I drift into a light, fitful sleep, my dreams filled with fire and the sound of her voice calling my name.
When the dawn finally breaks, it’s grey and cold, but I don’t feel the chill. I have her beside me. For one breath before the war returns, that is enough.
I watch the first light of morning hit the scar on her arm—the one I cleaned, the one I fixed. It’s a reminder that even in the middle of all this death, I can still save something.
I can save her.
And I will.
Even if it costs me everything else.
The phone on the nightstand buzzes again, a short, sharp notification. I look. I have to. Men die when I don’t. For these few minutes, before the world wakes up and the killing starts again, she is the only thing that exists.
“Alessio?” she mumbles, her eyes fluttering open.
“I’m here,” I say, pulling her closer. “I’m right here.”
“Don’t be far,” she whispers, her voice thick with sleep.
“Never far,” I promise.
And after eleven years, I’m not lying.
I’m the keeper of secrets, the surgeon of the underworld, the man who lives in the shadows. But as the sun rises over the Chicago skyline, I realize I’m also something else.
Love does not soften me.
It gives the blade a name.
I watch her drift back to sleep, her face peaceful, her hand still clutched in my shirt. The war is coming. The traitor is waiting. The ghost is alive.
But I have something to come back to.
And I’m going to fight like hell to keep it.
The silence of the room is broken only by the sound of our breathing. It’s a fragile peace, a temporary truce in a lifelong battle. But it’s enough.
For one last second, I let the weight of her body ground me.
Then I get out of bed, moving quietly so I don’t wake her. I dress in fresh clothes, the fabric feeling crisp against my skin. I look at myself in the mirror and see the same man with one new weakness.
I walk to the door, pausing for one last look at her. She’s still sleeping, her dark hair fanned out across the white pillow. She looks like a dream.
“I’ll be back,” I whisper.
Then I walk out into the hallway, the reinforced door closing behind me.
The war room is waiting.
I head toward the war room, my steps heavy and purposeful. The brothers will be there. Dominic will be there.
And Turi will be there.
I can feel the bile rising in my throat, but I push it down. I have a job to do.
I have a family to protect.
And I have a woman in my room who may be the only person who can read the trail.
