Page 109
“Fuck your legacy. I don’t want to be king.
I never have.” I snarl, press the gun harder into his skull.
“That was your plan. You didn’t do this for me.
You did it for you. You did what you always do, you manipulated and got into Bianca’s head.
She didn’t come up with this plan alone, she wouldn’t have known who to go to for documents or where to get that kind of money. That was you .”
Enzo steps in, his voice strained but steady. “If you know where they are… you need to tell us. Now. You said Jordyn wouldn’t be harmed, that she was just supposed to leave quietly. Safely.”
My head turns slowly toward him, breath catching low in my chest. The betrayal scorches through me like acid.
You knew.
Of course he fucking knew.
Enzo sees it, sees the shift in my eyes, the fury curling beneath my skin, and his expression falters. “Ares,” he says softly, “I’m sorry. Bianca was worried about Jordyn’s safety. She did what any sister would do. She thought she was helping her.”
Helping her? My temples start to throbs where I’m clenching my teeth so hard. “By delivering her straight into the hands of the people who want her dead?”
Luciano exhales slowly, fingers steepled on the desk.
“We didn’t hand her over to anyone,” he says, voice infuriatingly even.
“I had nothing to do with Jordyn and Bianca being taken. But you? You’ve made enemies, figlio.
Burned bridges, started wars. I warned you this would happen, but you were too blinded by her to listen. ”
I don’t even look at him. My eyes stay locked on Enzo. “Is this how you have my back? By letting him use your wife to manipulate Jordyn into fleeing. You let Bianca walk her to a fucking slaughter, Enzo!”
Enzo shakes his head, stepping forward. “No,” he refutes quickly, his voice taut.
“Last I knew, Jordyn refused to leave. She told Bianca to shove it, that she wouldn’t leave you.
I didn’t know she changed her mind. If she accepted there was supposed to be a safe transfer, someone to pick her up discreetly outside the manor, no drama, no danger. ”
His eyes search mine, desperate. “Bianca wasn’t supposed to get involved, just give her the envelope, that’s it. I didn’t know she was leaving, I swear, I didn’t.”
But the weight of that doesn’t ease the betrayal pounding in my chest. Doesn’t erase the fact that he knew enough to keep me in the dark. That while I was holding her, fucking fighting for a future I never thought I’d want, they were laying out an escape plan right under my nose.
“You kept it from me,” I mutter, tartly. “You both did.”
Enzo swallows hard, but he doesn’t deny it. A long silence coils around the room like a noose.
Then I add with a growl, “Blood doesn’t mean loyalty, I learned that a long time ago.
I’ve bled enough to know it’s the ones closest to you that aim for the deepest cuts.
” My eyes lock onto Luciano’s. “Family? That’s just a word men like you hide behind while trading sons for alliances and daughters for leverage. ”
I drag the barrel of my gun from his temple and press it against his left eye socket.
“I’m going to ask you one last time. Where.
Is. She? I fucking know you know who took her and you’re going to tell me.
Because if you’re in bed with the Mancini’s or Nicolai, if you gambled Jordyn’s life for your throne, I swear to God, you’ll be the next body I’ll string up in the centre of Messina. ”
Luciano exhales, calm and cold as though he’s not even bothered about my threat. “I may have shown her the door, but Jordyn made her own choice to leave, Ares. I didn’t put a gun to her head and push her out; she walked out on her own will.”
“No,” I grit out, pressing the gun harder into his eye socket until I hear him hiss. “You wouldn’t, because that’s not your style. You did something far worse. You poisoned her.”
The rage simmers to the surface again, boiling hotter now that I know, he’s not going to give me a name. He’s not going to admit a damn thing. Because he doesn’t see her as a person.
Just a move on the board.
And I’m the piece he never truly controlled. I only allowed him to believe he did.
I lower the gun, not out of mercy, out of calculation, because this isn’t over.
And if he’s still breathing, it’s because I’m certain he knows who has Jordyn.
The door swings open with a jolt. Dante steps inside, breathing harder than usual, the scent of asphalt and engine oil clinging to him. There's a flicker in his eyes, something buried just beneath the surface.
I see it. The tightness in his jaw. The way he doesn’t speak right away.
He’s found something. But I give the smallest shake of my head. A silent warning. Not here. Not in front of him .
Dante catches it instantly.
Enzo straightens from where he’s leaning near the window, eyes narrowing. “Did you find something?”
Dante blinks once, then covers with smooth precision. “Nothing solid yet. Just came to update Ares on the villa sweep. No signs of forced entry or pre-packed bags. Her leaving was... spur of the moment.”
Enzo looks unconvinced. “That’s it? Nothing on who took them?”
Dante shrugs. “Not just yet.”
I give him a slow nod. “Wait for me outside.”
He lingers for only a second before turning on his heel and disappearing down the hall.
I glance toward the desk. Luciano hasn’t moved. Hasn’t spoken a word.
Smug bastard. It takes everything in me to not raise my gun and put a bullet in his skull right there and then.
Because whatever Dante just found, I’ll hear it somewhere we won’t be overheard. If Luciano and Enzo are in bed with whoever has taken Jordyn, I don’t want them tipped off.
I stop at the doorway, spine rigid, rage pulsing beneath my skin like a live wire. I glance back over my shoulder, eyes locked on the man who dares to call himself my father.
“If anything happens to her…” My voice is razor-edged, quiet, lethal. “…I won’t come back with questions, old man. I’ll come back to bury you.”
Luciano doesn’t blink. But his silence says everything. “You think you’ve survived worse? You haven’t seen what I’ll become if she dies. You haven’t met that monster yet.” I tilt my head, something unhinged in my stare. “But you will. And when you do, you’ll wish it was a bullet that ended you.”
I leave him in silence. No more words.
Because he knows. He knows I meant every fucking one.
He wants a legacy? I’ll salt the fucking earth beneath his legacy until nothing remains but ash and his name rotting in history.
The blood coursing through my veins feels red-hot. The moment I step out and walk down the hallway, Dante falls into step with me.
“Ares—” Enzo’s voice calls after me.
I stop mid-stride, every muscle in my body taut. The fury still simmering just beneath my skin. I turn slowly, my glare cutting through him like a blade.
He lifts his hands, placating. “Whatever you’re doing… I’m coming with you.”
I say nothing.
“They have my wife,” he adds, voice low, raw. “You’re not the only one who’s lost something.”
My stare sharpens.
“No,” I murmur, stepping in close, voice low but venom laced.
“You’re just as much to blame for this as he is.
You stood by him, sided with him. You helped manipulate her into leaving, convinced her it was the right thing, and now she’s gone.
Jordyn and Bianca are gone because of you. ” Enzo flinches like I slapped him.
Enzo exhales through his nose, slow and controlled. “Bianca was scared, Ares. She was worried about her sister. She thought Jordyn would be safer away from all this.”
“And you’re my brother!” I snap, the words cutting harder than any blade. “At least, you’re supposed to be. You were supposed to have my back. Instead, you helped tear the one good thing I had right out of my fucking hands. And now she’s out there, captured, probably being tortured.”
Enzo winces, swallowing down whatever he was about to say.
“You want to help?” I grit. “Then start by not getting in my fucking way. Because right now, I don’t know if you’re part of the solution or part of the problem.
And I swear to God, Enzo…” I step even closer, close enough for him to see the threat in my eyes.
“If I find out you had a hand in this, even indirectly, I won’t hesitate. Blood or not.”
His eyes stay affixed to mine, but he doesn’t speak. Doesn’t deny it again. “Stay out of my way,” I snarl, then turn on my heel and walk.
We leave the manor without another word. The doors slam shut behind us, the echo sharp against the quiet morning. Gravel crunches beneath our boots as we cross the courtyard, the sun still struggling to rise over the Sicilian hills.
I don’t look back.
Dante falls into step beside me, silent until we’re well out of earshot, until the manor fades behind us and the air feels breathable again.
I stop just before the villa’s steps, hands still curled into fists.
“Talk,” I say, voice low. “What did you find?”
Dante glances around once, then lowers his tone. “One of our guys at the docks picked up whispers, said Nicolai’s yacht is being prepped for a departure. Sardinia. Tonight.”
My gaze sharpens. “You think he’s moving them?”
Dante nods. “It’s possible. Quiet route. Not many would notice. I’ve got someone staking the marina now, eyes on the crew. But if we’re going to hit it, we’ll need to move before nightfall.”
Sardinia.
The name lands like a curse.
Dread slithers through me, cold and unrelenting, as the pieces fall into place. If Nicolai’s moving her off the island, it means one thing, He’s already sold her.
To one of his associates. One of those twisted bastards who trade in flesh and obedience. Who’ll put a collar around her throat and call it ownership.
“Get everything ready,” I mutter. “Weapons. Backup. I want eyes in the water and on the sky. If he’s taking her there—” My voice dips, dangerously low. “—then we drag him straight to hell before he gets the chance.”
Dante nods once, eyes hard. “Already on it.”
I start up the villa steps, the weight of the bracelet in my pocket like lead.
Dante shifts beside me, tension rolling off him in waves.
“There’s one more thing…” he mutters.
I turn, eyes narrowing. He hesitates, hand sliding into his back pocket like he’s reaching for a live grenade.
“Spit it out.”
He doesn’t speak, just pulls it free, a clear evidence bag, sealed tight.
Inside is a small, white stick. My brows knit as I take it from him.
Then I see it. The word two syllable word Pregnant on the small digital screen . The world as I know it comes to a screeching halt.
My jaw locks as the word slams through me like a freight train.
Pregnant...
Table of Contents
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