“And I can’t focus if you’re out there getting killed because you’re too busy worrying about me.”
He steps toward me, towering but not threatening, eyes burning with something deeper than anger.
“Dove,” he murmurs, “I need you safe.”
“And I need you alive!” I fire back. “I need Rocco with you. You know I’m right.”
Rocco clears his throat quietly. “Boss… she’s not wrong.”
Alessandro shoots him a glare that could melt steel.
Rocco holds up both hands. “Just saying.”
Alessandro drags a hand down his face, pacing once because he knows—he knows—I’m right.
But that isn’t the part that unravels him.
It’s the next thing I say. “Take me with you.”
Everything stops.
Rocco’s eyes snap to mine.
Alessandro freezes mid-step.
“Elena,” Alessandro says slowly, voice dangerous, “no.”
“Yes.” I lift my chin. “You trust me. You taught me. You didn’t marry someone weak. You married someone who would die for you.”
He inhales sharply—almost pained. “You’re not dying for me,” he growls.
“Then let me fight for you,” I whisper. “Let me stand beside you.”
Rocco is staring at me with something like awe.
Alessandro…
Alessandro is staring at me like I’ve just knocked the air out of his lungs.
He steps closer, cups the sides of my face, and rests his forehead against mine—voice ragged.
“Dove… I can’t take you into that.”
“I’m not staying behind,” I breathe.
He closes his eyes. His hands shake. And for the first time…he doesn’t have a quick answer.
Because he knows I’ll follow him anyway.
Because he knows I’d walk through fire for him.
Because he knows I’m not the girl my father tried to raise anymore.
I’m his wife.
And I won’t let him face this alone.
"Where you go, I go."
