Roberto’s men hesitate, looking to their boss for direction.
"NOW!" she shouts, the command echoing off the walls.
They raise their hands slowly, reluctantly.
I'm frozen in place, staring at her in shock.
This isn't the Liana I know. This isn't the girl who jumped out of my moving car. Who ate my steak. Who played helpless and silly and sweet.
This is someone else entirely. Someone I've never seen before.
"You're going to let us walk out of here," Liana says to Roberto, her voice not shaking at all. "Santino and me. We're leaving together. And if anyone follows us, if anyone even thinks about pulling a trigger, I blow this man’s brains all over this warehouse. Do you understand me?"
Roberto stares at her, his mind clearly calculating odds and options.
"You won't shoot him," he says finally, trying to sound confident. "You're not a killer. You're just a scared girl. Put the gun down."
Liana's eyes shift, locking onto one of Roberto’s men standing near the back. The youngest one. Not family. Just hired muscle.
"You're right," she says with unsettling calm. "I won't shoot him."
Then she pivots with explosive speed. Aims at the young guy's knee. And pulls the trigger without hesitation.
The gunshot is deafening in the enclosed space, making my ears ring. The man screams and goes down hard, clutching his knee.
Blood spreads rapidly across the concrete floor.
Liana swings the gun back to the man’s head before anyone can react, before anyone can move.
"But I'll shoot everyone else in this room if I have to," she finishes, her voice still perfectly steady. Like she didn't just put a bullet in someone. "Still think I'm not a killer?"
Roberto’s face darkens with rage and something else—maybe respect. “You think you’re walking out of here? You think—"
“I don’t think,” Liana cuts him off sharply. “I know. Because you’re not stupid enough to let your nephew die over pride.”
Nephew.
The man she’s holding is his nephew. Family.
That changes everything about this equation.
"Let him go," Roberto says quietly, his voice tight. "And I let you go. Even trade."
"No trade." Liana's voice is steel. "You're going to let us both go. Santino walks out first. I follow with your nephew. When we're clear of the building, I let him go."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then you explain to your sister how her son died because you were too proud to back down from a negotiation."
Silence stretches between them, tense and dangerous.
Roberto looks at me, at Liana, at his nephew with the gun pressed to his head. Finally, he nods to his men. "Stand down. All of you."
They lower their weapons slowly, reluctantly.
"Santino," Liana says without taking her eyes off Roberto. "Move toward me. Now."
I stand and move toward her, my mind still trying to process what I'm seeing.
