic snorted. “I’ve got fires to put out too.”
They filed out one by one, the room emptying until only Elias remained.
He paused at the door, turning back. His gaze flicked from Luca to Mara, then settled.
“You held the line tonight,” he said quietly. “Both of you.” Then, almost as an afterthought, “That’s why this works.”
And he was gone.
Silence settled again, softer this time.
Luca looked down at Mara. “You ready?”
She nodded, exhaustion finally winning.
He scooped her up without effort, carrying her upstairs like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Tomorrow would bring answers.
Tonight, he had her.
And that was enough.
****
“Come here,” Luca murmured as soon as he set her down upstairs, his voice low, rough with everything he hadn’t said yet.
Mara turned into him instead of answering, hands sliding up his chest, feeling the steady strength there, the proof that he was alive. “I don’t want fast,” she said softly. “I want ... us. While it’s still real and raw.”
His forehead rested against hers. “Good,” he breathed. “Because I need to feel you. I need to know you’re here.”
They moved together slowly, unhurried, like time itself had finally loosened its grip. Luca eased her shirt over her head with deliberate care, palms warm as they traced her skin. His mouth followed, kisses slow and grounding, each one an unspoken reassurance.
As he laid her back on the bed, his hands framing her face, she caught his gaze. “Everything changed tonight,” she whispered. “With the Covenant. With us.”
“It did,” he agreed, brushing his thumb beneath her eye. “You’re part of it now. Not just protected, but chosen and living by the code.”
Her legs wrapped around him instinctively as he settled between them. “I want that,” she said. “I want the life that comes with you. Even when it’s dangerous.”
A quiet sound left his throat as he leaned into her, skin to skin, heat building slowly between them. “I don’t want a future where I lose you,” he said against her mouth. “There isn’t one where I survive that.”
She kissed him, long and sure. “Then we don’t lose each other.”
He entered her gradually, giving her time, staying with her breath for breath. The connection was deep and intimate, more promise than hunger, their bodies moving together in a slow, deliberate rhythm.
“Luca,” she murmured, fingers digging into his shoulders. “This—this is forever for me.”
His pace faltered for just a heartbeat, emotion flashing raw across his face before he pressed his forehead to hers. “For me too,” he said. “I don’t walk away from what’s mine.”
They moved together, the tension building steadily, each whispered word binding them tighter. Her breath hitched as pleasure crested, her body arching into his.
“Yes,” she gasped. “Don’t stop. Stay with me.”
“I’ve got you,” he groaned, holding her as she shattered beneath him, her cry breaking something open in his chest. He followed her over the edge moments later, breath rough as he buried his face against her neck, release tearing through him.
For a long moment afterward, he stayed there, heart pounding against hers, as if letting go was no longer an option.
After, they lay tangled together, the storm spent, breaths slowly evening out.
Mara traced slow, absent patterns on his chest, following the steady rise and fall of his breathing. “Tell me about them,” she said quietly. “Your team.”
Luca was silent for a beat, the kind of pause that meant he was choosing honesty over habit.
“They’re my family,” he said finally. “Not because we work together. Because we chose each other. Over and over.” His hand shifted on her back, grounding, protective.
“They know my worst days. They’ve bled with me.
I trust them with my life.” He glanced down at her, expression unguarded.
“Being with me means you take them too. No half measures. No halfway in.”
She met his gaze without flinching. “I don’t want halfway,” she said. Then, softer, certain, “I’m happy with that. With all of it.”
Something in his chest eased at those words, something old and tight finally loosening. He drew a slow breath, thumb brushing a lazy line along her spine.
“Marry me,” he said.
The simplicity of it made her laugh, warm and breathless. She lifted her head just enough to look at him. “Yes,” she said, then added, amused and fond, “but not like that. I want a real proposal. Something thought through. Something ... us.”
A corner of his mouth curved, the rare, genuine smile that never belonged to anyone else. “All right,” he agreed. “I’ll do it properly. Soon.”
She settled back against him, her cheek fitting perfectly to his chest, the sound of his heart steady beneath her ear. Safe. Certain. Home.
Outside, the world was still dangerous. The Covenant still hunted. Lines were still being tested.
But here, in the quiet after the storm, Luca made his choice.
Not to power. Not to war.
To her.
And that choice—unyielding, sworn, unbreakable—was his iron vow.