"Five minutes." My voice is clipped and cold. "Pack your essentials only. We leave in five."
Katherine’s staring at the white rose on her dresser, and at the photograph of us sleeping when she was vulnerable. Unaware that a killer stood in our bedroom watching us.
"Tony-"
"Now, Katherine." I’m already moving, pulling go-bags from the closet I prepared months ago. Weapons, cash, fake IDs, burner phones. Everything needed to disappear. "We don’t have ti to discuss this."
"Don’t use that tone with ." Her voice has an edge now. "I’m not one of your n."
"If you were, you’d already be packed." I hand her a bag. "Your clothes, docunts. Anything you think is irreplaceable. Five minutes."
I see the hurt flash across her face before she masks it, but there’s no ti for feelings. Vincent was in our bedroom and could have slit our throats while we slept. The fact that he didn’t ans he has sothing worse planned.
I call Thomas while Katherine packs. "I need a property off books. Sothing not even you know about until right now."
"How off books?" Thomas’s voice is sharp, understanding imdiately.
"Ghost property. False nas. No paper trail connecting to Marvin family or Torrino operations."
"I have sothing. It’s a luxury hotel, a penthouse suite. It’s registered to a shell company I use for" He pauses. "For things I don’t discuss... even with you."
"Send the address, we’ll be there in thirty minutes."
Luca arrives with six n as we’re leaving. They sweep the house one more ti, docunt everything, then establish a periter while we evacuate.
Katherine’s silent in the car, she’s staring out the window, with her hands clenched in her lap. I can feel her anger, her fear, her frustration. But I can’t deal with that right now. Right now, I need to get her sowhere Vincent can’t reach.
The hotel is exactly what I need - a modern high-rise, top-tier security, penthouse on the fortieth floor with controlled access. We check in under the false nas Thomas provided. The staff are professional, incurious, and clearly used to clients who value discretion.
The penthouse is pristine, a luxury that feels cold and impersonal, but it’s defensible. It has one entry point with floor-to-ceiling windows, bulletproof glass, and a security system I can control remotely.
Katherine drops her bag inside the door. "How long are we staying here?"
"Until Vincent’s caught." I’m already surveying sight lines, calculating fields of fire, and planning escape routes.
"That could be weeks, even months."
"Then we stay weeks or months." I pull weapons from my bag and begin distributing them throughout the suite. "This is how we survive - no sentint, no hesitation... just pure tactics."
"This isn’t surviving." Katherine’s voice rises. "This is existing, there’s a difference."
"Existing keeps you breathing." I check my weapon and insert a fresh magazine. "That’s what matters."
"Is it?" She’s in front of now, forcing to look at her. "Because the Tony I know doesn’t just survive. He lives, builds things, and protects people. This-" She gestures around the cold penthouse. "This isn’t living."
"The Tony you know almost got you killed." The words co out harsher than I intended, but I needed her to see reason. "Multiple tis because I was too focused on building things and protecting people to see the threats until they were already inside our defenses."
"So your solution is becoming the threat? Becoming exactly what everyone fears?"
"Yes." I don’t blink. "If that’s what keeps you alive, then yes."
She recoils as if I’d slapped her. "You’re different. Since we found out about Vincent, you’re-"
"I’m what I need to be." I turn away to continue setting up defensive positions. "This is who I am, Katherine. The ruthless mafia boss. The killer. The monster. You knew that when you fell in love with ."
"I fell in love with a man who was trying to be better." Her voice breaks slightly. "Not one who’s reverting to worse."
The accusation stings because it’s true, but I can’t afford to be better right now. Better gets people killed.
My phone buzzes with Luca checking in: Periter secure - Six n positioned. No suspicious activity.
Another text from Elliot ca in: Monitoring all communications. Will alert if Vincent’s digital signature appears.
Morrison calls, and I answer on speaker.
"We have intel on Vincent’s escape." Her voice is grim. "Two federal agents are dead during the transfer. They were clean kills, made to look like a traffic accident. The dical examiner found evidence of professional execution - precise shots, quick and efficient."
"He killed two federal agents to escape custody." Katherine’s face is pale.
"And disappeared for three months while we thought he died in the crash." Morrison continues. "He’s been underground, building resources. We found evidence he accessed Margaret Liu’s old accounts before we could freeze them completely... approximately two million dollars."
"Two million buys a lot of help." I’m already calculating. "Weapons, safe houses, hired muscle."
"Exactly. And Tony-" Morrison pauses. "He’s not working alone. Elliot found communications between Vincent and so known associates of Margaret, Angelo, and even so of Richard’s old contacts. He’s building a network. Specifically targeting you two."
Katherine sits down slowly. "He’s not just seeking revenge, he’s rebuilding his reputation."
"Taking down the people who exposed the Commission makes him valuable to surviving criminal networks," I confirm. "He’s positioning himself as the one who avenged Margaret, Angelo, the whole structure we dismantled."
"We’re hunting him," Morrison says. "But he’s good, Tony. Really good. This could take ti."
"We have ti." I look at Katherine. "We’re off grid until you catch him."
After Morrison hangs up, silence fills the penthouse. Katherine’s staring at with an expression I can’t quite read.
"We can’t live like this." Her voice is quiet but firm.
"We don’t have a choice."
"There’s always a choice." She stands and crosses to . "Tony, I’m not a damsel in distress. I can handle myself, I’ve proven that."
"You shot one person in self-defense." I keep my voice level. "Vincent is trained, experienced, and dangerous. He killed two federal agents without breaking a sweat."
"And I survived Margaret, Angelo, Richard, and Elena." Her eyes flash. "I’m not weak."
"I never said you were weak." I step closer to her. "I said you’re not trained for this. There’s a difference."
"Then train ." She lifts her chin in defiance. "Instead of locking away and making decisions for , train . Make an asset instead of a liability."
The logic is sound. But the thought of putting her in more danger, of intentionally teaching her to fight killers...
"I can’t." The admission costs . "Katherine, I can’t risk you like that."
"You’re already risking ." She reaches up to fra my face with her hands. "By pushing away. By becoming soone I don’t recognize and by choosing control over trust."
Her touch breaks sothing in , and the cold tactical mode cracks, where underneath is raw with desperate need.
I pull her roughly against , my mouth crashing into hers. I’m not being gentle or careful. It’s possession and fear and everything I can’t say with words.
She responds imdiately, matching my intensity, her nails digging into my shoulders as she kisses back just as fiercely.
"I can’t lose you." The words co out between kisses, harsh and broken. "I won’t. I won’t."
"Then stop pushing away." She’s pulling at my shirt, yanking it over my head. "Stop treating like I’m glass."
I lift her, press her against the wall. Her legs wrap around my waist, her tight dress riding up her thick thighs. My hands grip her flesh, possessive, claiming.
"Is this what you want?" My voice is rough against her neck. "The ruthless bastard? The one who takes instead of asks?"
"I want you." She arches against . "All of you. Even the parts you’re afraid to show ."
I hike her dress higher, tear her underwear in my urgency to reach her. She gasps, half-shocked, half-aroused, as I position myself.
"Tell you’re mine." I’m barely holding back, my control barely hanging by a thread. "Say it."
"Yours." She pulls my mouth back to hers. "Always yours. Now stop talking."
I drive into her hard, pinning her against the wall. She cries out, her head falling back, and her dark hair cascading over her shoulders. I watch her face as I move - seeing the pleasure, pain, and the desperate need mirroring my own.
This isn’t gentle lovemaking; this is claiming. Reasserting ownership when everything feels like it’s slipping through my fingers.
My mouth finds her neck, sucking, marking her skin. Primitive and possessive. She’ll have bruises tomorrow, I don’t care about that right now.
"Tony-" She’s close, I can feel it in how she tightened around .
"Co for ." I change the angle, hitting the spot that makes her shatter. "Let feel it."
She does, crying out my na, her nails dragging down my back hard enough to draw blood. The pain grounds , reminds this is real. That she’s real and we’re real.
I follow her over the edge monts later, burying my face in her hair, holding her like she might disappear if I let go.
We stay there, pressed against the wall, both breathing hard. Slowly, reality seeps back in.
I lower her gently, help her find her footing. She’s trembling slightly, whether from exertion or emotion, I’m not sure.
"Katherine-"
"Don’t." She steps back, adjusting her dress. "Don’t apologize. I wanted that too."
But there’s sothing in her eyes, a distance that wasn’t there before. We just had sex - urgent, desperate, intense, and sohow it created more space between us instead of less.
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