Marcello’s grin was the kind that made the night colder, his finger grazing the trigger of the gun like a lover’s caress.
The barrel was trained on Alessia, gleaming beneath the moonlight, a cruel promise waiting to unfold.
"I don’t care if she’s your wife, or if she has borne your children," he sneered, his voice thick with madness. "For years, I could never fall in love with any woman. Yet here she stands, and for the first ti in my life, I feel it burning, consuming, and I want her, Luca.
I want her even if it kills . But since you won’t let have her, then neither of us will. If I can’t claim her, you won’t keep her. We’ll both lose her."
His laughter was dry, hollow, a sound that clung to the night air like smoke.
Luca’s frown angrily but he knew he needed to act calmly, because if he didn’t manage the situation for safety of his wife, but his veins burning with restrained fury. "Are you a psychopath? No... worse. You’re pathetic. Do you even realize who you’re dealing with?" His tone was steel. "She’s my wife, Marcello. Legally, rightfully, eternally. You don’t just covet a man’s woman and threaten her life."
He turned briefly to Alessia, his eyes softening in a way that only she ever saw. "I could’ve ended him the first night, amore, but you pleaded for rcy. You didn’t want our anniversary stained with blood. And this..... " he gestured sharply at Marcello, whose finger tightened nacingly on the trigger, ".... this is the price of compassion."
Alessia lifted her chin, fire blazing through her trembling fra.
Her voice cracked with courage. "Marcello, I would rather die than be yours. If killing is the only way you think you can win, then do it. But understand this, i will never belong to you. Not even in death."
Marcello’s smirk curved into sothing twisted.
He shifted the gun’s aim toward Luca, savoring the tension in the air. "And what if I choose him? Wouldn’t it be better to shoot your precious husband? To leave you drowning in grief, poor soon to be widow?"
"No.... " Luca’s roar tore through the silence.
He stepped forward, chest broad, unflinching. "Shoot , but don’t touch her. You will find no victory in harming her. If it’s pain you want, aim here." He thumped his chest hard. "I will endure it. Just leave Alessia alone."
Marcello’s eyes narrowed, drinking in Luca’s defiance.
Then his grin widened with venom. "Hmmm... no. I know how you love her, Luca. You worship her and devour her. You would bleed a thousand deaths for her. So if I truly want to break you..." He pivoted the gun back to Alessia. "...then I will shoot her. And watch you rot in the agony of knowing you couldn’t save her."
Alessia’s heart pounded, but she did not flinch. "Do it," she spat. "But know that even as I fall, I will never stop loving him. You will never win."
Marcello’s finger hovered, teasing the trigger.
Then he tilted his head, his eyes glinting. "Unless..."
"Unless what?" Luca demanded, his voice sharp with barely leashed violence.
"Unless you kneel," Marcello said with a sick smile. "Kneel before . Beg for her life."
The air froze. Alessia’s gasp cut through the night. "No, Luca. Don’t you dare."
Luca’s eyes locked with hers, the storm in them softening into a deep, desperate love. "Amore... I would burn in hell a thousand tis if it ant saving you. Pride ans nothing if I lose you."
He lowered himself slowly, his knees brushing the dirt, the weight of his family na, his empire, his power crashing down with him. A Morano had never bowed. A mafia king did not kneel. But Luca did for her.
Marcello threw his head back and laughed, a grotesque sound. "The mighty Luca Morano, on his knees like a dog. Look at you, pathetic.... " His laughter cracked into sothing darker, almost a growl. He lifted his gun high and fired a deafening shot into the air.
"That was a test." His eyes snapped back to Luca, wild and gleaming. "Now let’s see if I kill your Juliet, Roo."
Luca’s blood surged hot. His pride had been shattered, and still Marcello raised the gun toward Alessia.
Rage broke his restraint. He lunged forward with a guttural snarl, tackling Marcello with ferocity. The gun tilted dangerously as both n fought, their bodies a blur of fists, elbows, and raw power.
"Alessia, run.. " Luca roared between gritted teeth, his hands wrestling for the barrel.
"I can’t leave you" she scread, frozen with fear.
"Go, please I said go". His command cracked like thunder, leaving no space for disobedience.
Tears burned her eyes as she turned and bolted, stumbling through the garden, her breath ragged.
She ducked behind a massive tree, clutching her chest.
Her heart slamd against her ribs so violently she thought it might burst.
Then...
she heard two gunshots.
Back-to-back. Deafening and final.
Her knees buckled. "No..." she whispered, her throat choking. "Could he.... could he have shot my Luca?" The thought clawed at her mind like fire.
Her vision blurred with tears, her soul trembling on the edge of collapse.
*****
Inside the house, Daisy sat curled on the couch, her arms hugging her knees.
The silence pressed heavy around her, broken only by the echoes of her thoughts.
Betrayal cut through her chest like a knife, over and over again. Roo. Seraphina’s husband. His smile, his words once she had thought them harmless, even kind. But now she saw the poison beneath.
She had trusted. Once. And trust had destroyed her.
A knock jolted her from her thoughts.
Her breath caught. "Who’s there?" she called shakily.
There was no answer.
The knock ca again, softer this ti, like a whisper.
Her heart hamred as she moved toward the door, her steps slow, cautious.
Maybe it was her imagination. Maybe it was her mind playing tricks..
She opened the door.
Roo stood there, his eyes dark, unreadable.
Daisy’s blood turned to ice.
She slamd the door with all her strength, the sound echoing through her apartnt. Her hands trembled as she pressed against it, her breath sharp and panicked.
Her chest pounded with one truth, she could never trust again, not him..... Not anyone.
******
Seraphina’s chamber dripped with incense and ambition.
She paced the floor like a caged lioness, her gown sweeping behind her in waves. Her maid, Elena Katherine, stood silently, eyes lowered as her mistress fud.
"I will not be denied," Seraphina hissed. "The Morano property, its wealth, its legacy, it belongs partly or fully to . I don’t care what obstacles stand in my way. I will not give up."
Elena hesitated. "But, my lady... the risks....."
"I said I don’t care... " Seraphina snapped, snatching her car keys from the dresser.
Her voice dropped, venom coating every syllable. "If the Moranos think they can keep out, they have underestimated . I know where to go. The Atlans will hear ."
She strode out, her heels clicking with purpose, her shadow stretching long across the corridor.
And with that vow, she disappeared into the night.
*******
Princess Elowen’s heart fluttered with relief when the physician stepped out of Donato’s chamber, his voice firm yet kind.
"He’s strong enough now," the doctor said, bowing respectfully. "Prince Donato is ready to be discharged."
Elowen’s lips curved into a smile, a rare light breaking through the storm of worries that had clouded her heart for days.
She rushed to his bedside, her eyes gleaming with warmth as she touched his hand gently.
"You heard that, Donato. You can finally leave this bed. Let’s go ho, after your new family, the ones who rescued you had co to see you".
Her voice trembled with happiness, carrying that word honoke a promise of safety, of a beginning that could wash away the nightmares of blood, betrayal, and endless pursuit.
She had envisioned walking beside him through the golden courtyards of garam, free from fear.
But Donato’s expression hardened. His jaw clenched, and a storm raged in his eyes.
He pulled his hand away, his voice cutting through her joy like the slash of a blade.
"No. I won’t go ho. Not yet."
Elowen blinked, stunned. "What do you an?"
Donato sat up, his body still weak but his spirit afla with sothing darker, heavier.
His voice lowered, each word seared with desperation.
"I will go in search of the black book again."
Princess elowen froze. "Donato..... "
"I really need the black book," he interrupted, his voice shaking with a mix of hunger and tornt. "More than you could ever imagine."
Silence pressed into the room, thick and suffocating. Elowen’s throat ached with words she couldn’t speak. She wanted to beg him, to remind him that life mattered more than cursed pages inked with blood and secrets. But the look in his eyes stopped her. His soul was already chained to that quest.
Her heart cracked, yet she whispered, "Then I will follow you."
But Donato’s gaze shifted, unreadable, and he said nothing.
Only the shadows in his eyes spoke for him... shadows that promised nothing but danger.
*******
Alessia had returned, to check to check on luca, when she saw Marcelo’s private jet flew past her, up in the sky.
The wind bit against her cheeks as her legs screeched to a halt near the private runway.
Her chest tightened as she looked up, her eyes following the glint of silver slicing across the sky. Donato’s jet. He was gone again, leaving behind trails of smoke and silence.
"No," she breathed, her voice breaking, her hand clutching at her chest. She had hoped to stop him, to bring him back from the madness of the black book’s call. But she was too late.
Her heart thundered with dread as she hurried back, her heels echoing on the marble floor. Sothing inside her scread an instinct sharper than reason..
She rushed down the corridor, past the shattered remains of a vase, the air thick with the iron tang of blood.
And then she saw him.
"Luca".... His na escapes her lips in whispers.
Her world collapsed.
He lay sprawled across the cold floor, crimson pooling beneath him, staining the tiles like the petals of a dying rose.
His chest rose weakly, almost imperceptible, his skin pale, his lips parted as though whispering a final prayer.
Alessia’s scream tore through the silence, raw and broken, as she fell to her knees beside him.
Her trembling fingers hovered over his wounds, her tears blinding her vision. The man who had once been untouchable, the devil the world feared, now lay helpless and bleeding out before her eyes.
"Luca..."
Her voice cracked like glass.
And in that mont, she realized, if she lost him now, there would be no light left in her world.....
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