The storm ca before dawn.
I didn’t hear it at first. Not the thunder or the rain against the windows but the hurried footsteps in the hallway. It wasn’t unusual to hear guards moving around the villa, but this ti, their tone was different. Urgent. Controlled panic.
Then I heard Jace’s voice. Low, clipped, sharp.
"Move her first. Donna next. We leave in ten."
For a mont, I lay there, disoriented. My mind was still half tangled in the fading remnants of a nightmare. But the second I realized what was happening, my body went cold.
Sothing was wrong. Again.
I slipped out of bed and pulled on one of Jace’s shirts, my heart thudding as I stepped into the dimly lit hallway. n in black moved past , guns strapped across their chests, radios crackling with static.
"Mrs Romano, please stay in your room," one of them said when he saw .
"What’s going on?"
"Orders from the Don."
That was all the answer I got.
I ignored him and pushed forward until I reached the main corridor. Jace was at the far end, barking quiet instructions into his phone. Even from here, I could see the hard set of his jaw and the way his fingers flexed around the glass of whiskey in his other hand.
"Jacopo," I called softly.
He froze, then turned to .
For a heartbeat, the world narrowed to just us, my bare feet on the cold marble, his gaze flicking over like he was morizing the sight.
"Get dressed," he said, voice steady but tight. "We’re leaving."
"Now?"
After hours passed, I thought he had changed his mind. I didn’t expect us to move by midnight at least.
He hesitated, and that tiny pause made the dread crawl up my spine.
"It’s not safe here anymore," he said finally. "It’s too dangerous."
My stomach dropped. "Did you find out if it was Massimo?"
"Or Ricardo’s n. Doesn’t matter. We don’t wait to find out."
I didn’t argue. Not this ti.
I turned and ran back to the room, shoving a few things into a duffel while my hands trembled. The wind howled outside, rattling the shutters. I could hear the engines of the cars already starting in the courtyard below.
By the ti I ca back, Donna Carla was being wheeled out of her room by two n, her sharp eyes flicking over everything like she was taking inventory even in her fragile state.
"Don’t make that face, Mirabel," she said dryly when she saw . "I’ve survived worse."
I tried to smile, but it didn’t reach my eyes.
Jace guided out through the back entrance, his hand firm around mine. Rain soaked the ground, the sll of wet earth mixing with diesel fus. The headlights cut through the darkness as we piled into one of the SUVs.
Inside, everything was a blur of movent. Jace sat beside , silent, eyes fixed ahead. His phone buzzed every few seconds. Orders, updates, reports. Jace was in full control, but I could see it in the small twitch of his jaw: the tension he was holding down like a lid over boiling water.
"Where are we going?" I asked softly.
"Another villa. North. Safer."
"And Roberto?" The question slipped out before I could stop it.
His head turned sharply. "What about him?"
I swallowed hard. "Nothing. I just... wondered if he’s okay."
Jace’s eyes narrowed slightly, and my heart began to pound.
"Why are you asking that?"
"I don’t know. I just—"
His voice dropped, dangerously calm. "Mira. Did you speak to your brother again?"
The air in the car went still.
My fingers curled into my lap, nails digging into my palm. I couldn’t look at him. I still went ahead to respond to Roberto’s texts.
"Mira."
It wasn’t a question anymore. It was an order.
"Yes," I whispered.
The silence that followed was deafening.
He didn’t explode. He didn’t yell. Sohow, that was worse. His face stayed unreadable, but his knuckles turned white around the phone.
"When?"
"Earlier today."
"How?"
"He texted ." I could barely hear my own voice. "I didn’t say anything, Jace. I swear. I didn’t tell him where I was."
Jace exhaled slowly, eyes forward again. His expression was carved from stone.
"You should’ve told ."
"I know."
"I told you the line was being monitored."
"I know that too. But he’s my brother. I couldn’t—"
"You could’ve lost him," he cut in coldly. "Or worse, you could’ve led them straight to us."
That was it. The guilt that had been simring in my chest finally cracked.
"I’m sorry!" I burst out, my voice trembling. "I didn’t think. I just... I missed him. I needed to hear from him. I thought—"
Jace turned to then, and for a brief mont, I saw the exhaustion beneath the anger. The fear.
"You can’t afford to think like that anymore," he said quietly. "Not in this world. Emotion gets you killed, Mira."
I bit down on my lip to stop it from trembling. "Maybe I don’t want this world."
That made him finally look at .
For a second, his mask slipped and sothing flickered behind his eyes, sothing that looked a lot like regret. Then he looked away again.
Neither of us spoke for the rest of the drive.
We reached the safehouse by dawn.
It was a secluded estate on higher ground, surrounded by fog and stone walls. Guards were already stationed when we arrived. Jace got out first, scanning the periter while Tomas gave orders to unload Donna’s things.
Inside, the villa was beautiful but cold. Too large. Too empty.
I followed Jace to the study while the staff settled in. He hadn’t said a word to since the car. I hated the silence because it felt like punishnt.
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore.
"You’re angry with ," I said quietly as we entered the bedroom.
He didn’t answer. He just poured himself a drink, then leaned against the desk, staring at the amber liquid.
"I told you what happened, Jace. I didn’t an to—"
"I know you didn’t an to." His voice was low, heavy. "But aning doesn’t change the consequence."
He downed the drink in one swallow, then turned to . "We’re too deep in this, Mira. Every call, every text, every word, every step could be the one that gets soone killed. I can’t protect you if you keep making it harder."
"I’m not trying to make it harder," I whispered. "I just... don’t know how to live like this. Hiding. Running. Pretending I’m fine."
He crossed the distance between us in two long strides. His hand ca up, cupping my face with a gentleness that didn’t match his tone.
"I know," he said quietly. "I hate that you have to live like this too."
"Then why do you keep here?"
"Because if I don’t, I lose you." He rasped out.
Sothing in his voice broke then. It was barely audible but enough to pierce straight through .
I wanted to stay angry. I wanted to throw all the fear and frustration at him. But when I saw the pain behind his control, all I could do was lean into his touch.
He brushed his thumb over my cheek, and I finally let the tears fall.
For a long mont, neither of us said anything. The storm outside had cald, but the one between us hadn’t.
"I’ll fix this," he said at last, his voice a promise and a warning all at once. "I’ll finish it, and then we won’t have to run anymore."
I wanted to believe him. I really did.
But sothing in my gut told that by the ti this was over, we’d both be too scarred to go back to what we were before.
As he turned to leave the room, I whispered the words that had been clawing at my chest since the call.
"Jace?"
He paused at the door, his hand on the fra.
"I didn’t tell Roberto anything. But if sothing happens to him because of ..." I swallowed hard. "I’ll never forgive myself."
He looked back at then, his gray eyes unreadable.
"Then pray nothing happens to him," he said softly, and walked out.
The door clicked shut behind him, leaving standing in the silence. I was alone again.
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