Seconds later, emergency lights flick on.
Gunfire and shouts blur into white noise as I press harder against Luca's wound, willing the blood to stop flowing.
His skin has turned ashen, lips pale and blue-tinged. Every labored breath he takes sounds like it might be his last.
"Stay with me," I plead. "Luca, please. Enzo needs you. I need you."
Another explosion rocks the building, closer this time.
Concrete dust rains down from the ceiling.
Through the smoke and chaos, new voices emerge.
Not Russian.
"Luca! Katerina!"
My head snaps up. Through the haze, I see them. The Dante men. Alessandro at the front, Adriano right behind.
Wild hope surges through me. They came for us.
But the relief is fleeting as I look back at Luca.
His eyes are closed now, his breathing shallow.
Too much blood pools beneath him, spreading across the concrete floor.
"No, no, no," I sob. My hands are slick with his blood as I press harder against the wound. "Don't you dare die on me."
The gunfight rages around us. Alessandro, Adriano and their men are running, firing, killing.
But all that exists for me right now is Luca as he slips away from me.
"Katerina." His voice is barely audible. His eyes flutter open. "Take care of Enzo."
"We'll take care of him together," I insist fiercely. "You promised you wouldn't leave me again."
A ghost of a smile touches his lips. "Never wanted to."
Alessandro materializes beside us, his expression grim as he takes in Luca's condition. "We need to move. Now."
"He can't be moved," I snap. "He'll bleed out."
"If we stay, we all die," Alessandro counters with urgency.
As if to punctuate his words, another blast shakes the foundation. Chunks of ceiling crash down at the far end of the corridor.
"I'm not leaving him," I say.
Luca's hand finds mine, his grip weak but insistent. "Go. Enzo needs his mother."
"And his father." I clutch his hand tighter.
"Alessandro," Luca rasps, his gaze shifting to his brother. "Protect them. Promise me."
Alessandro nods once. "With my life.”
"No!" I scream as Alessandro signals to his men. Two of them move toward me. "I won't leave him! I can't?—"
