I wear his name like a scar.
Alessandro Rossi stole everything from me; my freedom, my future, the lie I told my father to keep him alive. He thinks I'm a tool to be used, a bride to be displayed, a Fraga to be broken. He thinks the ring on my finge...
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Andrea and the boys walked into the warehouse just as I was halfway through a drag on a cigarette.
He glanced at it with a frown and shook his head. "I thought you quit smoking," he muttered.
I exhaled slowly, a cloud of smoke curling around me before I flicked the ash to the ground. "Thought I did too."
I tried to sound indifferent, but the truth was I had been burning with fury the entire day. Rage had been eating at me from the inside, stripping away the thin mask of calm I had been holding onto.
Luca noticed it immediately. He leaned against a stack of crates, arms folded, watching me carefully. "What's wrong?"
I ground the cigarette under my heel and let out a sound closer to a growl than a sigh. "It's Diego," I said, my voice rough. "We have reason to believe he was involved in the failed heist."
Luca's face changed instantly. Shock spread across his features, his eyes wide. "What the hell are you saying? You're serious?"
I didn't get the chance to answer. Tires screeched just outside, rubber burning against the pavement, and a moment later a storm of gunfire tore through the warehouse walls. The sharp crack of bullets on metal rang out like thunder, shards of glass and splinters of wood spraying through the air.
Instinct took over. I threw myself at Luca, dragging him down with me behind the crates. "Get the fuck down!" I roared, my gun already in my hand.
The air filled with the violent rhythm of gunfire. Bullets slammed into the crates, rattling them under the barrage. The boys scattered fast, diving behind cover wherever they could. I heard Santino shout from across the room, his voice straining over the chaos. "Who the hell are these bastards?"
"They're Bailey's men!" I shouted back, crouched low as I returned fire in sharp bursts. "We're outnumbered and pinned!"
The next second a round ripped through the air and Miguel went down hard, his body twisting as he hit the floor. Blood welled between his fingers where he clutched his side. My vision tunneled.
"Fuck!" The word tore out of me as I shoved Luca deeper behind cover. I sprinted across the open space, bullets hissing past, until I dropped beside Miguel. "Stay with me!"
His face was pale, his breath broken and ragged. Still, he gritted his teeth. "I'm fine," he forced out. "But they're not stopping."
I ripped a strip from my shirt and pressed it hard against the wound. My hands were slick with his blood, but I pushed down harder. "You're not dying on me," I said through clenched teeth. "Not today."
Miguel let out a rough laugh, pain tightening every word. "I'll... try to avoid it."
The barrage didn't let up. The warehouse echoed with the ceaseless pounding of gunfire, and every second dragged heavier. The boys returned fire, but we were losing ground. We needed to break their momentum before they boxed us in.
