Page 56 of Corrupted Heart

“BIANCA!”

The air leaves my lungs in a whoosh.

It’s Dante.

When I open the door, I gasp as he storms in, his face grim. He glances around, and it’s only then that I realize he’s holding a fucking gun.

“Dante—”

“Why the fuck weren’t you answering your phone!?” he barks, concern in his voice and all over his face.

I swallow. “I—I was in the bath? What the hell is?—”

“Shit’s going down, that’s what. A war might’ve just started, and I wanted to make sure you were home and safe.”

Something cold settles in the pit of my stomach.

“A…a war?” I croak.

He nods, marching over to my windows and checking that they’re all locked, even though we’re ten floors up.

“Someone raided one of Nero De Luca’s warehouses in Brooklyn.”

I exhale.

Thank God.

“And… You think that means war?”

“On it’s own, it could just be a regular gangland bullshit,” he growls, turning back to me and holstering the gun. “But barely an hour later, someone torched Kratos Drakos’ car in the Bronx.”

The cold knot rips through my stomach again with a vengeance. My throat tightens, a whining sound ringing in my ears.

Dante frowns and sniffs the air, his brow furrowing. “What the…”

Oh God.

He sniffs again, glancing around the apartment.

“Bianca, why does it smell like…”

He freezes as he suddenly turns toward me. I gasp as he storms over to me, grabbing a handful of my still-damp hair and yanking it to his nose.

“Holy fucking shit,” he whispers in a haggard voice. He backs away from me, slowly shaking his head. “Bianca?—”

“I… I can explain?—”

“What the fuck did you do? What THE FUCK did you do?!” he roars.

I cringe, shaking as my brother whirls away. He grabs his phone out of his pocket and hits a number. Seconds later, I can hear him yelling to someone I assume is Carmine things like “security measures” “lockdown” and “prepare for the worst”.

I want to cry. I want to break down and scream. I want to tell him everything.

Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I see my phone silently light up on the kitchen counter. I shudder as I walk over and pick it up.

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