Page 72 of Captive Bride

"Please, not Dad," she whispered, her words barely audible above my counting—thirty compressions, two breaths, repeat. Her boldness, always so commanding, now faltered, leaving her clinging to the maternal fortress that was Alessia.

Alessia, the matriarch, stood stoic yet shaken, holding her daughters close. Her designer clothes, a testament to her unspoken authority, seemed inconsequential now as she murmured reassurances that sounded hollow even to my ears. But it was the tremor in her embrace that betrayed her—the untouchable queen was rattled to her core.

And Ade…I couldn’t bear to look at her. Her face was buried in her mother’s shoulder, her frame rigid with tension. This woman, who always navigated everything with such savvy, rendered motionless by the prospect of this loss.

I couldn’t let that happen.

The weight of life and death pressed upon my palms as I continued the rhythmic compressions against Silvio's chest.Sweat beaded on my forehead, my own heart hammering a frantic cadence in my ears. Around us, the Orsini mansion—once so full of bravado and whispers of power—had constricted into a web of stifled sobs and desperate hopes.

I wasn’t sure how long I had been doing chest compressions for. It could have been minutes or it could have been hours. I didn’t know, I couldn’t tell. My arms burned. My back burned.

“Kieran. The ambulance?”

“They said two minutes,” Kieran said.

“Got it!” I replied, not breaking the rhythm of my movements. My hands, though strong from years in a world where might often meant right, and now used to carrying all my weight, trembled with the strain of this battle.

I felt Silvio's ribs give under my force, a necessary evil for a chance at redemption.

They cracked.

He didn’t breathe.

Each push was a silent plea to whatever gods watched over men like us—men who lived by the sword and too often died by it. But Silvio deserved better; he’d tried to weave some honor into this tangled legacy we shared.

"Stay with us, Dad." Carmen's voice cut through the thick air, barely louder than a whisper. Her usual fire subdued by fear, she clung to Alessia, their combined strength now fragile as porcelain.

Then, amidst the chaos and the clinging threads of hope, the unthinkable happened: Silvio's breath hitched, a gasp echoing softly in the cavernous dining room.

For a split second, I thought–no, hoped–that it was life returning. The room stilled. Everyone froze.

But the moment didn’t hold. His chest rose once, barely perceptible. Then it stopped, his silence filling more than his tiny gasp.

His eyes remained closed. His body heavy, unmoving.

“Fuck,” I said, going back to doing chest compressions.

I pushed harder, my arms burning with the effort. The room around me blurred, faces and voices melding into a cacophony of desperation. Silvio's last breath hung in the air like a ghost, taunting us with its finality.

"Don't you dare," I growled, my voice raw with emotion. "Don't you fucking dare, Silvio."

Adriana's sob pierced through my concentration. I couldn't look at her, couldn't bear to see the pain etched across her face. Instead, I focused on the lifeless form beneath my hands, willing him back with every ounce of strength I possessed.

Sirens wailed in the distance, growing louder with each passing second. But time had become a cruel joke, stretching endlessly as Silvio slipped further away.

"Move!" A paramedic's voice cut through the haze. Hands pulled at my shoulders, trying to pry me away.

"No," I snarled, shrugging them off. "I can't stop. I can't—"

"Sir, please," the paramedic insisted, her tone firm but kind. "Let us take over."

Reality crashed down around me. I watched as the EMT tried to find a pulse, but she couldn’t.

I stumbled back, my legs buckling beneath me as the paramedics swarmed around Silvio. Their practiced hands took over, attaching leads and shouting medical jargon that blurred in my ears. I watched, helpless, as they worked with frantic efficiency.

"Clear!" The sharp command cut through the chaos. Silvio's body jerked as the defibrillator sent a jolt through him. Once. Twice. Three times.

Nothing.

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