Chapter Thirty–Seven #2
“You know, I couldn’t believe it at first,” he mocks.
“After all, you are Stefano Castello. A heartless, soulless, self-serving wretch. But now…now I’m sure.
You fell for this worthless bitch.” He digs the barrel of his gun harder against her skull, his hand shaking with rage.
“And now I have your weakness in my grasp. Which means, I win. You took my son from me. Now I get to take something special from you.”
In a single move, I have my Glock unholstered and aimed as I advance. But within seconds, I’m surrounded. Outnumbered.
I’ve got a clear shot at him. And I trust my aim. But I won’t risk her getting hurt. Can’t.
He’s got me. Vale fucking has me.
All because I was stupid enough to fall for a woman. To care. To give a shit enough to risk it all. A predicament I’ve spent my entire life avoiding. Yet here I am. Owned. Cornered. Useless.
“There’s no way out of this, nephew.” His smirk is taunting. “Think of it like one of our little chess games. I always cornered you. Outsmarted you. Beat you. And this time will be no different.” His grin is slow, deliberate. “Checkmate.”
Gritting my teeth, I draw my second handgun and level both at him. If I’m going down, I’m going down swinging. If I can just give her a fighting chance to run…
“Ah, there he is,” Vale laughs, spreading his arms. “Stefano fucking Castello. Never one to back down. Not even when he’s already lost. Always pushing, right to the bitter end.”
“Is this all you’ve got prepared for your villain monologue?
” I ask, voice flat. “Because I have to say, I’m bored.
You could’ve at least waxed poetic about why you’re doing this.
But you haven’t. Because there’s no reason, is there?
No real cause. No righteous crusade. Just jealousy. And self-hate.”
His jaw ticks, but I keep on.
“What the fuck have I ever done to you except support you like any loyal family would? You wouldn’t even have a pot to piss in without me.
But that’s what eats you alive, right? That I gave you the power you parade around with now.
That’s why you rallied up with my enemies and came after the very hand that feeds you.
Raw, unadulterated jealousy is your only reason.
” I shift my stance. Dig in. “There. I’ve wrapped up your backstory for you. ”
Keeping my focus dead on him, I realign my aim. “Now, are we gonna spray some bullets or what? Let’s get this shit over with.”
Rage flushes Vale’s face a vengeful red, lips curling into a snarl. “Alright. You want a show?” he growls. “Kneel.”
“For what? My life?” I bark out a laugh. “You, of all people, should know, I do not fear death. I will never beg for my—”
“Not yours.” He jabs the gun against Raya’s skull. “Hers.”
My jaw locks. And he grins, victorious. Knowing he’s got me for good.
For the first time, I let myself look at her.
There’s fear carved into her face, but it doesn’t touch her eyes. Fear looks ill-fitted on her, like it doesn’t belong. It’s…off. Her eyes are so cold and detached they’re almost unrecognizable. Maybe she’s disassociating? Or maybe…
Maybe these are her real eyes. The ones Eleni described.
Is this the real her?
Time seems to slow as her undaunted eyes hold mine. Steady. Sharp. Unflinching.
Then, with the smallest movement, she jerks her head side to side. Once. Then again.
At first, I think it’s Vale yanking her hair. But…no. She’s telling me no. Don’t do it. Don’t kneel. Don’t fold to emotion to save her. Be the man she prefers—cold, calculated, in control. Untouchable.
And I would’ve been. If she hadn’t lied her way into my life. If she hadn’t swept my feet out from under me and made me fall.
For most of my life, my only weakness, my closest thing to an Achilles’ heel, was my twin. Until she came along. This liar, with her silver tongue, her brilliant mind, her conniving eyes.
And somewhere in the chaos of the last few months…she became my kryptonite.
“Most women want the man who would burn the world down to save them. But I’m not one of them,” she’d said.
Her words echo in my head like a prophecy. Did she know this would happen? A moment where I’d be forced to choose between her and my empire?
I look around at my outnumbered men. I’m their leader. Leaders don’t kneel. Not for anyone. Not ever. They stand. They command. They lead with strength, fearlessness, conviction. To kneel is the pinnacle of disgrace.
And Vale knows that. He knows what it would mean.
Once I kneel, all respect for me is gone. No one follows a weak king. And I love being king. Love being on top. Love being revered and fucking feared. It feeds my pride, my ego, my identity.
And yet…
None of it, none of that high, comes close to what I feel when I’m with her. Nothing compares to that all-consuming…thing that ignites when we touch. When those beautiful fucking eyes connect with mine. It’s new. It’s terrifying. It fucking weakens me.
But I don’t want to lose it. I want to fight for it. For her. Even if it means giving everything else up. I’ll take the shame. I’ll face the loss of respect. I’ll give it all up if it means I get to save her.
Without another thought, I drop to one knee. Then the other. “Please. Let her go.” I set down my guns. “You want all this? Everything I’ve built? Fucking take it. Just let her go.”
Vale stares down at me in disbelief, stunned, as though he didn’t actually expect me to do it.
It takes him a moment to recover, to realize he’s truly won.
Squaring his shoulders, he sneers, “Pitiful.” Then gestures around the room with a victorious gleam, his voice rising with manic excitement.
“Behold! The king of Vegas, everyone! On his knees! For a useless cunt.” He laughs, raw and triumphant.
“This is the man you all fear? This is the man you follow? This pathetic weakling?” His eyes flash, wild and unstable.
“This right here, this disgraceful display is proof we need a new head. Someone who would never demean himself over cheap pussy.” He turns, raising his voice higher. “It’s time for—”
Quiet movement. Shuffling. Low growled commands.
It’s enough to pull my attention from Raya—whose eyes never once left mine during Vale’s asinine rant—and I glance over my shoulder to see what’s happening.
One by one, my men are dropping to their knees. Guns down. Heads high. Kneeling. Right along with me.
What are they…
An equally confused Vale whips around from side to side. “What—what is this?”
A cold mocking laugh spills over his rage. A laugh from Raya.
I snap my attention back to her. All the ill-fitted fear that stained her face a minute ago is…gone. Replaced with a taunting coldness.
Who the fuck is this woman?
“That,” she says, “is loyalty. Something that can’t be bought, only earned.
These men are here because they want to be.
Because they love and respect their leader.
Because they’re family. True loyalty is being willing to go down with your leader.
Kneel with your leader. Die with your leader.
Can you say the same for your hired guns, Reverend Father? ”
Vale seethes, furious. “The truth is, nephew…” His voice drips with venom. “I had no intention of letting this bitch live.”
He pulls the trigger.
I lurch forward. “NO!” The sound rips out of me before I can stop it.
A beat of deafening silence hangs…
Before I realize that the only sound that echoed throughout the room was the sound of my own voice.
No bang. No blood. No impact. Nothing.
Raya is still kneeling there. Unharmed. She turns her head, calm as ever, and looks up at Vale with a raised brow.
Vale, wide-eyed, pulls the trigger again and again and again.
Click. Click. Click.
“Funny,” Raya says with a cool, mocking laugh. “That’s the same dumb look your son had…right before I snapped his neck.”
Vale roars with rage.
I dive for my guns on the floor and aim, but Raya’s already moving.
In a sharp blur of precise movements, she grabs the hand still tangled in her hair, twists it hard, and with un-fucking-believable ease, flips him over her shoulder. Like he weighs nothing at all.
He slams to the ground with a bone-jarring thud, a cry of pain ripping from his throat.
In a blink, she’s behind him, arm locked around his throat in a sleeper hold. Vale thrashes, but in seconds, he slumps to the floor, unconscious.
Only then does she looks at me, and fucking winks.
Just like that, the spell breaks. Snapped out of my mesmerized stupefaction, I jump up and move toward her. But before I can close the gap, smoke grenades clatter to the floor in front of me.
Thick, white plumes flood the air in seconds, rising fast, clouding my vision and filling my lungs. Fuck, where did she go? Goddammit, she’s asthmatic. “RAYA!”
A chorus of coughing, cursing, and shuffling ensues. Amid the blind chaos, is the unmistakable sounds of suppressed gunfire. Controlled. Precise. Targeted.
What the fuck is happening? Where is she? “RAYA!”
On the edge of insanity, hands out, grabbing at nothing, I move in the direction she was in. I need to find her. I need to get her out of here. I need… “RAYA!”
The smoke scalds my lungs, burns my eyes.
“STEFANO!”
Lorenzo? Fuck, why doesn’t this motherfucker ever listen?
“STEFANO!”
“Lo, find RAYA! Get her out of here!”
Goddammit, my eyes. I blindly stagger forward, until pain rips through my shin as my knee connects with a hard object. Fucking fuck. “RAYA!”
Arms wrap around me and then I’m jerked backward. Pressure hits behind my right knee to weaken it, followed by a forceful weight against my shoulders, pulling me down.
I don’t fight it. Just let it happen. Because even blinded, my body recognizes hers. “Raya...”
Her arm tightens around my neck, gentle but firm. And then her voice, calm and dispassionate, is at my ear. “Didn’t I tell you…I don’t need saving?”
Judging from the muted muffle of her words, she’s wearing a mask. Good, she’s protected.
“Raya, don’t leave.” I’m ashamed of how my voice cracks. “I don’t care if you’re behind all of this. Please. Stay.”
“We both knew we were on borrowed time, Stefano.” With skill and precision, she applies pressure to both major arteries. Darkness rushes in, fast and heavy. “We could never be anything more.”
I try to speak, to ask… “Who…are…you?”
A beat.
“Soraya.” The word is a distant echo. “My name is Soraya.”
And as the world collapses into black, her final words follow me down, “Goodbye, my king.”