Chapter 31 NORA
NORA
Adrian snaps out orders as two guards drag the dead men down the back service stairs.
Nonna already stalked back toward her kitchen, cursing in sharp Italian about ruined dough and spilled blood on her tiles.
Matteo lingers near the landing with an uneasy whistle until Luca glares him down.
Smoke from Nonna's shotgun still hangs in the air, but the corridor clears fast until only the two of us remain in the hallway wreckage.
I step around the dark puddle on the floorboards. "You look terrible. Close your mouth before you catch flies."
He drags a hand through his dark hair, his chest rising and falling fast while his eyes sweep over me. "I heard the shots and thought they broke through before you could pull it off. I thought they killed you."
"Hey." I press my palms against the stiff fabric of his suit jacket to steady him. "Look at me, Moretti. I am entirely intact."
His fingers dig into my upper arms hard enough to leave marks. "You were the bait. We agreed to the plan, but watching those bastards head for your door nearly broke me."
I tilt my chin until he meets my gaze head-on. "I offered to be the bait, remember? We knew Bellini would come after me the second he thought I was vulnerable up here alone. And Nonna dropped them before they crossed the threshold. Take a breath."
Luca spits the words, his hand sliding to cup my neck while his pulse leaps under his collar. "He sent his best killers into my home. If my grandmother had been two seconds slower..."
I tap his collarbone with one finger. "She wasn't slower. The diversion worked. Bellini focused all his muscle on hitting me here, which left his two docks wide open for Enzo."
"Enzo torched both docks to the waterline," Luca rasps. The tension in his shoulders finally drops a fraction. "Bellini lost his entire shipping route in twenty minutes. It worked. But you put your neck on the line to give us the distraction."
I flatten my palms over the lapels of his coat. "I chose it. I told you I solve crises. You wanted Bellini blind, so I gave him a shiny target. We took his docks and wiped out his hitters."
He buries his face against my neck, his fingers digging hard into my waist. "I almost lost you. Don't do that again, Nora. If you die, I die with you. It's that simple."
He braces one broad hand flat against the wallpaper next to my ear, his breath warm and unsteady across my cheek.
"Adrian has an extraction car waiting at the southern gate.
If you want to walk away from this, Nora, you leave right now.
No questions asked. I'll have you on a private jet back to London before sunrise. "
I scoff, crossing my arms over my chest, and stare right into his dark eyes.
"Do you honestly think I survived being tossed in the back of an SUV, tied up in plastic zip ties, and flown across an ocean, just to run away the second things get loud?
We talked about this already, Moretti. I don't run. "
His jaw tightens, a flicker of exasperation cutting through his exhaustion. He cups the side of my face, his thumb tracing the sharp curve of my cheekbone. "Bellini isn't done. The third wave will be worse. I am giving you an out because once this starts, I cannot pull you back."
I step right into his space until my chest hits his. "I don't need you to pull me back. Keep your private jet. I fix disasters for a living, remember? I chose to stand here with you, so stop trying to push me out the door like I'm fragile."
"You have never been helpless a day in your life," he murmurs, his thumb running down the line of my neck. "You are the most stubborn woman I've ever had the misfortune to drag into my war."
"Flattery won't save you, Moretti," I whisper back, fingers curled tight into the dark wool of his coat.
His forehead drops against mine, his warm breath hitching against my lips.
"I've relived the night my parents died every day for twenty years.
When I heard those gunshots up here, that same terror ripped right through me.
Then I saw you standing here alive. I don't know how to care about someone like this.
I don't know how to keep you safe and keep my head. "
I grab a fistful of his shirt and yank him against me. "Then learn. Stop treating me like a job you have to finish. I want the man who complains about my tea and glares at me over dinner like he can't figure me out."
"You make terrible tea," he murmurs against my lips, his hands gripping my hips hard enough to bruise.
"Shut up and kiss me, Luca."
His pupils darken, and then his mouth crashes down onto mine.
His lips are rough and tasting of salt, forcing mine open with a bruising, desperate friction.
I shove my hands against his chest, feeling his heavy heartbeat hammering right through his chest, before I grab the lapels of his wool coat and drag him closer.
The solid oak frame of his bedroom door bites right through the silk of my blouse into my back.
"The bed is six feet away," he rasps against the skin beneath my jaw, fingers digging straight through the fabric at my hips until my feet nearly leave the hardwood.
I work the buckle of his belt loose. "Right here works. Before Matteo or one of your guards comes running with another mess."
"You are ruthless." He groans, pressing me backward until my shoulder blades hit the paneling with a solid thud.
I yank his shirt free from his pants. "You know I don't waste time."
" Cazzo ," he murmurs, his accent thick before he slips into rough English.
"Nora." His fingertips drag across the dark purple fingerprint marks on my collarbone, slowing until his touch barely grazes the skin.
I yank the cotton of his shirt apart. The buttons pop off the placket and clatter against the marble baseboards.
When my nails catch the raw, red gouges scoring his shoulder, a sharp hiss cuts past his teeth.
My fingertips find the red scratch on his shoulder. "Did I hurt you?"
"You can do whatever you want to me," he mutters against my ear. He drops to his knees on the floor between my feet, hands bunching my skirt up past my thighs until the cool air hits my skin, his mouth pressing hot against my inner knee. He looks up into my face. "Tell me if you want me to stop."
I drop my head back against the wall. "If you stop now, I'll never forgive you."
"Fuck, Luca." The syllables dissolve into a sharp intake of air as his tongue finds my center.
He pauses for a split second, looking up with dark eyes under the dim light. "Keep talking, Nora. You know I like the sound of your voice."
I dig my fingers into his shoulders as he moves against me again. "You're an asshole."
"And you talk too much." He whispers against my skin, kissing his way back up.
I scrape my nails over his shoulders, panting against his jaw. "Fuck, Luca. Right there. Don't you dare stop. You think you can control this? Take what's yours and choke on it."
A wicked rumble vibrates through his throat, his mouth sucking bruises along my throat. "You want to see control, Nora? You're dripping for a criminal."
I hiss right in his ear, bucking against his mouth. "I'm dripping for you, you prick. Now get up here and fuck me before I lose my mind."
The pressure snaps. My knees fold like paper.
He catches my waist before I hit the floorboards, his chest shaking with a low, dark laugh against my collarbone.
In one brutal yank, he lifts me clean off my feet, slamming my back flat against the wall again.
He drags his pants down with one hand while I fumble between us, gripping him hard and guiding him straight to my center until the breath rips out of both our chests.
He stands up and hooks one of my legs around his hip. "Look at me." I keep my eyes glued to his as he pushes all the way inside me in one smooth drive. The breath leaves my lungs in a sharp gasp, his hands braced on the wall on both sides of my head as he sets a hard, deep pace.
"I love you," I blurt out, the words spilling past my teeth before I can stop them. "I love you, and this whole thing is a complete mess."
He stills completely deep inside me, his forehead colliding gently with mine as his chest heaves. "Repeat that. Right now."
I rake my nails lightly down his neck. "I love you, you stubborn jerk. And if you die tomorrow, I'll kill you myself."
A rough laugh breaks out of his chest before he drives into me again. "I love you. I loved you the second you threatened to hit Matteo with a frying pan. You walked into this dark house and turned on the lights. You make me want a life after this war."
I grip his broad back as the heat takes over everything. "Look at you, getting soft."
"Shut up." He groans, moving faster, his chest slick against mine.
Tears sting my eyes. I refuse them by kissing him fiercely, tasting salt and heat.
The hallway is all shadows and the distant thrum of the estate trying not to panic.
We are stealing this. We both know it. His hips snap up and I meet every stroke, chasing the edge like it might be the last one.
When I come the second time it rips through me with a sob I don't bother hiding.
He follows with a guttural sound, burying his face in my neck, pulsing hot inside me like he can leave a claim the night can't erase.
We stay locked together, breathing like survivors. His hand strokes my hair in slow, stunned passes. I feel the tremor in his arms, the way he is holding me too tight and still not tight enough.
I trace the edge of his shoulder, whispering against his warm neck. "This won't last long. You feel it coming, don't you?"
He nods slowly, his jaw tight. "Bellini is coming. When the real fight starts, don't forget this. Forget the shouting earlier. Just remember this." He steps back, pulling my skirt down and taking my face between his hands. "I will keep you safe. Nothing else matters."
I rest my cheek in his palm, fixing his ripped shirt. "I'm not running. Even if staying in this place is crazy for a girl from London." A tiny smile slips out. "My mum will write a whole crime book about this and dedicate it to you."
He gives a faint, tired laugh. "I'll buy every copy in the UK and burn them in the yard. Just for you."
I smooth down what's left of his shirt. "A huge waste of money. Do it anyway."
"Deal," he whispers, kissing my forehead.
Heavy footsteps pound down the hall toward us. Adrian rounds the corner, his face pale under the corridor light.
Adrian catches his breath against the doorframe. "Bellini's men just breached the outer gates. They aren't hitting the docks. They're coming straight here for Nora."
Luca pulls me behind him, his fingers tightening on the grip of his pistol. "Get her to the safe room right now, Adrian."
I grab Luca's forearm to stop him. "No. Listen to me. Let them take me."
Luca spins around, his dark eyes wide with shock. "Are you out of your mind? Absolutely not."
I step closer and grip both sides of his face.
"Think about it for two seconds. Bellini thinks I am your weak spot.
If they get me, his entire focus shifts to holding me.
While he is distracted gloating over his prize, you and Enzo hit him with everything you have outside.
You wipe out his crews, take his territory, and finish him for good. "
"I am not using you as bait again," Luca growls, his jaw working as his hands come up to trap mine against his chest. "If he touches a hair on your head..."
"I can handle myself until you get there," I cut in, looking straight into his eyes, unflinching. "We finish this tonight, Luca. No more running. No more looking over our shoulders. Trust me."
He stares down at me, the conflict tearing across his features before he lets out a harsh, defeated breath. He leans down and crushes his mouth to mine in a desperate kiss. "Thirty minutes, Nora. If you die, I will burn this entire country to the ground."
I give him a sharp nod. "Thirty minutes. Go ruin him."