Chapter 44
Bianca Ferrucci
I stared fixedly at the door, my gaze locked on the weathered wood.
No one would come through it without me shooting first. My heart was beating so fast it seemed to pound in my ears.
Tiziano was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, his leg stretched out in front of him.
The wound was ugly, blood running through the torn fabric of his pants and staining the wooden floor.
He gripped his leg tightly, but his face was pale, and his eyes were beginning to glaze over.
My breathing was fast and uneven. My hands trembled around the gun, but I forced myself to hold it steady. My survival instinct screamed inside me, drowning out all fear.
“You’re going to survive. Tiziano is going to survive.”
I remembered Alessandro, his words, his warning. “I’ll rescue you.” It was him! He had set all of this up, he had done exactly what he said he would do. Tiziano needed to know.
The sound of gunfire outside was fading. It seemed like the worst had passed. I turned my attention back to Tiziano. His head drooped slightly to one side, and his breathing was heavy. His eyes slowly opened, staring at something that seemed farther away than I was.
“Bianca...” he murmured, his voice slurred, as though he were fighting exhaustion. He blinked a few times, searching for me.
“I’m here, Tiziano. Stay awake!” I said, kneeling beside him while keeping the gun in my hand.
He smiled.
“You’re... beautiful... did you know that? I always thought so... but I never said it... the right way.”
My heart tightened.
“Don’t talk right now, Tiziano. Save your strength,” I murmured, pressing my hand against the wound to stop the bleeding.
He let out a low groan but didn’t take his eyes off me.
“I never thought... I could love someone like this... It shouldn’t have been you... so sweet, so good...”
He was delirious, his skin burning with fever, and his words came out fragmented, almost disconnected.
“You’re going to be okay, Tiziano. We’re both getting out of here together,” I promised, feeling hot tears roll down my face.
“You’re the only... good thing in my life...” He closed his eyes for a second, and I shook his shoulder with my free hand.
“Don’t close your eyes! Tiziano, look at me!” I shouted.
He opened his eyes again, struggling to breathe.
“They’re wrong about you, Bianca. I want them to be.”
“Don’t say anything else right now. Just focus on getting better. You’re strong, Tiziano. You always have been.”
The silence outside finally reached me. The bullets had stopped whistling through the air.
I just needed to keep him awake until backup arrived.
But as he continued murmuring my name, making declarations that seemed more truthful than any promise he had ever made, something inside me changed forever.
I knew I loved him, but I never thought I would hear that from him.
Not like this. Not in the middle of chaos.
I heard footsteps outside, followed by the unmistakable sound of a voice I recognized.
“Bianca, are you in there?” Alessandro called.
I didn’t lower the gun. My instincts screamed at me not to trust anyone. The door slowly opened, and he stepped inside. His face was marked with exhaustion, but when his eyes landed on Tiziano bleeding on the floor, a satisfied smile curved his lips.
“Son of a bitch. I’m going to finish him once and for all.” He raised the gun, aiming it directly at Tiziano.
My heart raced. I stepped forward, my hand trembling but the gun steady as I aimed it at him.
“Don’t come any closer!” My voice came out stronger than I expected.
Alessandro froze for a moment, surprise crossing his face before being replaced by something that looked like disgust.
“You’re defending him now, Bianca.” He laughed bitterly, lowering his head for a moment. “You don’t understand. He’s going to destroy you as soon as he finds out the truth. He’s our enemy. He always has been.”
“What truth? What are you talking about?” I whispered.
“About who you are. About who we are. But this isn’t the time for that, Bianca. If he finds out...” Alessandro stopped speaking, his attention shifting toward the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps outside.
He exhaled sharply, a frustrated breath that seemed ripped from his lungs.
“Shit!” he exclaimed, running a hand through his hair as he looked at me and then at Tiziano. “I found them. They’re here,” he shouted.
“Wait!” My voice came out in an urgent whisper. “Explain this to me! What’s happening?”
Alessandro gave me one last look. Then he took a step back, the gun still in his hand.
“Not now, Bianca. Stay alert. This world will swallow you alive.” His words were a warning, but there was no time to process them.
Tiziano’s soldiers entered the cabin with their weapons drawn. Alessandro took a step back, looking at them and then at me.
The soldiers began checking the area, but my mind was chaos. I knelt beside Tiziano, holding his hand.
“Is he hurt?” one of the soldiers asked, looking at me.
“Yes, and he’s unconscious. We need to get Tiziano out of here.”
We arrived at the mansion, and Carlo was already waiting in the courtyard, concern etched across his face.
The soldiers hurried to get Tiziano out of the car, maneuvering him carefully while his body, even unconscious, still seemed heavy and imposing.
An expression of pain was etched across his face.
He hated showing weakness, but he wasn’t conscious enough to hide it the way he always did.
“Put him here!” Carlo ordered, pointing to a stretcher that had been hastily prepared in the hallway.
The soldiers obeyed immediately, placing Tiziano on the stretcher as Carlo began examining him.
“How bad is it?” Enzo asked, approaching.
“He lost a lot of blood, but fortunately nothing vital was hit,” Carlo explained in a professional tone as he removed the makeshift bandage to inspect the wound in his leg. “The bullet is still lodged inside. I need to remove it now and stitch the wound before things get more complicated.”
I stepped closer to the stretcher, but Enzo blocked my path with an outstretched arm.
“It’s better to let him work,” he said with a false gentleness that irritated me.
“He’s my husband!” I shot back, trying to get past him.
“And that’s exactly why you need to leave him in the hands of someone who knows what he’s doing,” Enzo countered.
Carlo lifted his head for a moment, looking directly at me.
“Bianca, I’ll take care of him. I promise I’ll do everything I can to keep him out of danger.”
I swallowed hard and took a step back, crossing my arms in an attempt to hold myself together. Enzo gave me a brief look before turning toward the soldiers who were still in the room.
“What exactly happened?” Enzo asked, frowning.
“We were caught in an ambush,” Alessandro answered.
“After the shipment was delivered?” Enzo pressed. He was suspicious of something.
“It doesn’t seem like they wanted the shipment,” Alessandro replied without hesitation, crossing his arms as he watched the activity around the room.
Enzo stared at him for a long moment, as though trying to decipher him.
“Then what the hell did they want?” Enzo growled.
“Are you seriously asking me that?” Luigi stormed into the room like a hurricane. “Those bastards think they can attack a Constanzo and walk away alive?”
He turned toward the soldiers in the room.
“We’re going to retrace the route, investigate every inch, and find whatever clues those rats may have left behind. After that, we hunt down every last one of them. I want every hole they hide in under our control until there isn’t a single one left alive to oppose us.”
The counterattack would be brutal, and my eyes instinctively shifted toward Alessandro, who stood behind me.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine,” he said, as though trying to convince me.
I was anything but fine. The man responsible for the attack was right there, in the same room, and I knew it. Every part of me screamed at me to say something, to expose him, but my mind was in complete chaos, trying to process the consequences of making the wrong move.