Damiano steps forward, taking the gun from my trembling hand. His fingers brush against mine, warm and steady despite everything that's happened.
"Thank you," he says quietly, only to me.
Then Damiano turns to Byron, who stares up at him with hatred and fear warring in his eyes.
"You took everything from me," Damiano says, his voice barely above a whisper. "My Bianca. Our child. Years I could have known the truth." He gestures toward me without breaking his gaze from Byron. "You manipulated an innocent girl, twisted her with your lies."
Byron attempts a laugh that comes out as a gurgle. Blood stains his teeth as he says, "She was never innocent."
Damiano presses the barrel against Byron's forehead. "This is for the lives you took from us, you son of a bitch." The final shot echoes through the warehouse.
I flinch as Byron's body slumps to the floor, his eyesstill open but empty now. The man who controlled every aspect of my life is gone. Just like that.
My legs give out. I sink to the concrete floor, shaking uncontrollably as everything crashes down on me at once.
"Lucrezia?" Damiano asks Enzo, who was behind me watching all the time.
"Alive," Enzo confirms. "Alessio took her to the hospital." He's trying to keep his voice steady, but it cracks around the edges. "She... she looked in terrible condition, Damiano."
The color drains from Damiano's face.
"How bad?" Damiano whispers, like he's afraid to hear the answer.
Enzo shakes his head. "Bad. Byron's men... they worked her over. Alessio found her first. He wouldn't let me near her—just moved fast, wrapping her up and getting her out."
A sound escapes Damiano's throat—halfway between a growl and a sob.
"Did you find anyone in her room?" Damiano asks, his voice deadly quiet.
Enzo's expression darkens to something I've never seen before—not even in Damiano at his most dangerous. "Two of them. We have them secured in the north section. They're... breathing. For now."
"Take them to our warehouse in Queens," Damiano says, his voice scraping like broken glass. "Wait for me there."
A silent understanding passes between the brothers—something primal and terrible that makes my skin crawl despite everything I've just done.
"I know exactly what we need to do with them," Enzo says, his usual playfulness completely absent.He looks at me, then back to Damiano. "You need medical attention, brother."
My entire body wages war against movement as Daniel opens the car door. Each breath sends daggers through my ribs. My dislocated shoulder throbs with relentless fury. None of it matters. Only Lucrezia matters now.
"Hospital," I bark as Daniel slides into the driver's seat. "Where they took Lucrezia."
Zoe climbs into the back with me, her hands still trembling. The enormity of what she's just done hangs between us, but there's no time to process it. Not with my baby sister fighting for her life.
The city blurs past us as Daniel weaves through traffic.
"She knew you were hurting," Zoe says quietly. "That's why she helped me escape. She believed you'd listen eventually."
Pain shoots through my chest that has nothing to do with my physical injuries. "I should have listened the first time. If I had, she wouldn't be—" I can't finish the sentence. Can't bear to think of what those bastards did to her.
"She's strong," Zoe whispers. "Like her brother."
The hospital comes into view, its emergency entrance blazing with lights. Daniel barely stops the car before I'm pushing the door open, ignoring the screaming pain in my shoulder. Zoe rushes to my side, supporting my weight as we move toward the entrance.
"Damiano, you need medical attention too," she insists.
"Not until I see her."
Inside, Alessio paces the waiting area, his usually impeccable suit stained with blood—my sister's blood. When he spots us, relief washes over his face.
