The night swallowed Luca's convoy as it sped through the city. The storm raged harder, sheets of rain slamming against the windshields, lightning tearing across the sky. Inside the car, silence hung thick, broken only by the rhythm of the wipers and the low hum of engines.
Enzo sat beside Luca, his gun resting across his lap, his sharp eyes scanning the dark streets. "Boss," he said finally, "this doesn't feel clean. Romano was ready for us last night. What if he wants us to come after him?"
Luca's jaw tightened. His eyes never left the wet road ahead. "Then let him wait. I'm coming anyway."
"Still...!"
"I don't care if it's a trap," Luca cut him off, voice low and lethal. "He took what's mine. That alone signed his death."
Enzo fell silent, but the tension in his posture didn't fade.
The convoy turned off the main road and rolled into the industrial district. Empty warehouses rose up like shadows, their windows black, their doors rusted. The rain made the pavement shine like glass.
Luca's fingers twitched against the wheel. His instincts screamed. He had been in this life too long not to smell danger. Romano wanted him here. Romano was waiting.
Good.
He wanted Romano too.
Back at the estate, Aria paced the floor of the study. The storm outside seemed to echo her heart, heavy and unrelenting. The phone call replayed in her head again and again... Romano's laugh, his promise, his cruel voice whispering he would take her and the boys.
Her hands shook as she hugged herself, her skin crawling. She wanted to scream, but she couldn't let the twins hear her fear. They were upstairs, curled together under blankets, asking when Papa was coming back.
She had lied. She had smiled. But inside, she was breaking.
Every second that ticked by on the clock felt like a countdown. Romano had promised Luca would fall tonight.
And she believed him.
Her chest heaved as she whispered to herself, "Please, God, don't take him from me. Don't let him walk into death."
But in her bones, she felt it. Something terrible was coming.
The convoy pulled up in front of an abandoned shipping yard. Tall fences lined the perimeter, topped with rusting barbed wire. Containers stacked three high loomed in the dark, their paint chipped, numbers fading. The rain hammered down, making hollow echoes on the metal.
Luca stopped the car. His men spilled out into the storm, weapons ready. Enzo leaned close. "Boss, you know this is bad ground. Too many places to hide."
"That's why we flush him out," Luca said coldly. He checked his gun, chambered a round, and stepped out into the rain. Water soaked his shirt in seconds, plastering it to his skin.
The men spread through the yard, boots splashing in puddles, flashlights slicing through the dark.
Then came the sound.
Slow. Mocking.
Clapping.
Luca's head snapped up.
On top of a stack of containers, lit by a crack of lightning, stood Romano. His black coat billowed in the wind, his smile wide and cruel.
"De Rossi," Romano called, his voice echoing across the metal yard. "I knew you couldn't resist."
Luca's grip tightened on his gun. "Come down and die like a man."
Romano laughed, spreading his arms. "Oh, Luca. You came to kill me? And yet you walked right into my stage. Look around you."
The yard lit up. Dozens of floodlights roared to life, blinding. Men stepped out from the shadows, rifles raised. Romano's soldiers. Too many. Far too many.
Enzo swore under his breath. "Boss… it's an army."
Luca's eyes narrowed, but his voice was steady. "Then we kill an army."
Gunfire exploded.
Aria jolted upright when the first thunder cracked. No, it wasn't thunder. It was too sharp. Too fast. Her stomach turned to ice.
She ran to the window, gripping the curtains with white knuckles. The rain blurred everything, but she swore she heard it: gunfire in the distance.
Her knees went weak.
He was fighting for his life. Right now. Alone against Romano's men.
Her hands shook as she pressed them to her face. "Luca…"
Behind her, a small voice spoke.
"Mama?"
She turned. Nico stood in the doorway, rubbing his eyes, his hair messy from sleep. Nino peeked out behind him, clutching his bear.
Aria forced a smile, even though her heart was shattering. "What are you doing up?"
"We heard you crying," Nico whispered.
She pulled them close, hugging them tight. "I'm just… I'm just worried about Papa."
Nico's voice trembled. "Is he going to come home?"
She swallowed hard. She couldn't answer. Not honestly.
But she kissed their heads and whispered, "Yes. He has to."
Even if she didn't believe it.
Back at the shipping yard, chaos raged. Bullets screamed through the storm. Luca's men fell one by one, the ground slick with blood and rain. Enzo barked orders, dragging men behind cover, returning fire with sharp bursts.
But Romano's army was overwhelming. They were pinned.
Luca moved like death itself, every shot from his gun precise, every step forward steady. But even he couldn't fight forever. A bullet grazed his arm, another tore through his side. Pain seared, but he didn't stop.
He would not stop.
Romano's laughter rang out over the chaos. "Look at you, De Rossi! The great king, bleeding in the dirt!"
Luca snarled, forcing himself up behind cover. His blood dripped into the puddles, mixing with the rain. His men were dying. The fight was slipping away.
And still, Romano stood above, untouched.
Lightning split the sky, and for a moment Luca saw his face clearly. Smiling. Mocking.
Something inside Luca burned hotter than the pain.
He would not die here.
He would not leave Aria alone.
He would not leave his sons fatherless.
With a roar, he broke cover, charging into the open. Gunfire ripped around him, but he didn't slow. Romano's smile faltered for the first time as Luca raised his gun and fired, bullet after bullet, climbing the stack of containers, climbing toward him like a storm given flesh.
Romano's men shouted, tried to cut him down. But Luca kept coming.
Romano backed away, his grin gone, his eyes wide now.
"De Rossi..!"
Luca fired again. Romano staggered, clutching his shoulder, his coat blooming with blood.
But before Luca could finish it, something hit him hard.
A bullet.
It tore through his chest.
The world spun. The storm blurred. His knees buckled.
He fell.
Back at the estate, Aria screamed.
She didn't know why. She didn't know how.
But in that moment, as the storm howled outside, she felt it.
She felt him breaking.
Her chest ached as though the bullet had torn through her too.
She clutched the twins, her sobs shaking their small bodies.
Nico whispered, "Mama, what's wrong?"
Nino hugged his bear tighter, his lips trembling.
Aria's tears fell hot and fast. She kissed them both, whispering, "Hold on. Just hold on."
But inside, she knew.
Luca was dying.
And Romano was still out there.