The word "dead" snapped my last thread of control. I whipped around and shoved her hard. She stumbled backward and slammed into the doorframe with a cry of pain.
"Chloe's not dead! She can't be dead!" My eyes were wild as I muttered it over and over.
Valentina scrambled to her feet, furious now, and stared me down without an ounce of fear.
"Oh? Playing the devoted lover now? Aren't you the one who got her killed? Enzo Falcone, you knew exactly how dangerous your world was, and you forced her to stay anyway!"
I raised my gun and aimed it at Valentina, ready to blow her away just to shut her up. But in the end, I lowered it.
Valentina was right.
The person to blame wasn't anyone else. It was me.
I knew how dangerous my life was. But I'd kept her close anyway. I could have waited until everything settled before bringing her into my world. But I'd been selfish. I'd wanted her near me, toldmyself it was protection. And I'd handed my enemies the perfect target.
I finally understood how catastrophically I'd screwed up. In the end, I hadn't protected her. And I hadn't made her feel loved.
This mistake ended today.
I looked at the woman in front of me, my eyes ice cold.
"You're right. I was dead wrong." Each word came out sharp and deliberate. "Let's get divorced, Valentina. I'll have the papers on your desk tomorrow."
She froze. She clearly hadn't expected me to blow up the alliance between our families.
"You're serious? You want a divorce right now?"
"I've never been more serious."
"Fine. Divorce it is!" Valentina laughed bitterly and turned on her heel. "I never knew you were such a fool. You've disappointed me completely."
She walked away without looking back. That meant my deal with the Lombardi family was over, too. But right now, I didn't care about any of that.
All I could see was Chloe's face. Her smile as she asked which color I liked while flipping through baby catalogs on the couch. Her eyes full of hope when she placed my hand on her belly to feel the baby move. And the last time—lying in bed, staring at the ceiling with empty eyes, letting me touch her but not responding at all.
Our last moment together had been so ugly.
I sank to my knees beside that pool of blood, consumed by regret.
"Enzo!"
Luca called my name three times before I heard him. He crouched in front of me, gripping my shoulder hard.
"Get your shit together. Now's not the time to fall apart. Stand up!"
He was right. Nothing was final yet. How could I collapse like a useless piece of trash now? I clawed back some shred of reason through the grief and rage.
Stand up. Do what needs to be done, Enzo.
Someone had made a move on my turf. They'd taken my womanand my child. I didn't know who yet. But I'd find them. And I'd make every last one of them beg me for a quick death.
"Pull the surveillance footage," I said through clenched teeth. My voice came out twisted with fury and pain. "All of it. Inside the villa, the surrounding streets, everything. Get the blood tested for DNA immediately. Every suspicious vehicle within a ten-mile radius, I want them all flagged."
Luca didn't waste another word. He turned and ran out to mobilize everyone.
The results came back faster than I expected. Half an hour later, Luca called with news. The footage showed the villa's security system had been shut down from the inside at 2:47 a.m. The guard shift change had been exploited with surgical precision—the incoming team had been rerouted with a fake order while still en route. Only someone with full access to the villa's security system could have pulled that off.
This wasn't an outsider. There was a traitor among my own people.
