Chapter 20 - The Unfinished Business
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The rain began to fall again, streaking down the massive glass windows of the penthouse, blurring the bright lights of the Seattle skyline.
I looked up at Luca, my heart pounding a heavy, frantic rhythm. Just hours ago, I had felt like a queen. Now, the terrifying reality of loving a mafia boss was crashing down on me. There would always be another threat. Another rival. Another war.
“What does this mean for us?” I asked, my voice trembling slightly. “For Emma?”
“It means we prepare,” Luca said, his voice dropping into that cold, lethal register of a general preparing for battle. “I am doubling the security details. Dante will not leave Emma’s side. And we may need to leave Seattle temporarily, to move to the secure compound in the mountains until the threat is neutralized.”
“I’m not running, Luca,” I said firmly, surprising myself with the fierce resolve in my voice. I grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly. “I spent three years running from Jake. I am done being afraid. If Volkov wants a war, we stand our ground.”
Luca stared at me, a mixture of profound shock and deep, fiery admiration flashing in his dark eyes. A dark, dangerous smile touched his lips.
“You are truly a queen, Ava,” he murmured, pulling me tightly against his chest, burying his face in my hair. “Volkov has no idea what he just started.”
But as we stood there in the quiet luxury of the penthouse, holding each other against the impending storm, I looked past Luca’s shoulder, out the floor-to-ceiling windows to the street far below.
Parked across the street from the towering Castellano building, sitting silently in the shadows of an alleyway, was a heavy, armored black SUV with out-of-state plates.
It was idling. Watching. Waiting.
May you like
The rain poured relentlessly over the city, washing the streets clean, but I knew the truth.
The peace was over. The blood was coming. And as Luca’s arms tightened around me, I knew that our fight for survival was just beginning.
