Chapter 116
Chapter 116
I grabbed the nearest shirt I could find Dominic’s, oversized and still clinging to the scent of him. I had nothing underneath, but at this moment, who could care. The sound had come from the east side. So loud it shook the walls like the house itself was crying out.
Dominic didn’t bother with a shirt. He walked barefoot, muscles coiled and jaw clenched like the blast had hit him in the chest. He grabbed one of the guns from the drawer and turned to me, eyes dark.
“Can you shoot?”
I shook my head, heart hammering.
“Fuck.” He cursed under his breath, shoving a small pistol into my hands. “Remind me to teach you self–defense. This shit ends today.”
Another alarm wailed in the distance. The electricity flickered again, lights sputtering like breath caught in a throat.
“What happened?” I asked, barely keeping the tremble out of my voice.
He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he pressed his earpiece deeper into his ear and barked, “Where was the hit?” A pause. His shoulders stiffened. “Which Aiden?”
The color drained from his face.
“Dom?”
He turned slowly to me, face pale but his eyes boiling over. “It was Aiden’s estate. Mikael’s men hit it with C4. It’s gone.”
“Gone?”
“Flattened.” His voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. “They killed Aiden. And his son.”
I stumbled back a step, horror locking in my throat. Aiden… the consigliere of Dominic’s oldest ally. A man who’d known Dominic since he was twelve. Gone. Just like that.
But Dominic wasn’t finished. His phone buzzed in his other hand. He answered it with a grunt.
“What now?” he growled. Another pause. And then-
“You’re fucking kidding me.”
I’d never seen his face go that still, that empty.
“One of the warehouses,” he said to me. “Pier 14.”
“The weapons?”
He nodded once. “All of them. And the staff inside.”
I swallowed hard, throat like glass.
“How many?”
“Fifteen.”
Fifteen dead.
Fifteen of his.
It was war. Not quiet, not political, not the subtle power plays that defined mafia movements. This was fire and ash and blood.
Dominic was already moving toward the security room, barking into his comms. “Lock down the perimeter. I want Mikael’s rats bleeding in the street before sunrise. Get eyes on the Romano house. And someone get Julian on the goddamn line!”
I followed close behind, bare feet slapping the marble as we stormed through the halls.
“I should’ve killed him when I had the chance,” Dominic muttered. “Years ago. I let Mikael live out of fucking mercy-”
“He’s after you,” I said. “But he’s also after me, isn’t he?”
Dominic turned so fast I almost ran into his chest. He gripped my arms tight, gaze slicing into mine.
“Listen to me,” he said, voice low, lethal. “Stay close to me. If they can’t hurt me, they’ll come for you.”
My stomach twisted. “Then I’m a weakness.”
“No.” He shook his head. “You’re a reason. The Successfully unlocked!
Before I could ask what that meant, the hallway lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
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Chapter 116
Then out.
Dark.
Total, choking dark.
“Generator just failed,” Dominic snapped. “That means someone’s inside the perimeter.”
Gun raised, he motioned for me to follow, silent now, all fire in his body coiled and ready to strike. I clutched the pistol with shaking hands. I didn’t even know how to take the safety off.
We crept down the corridor, guided only by the moonlight slipping in through the tall windows, our footsteps barely audible against the floor. I stayed behind him, every breath tight in my throat.
And then-
Something moved.
To the left.
In the shadow near the old portrait.
Dominic turned. Fast.
Crack!
Gunshot.
Screams down the hall.
He pushed me back against the wall. “Stay right here. Do not move.”
I nodded, shaking.
He slipped into the darkness like a phantom, gun raised, steps deadly silent.
I waited.
One second.
Two.
A shape moved behind me.
I turned-
Too late.
A hand grabbed my mouth. Another around my waist.
“Gotcha,” a voice rasped in my ear.
His breath was sour. Hot. And full of something gleeful, like this was a game he’d already won.
But I wasn’t a prize. I wasn’t prey.
I was Aria fucking Montel.
And I wasn’t going without a fight.
I bit down on his hand hard, teeth sinking through the skin, copper exploding across my tongue. He yelped loud and ugly
and in that second, his grip loosened just enough. I twisted in his arms, heart slamming in my chest, and kicked.
Not just anywhere.
Right between his legs.
He screamed, dropping like a stone, hands cupping his crotch, his eyes wide in pain.
But I didn’t wait.
My hands were shaking, barely able to hold the weight of the pistol Dominic had shoved into them but I remembered. His voice.
“Finger off the trigger until you’re ready. Safety here. Aim center mass. Don’t hesitate.”
I didn’t even think.
I pointed the gun at the bastard still wheezing on the ground-
And I pulled the trigger.
BANG.
He jerked back, a crimson spray painting the marble behind him. He hit the floor, eyes wide, mouth gaping, chest still twitching.
I stood there frozen, the weapon still warm in my hands, my breath ragged.
Chapter 116
Blood was on my shirt. His. Mine. I didn’t know.
He wasn’t moving.
“Oh my God.”
My knees buckled. I dropped to the ground, shaking, sobbing now.
“I just… Jesus… I just-”
The lights snapped on.
The hallway blazed with light like a switch had been thrown from hell to heaven.
And then I heard it.
Dominic’s voice, roaring down the corridor.
“ARIA!”
Footsteps thundered.
I couldn’t answer.
Couldn’t speak.
Couldn’t move.
The gun fell from my fingers. My hands were covered in blood. My legs were jelly. My heart was somewhere outside my body, trying to claw its way back in.
Dominic appeared at the end of the hall, gun raised, eyes wild.
He saw the man on the floor. The body. The blood.
He saw me. And he ran.
But I still couldn’t move.
Couldn’t breathe because for the first time in my life…
I had killed someone.
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Chapter 116
Blood was on my shirt. His. Mine. I didn’t know.
He wasn’t moving.
“Oh my God.”
My knees buckled. I dropped to the ground, shaking, sobbing now.
“I just… Jesus… I just-”
The lights snapped on.
The hallway blazed with light like a switch had been thrown from hell to heaven.
And then I heard it.
Dominic’s voice, roaring down the corridor.
“ARIA!”
Footsteps thundered.
I couldn’t answer.
Couldn’t speak.
Couldn’t move.
The gun fell from my fingers. My hands were covered in blood. My legs were jelly. My heart was somewhere outside my body, trying to claw its way back in.
Dominic appeared at the end of the hall, gun raised, eyes wild.
He saw the man on the floor. The body. The blood.
He saw me. And he ran.
But I still couldn’t move.
Couldn’t breathe because for the first time in my life…
I had killed someone.
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