Page 32 of Bound By Honor

“I understand perfectly.” He pushes himself up straighter, ignoring the pain that tightens his features. “You’re acting exactly like him. Like your father.”

The words hit me like bullets. “Don’t.”

My chest constricts, breath coming in short bursts. The comparison to my father cuts deeper than any physical blow could. I taste copper, realizing I’ve bitten the inside of my cheek hard enough to draw blood.

“Why not? It’s true.” His voice drops lower, more dangerous. “The great Don Salvatore, so focused on power and control that he’d sacrifice his own blood?—“

“Enough!” The word explodes from me. “You think this is easy? You think I don’t see her face every time I close my eyes?”

“Then do something about it!” He grabs my wrist, his grip surprisingly strong. “Make the deal. Give them what they want.”

“And condemn her to a life with Franco Rossi?” The name is sour on my tongue. “You’ve heard the rumors about him, what he does to?—“

“She’s stronger than you think.” Luciano’s eyes burn with something fierce. “And she’ll have us. All of us. To protect her.”

A knock interrupts us—one of my men, face grim. “Don Salvatore. There’s been a development.”

I move to the door, but Luciano’s voice stops me. “Whatever it is, whatever they’re offering—take it. Because if anything happens to her...” He lets the threat hang unfinished.

The soldier hands me a phone—another video loading. This time, Alessandro’s face fills the screen, familiar features twisted into something foreign and cruel. The sight of him—my brother’s mirror image corrupted by hatred—sends ice through my veins. His smile is sharp as a blade, but it’s his eyes that terrify me. They hold the same madness I once saw in our enemies, right before Marco made them disappear.

“Time’s running out, brother dear. The Rossis are getting impatient, and I’m getting... creative with my entertainment. Shall I show you what creativity looks like?”

The camera pans to Aurora, her head held high despite the fresh bruises. “Don’t you dare give them what they want,” she says directly to the camera. “Dom, I swear to God, if you?—”

The feed cuts out, leaving us in charged silence.

“Make. The. Deal.” Luciano’s words fall like hammer blows.

I turn back to him, seeing the raw desperation in his eyes. “You love her that much?”

“Enough to let her go.” His admission costs him visibly. “Enough to watch her marry another man, if it means she lives.”

The weight of command settles heavier on my shoulders. “And if she never forgives me?”

The Don in me wants to maintain control, to show no weakness. But the brother in me—the part that still remembers Aurora’s first steps, her graduation smile, her fierce hugs—that part is screaming for surrender. Two voices warring in my head, just like always.

“Better alive and angry than dead with your pride intact.”

13

LUCIANO POV

Metal groans overhead as I lead our team through the warehouse’s shadows. Each step brings a fresh assault on my senses—rust and damp concrete, the ghost of machine oil, the copper tang of blood from my split knuckles. Behind me, Dominic’s elite squad moves like smoke, their weapons ready. My earpiece crackles with Marco’s voice: “East wing secured. No sign of Aurora.”

The Rossis have kept their end of whatever deal Dom struck—Alessandro’s location delivered on a silver platter, though Dom’s grim expression when he briefed us suggests the price will be steep. Whatever terms he’s agreed to, they can wait. Right now, only Aurora matters.

“Copy.” My voice sounds foreign, stripped raw by rage and fear. Ahead, fluorescent lights flicker through broken windows, painting grotesque shadows across abandoned machinery. Every dark corner could hide Alessandro’s men—or worse, Aurora’s body.

Enzo’s whisper cuts through my comm: “Second level’s rigged. Tripwires on the staircases.”

“Noted.” I scan the catwalks above, remembering how Alessandro always loved the high ground. Even as children, he’d climb to the highest point, looking down on everyone like some fallen angel. “Dom?”

“West entrance covered,” Dominic responds, his voice carrying that deadly calm I know too well. “He’s not getting out this time.”

A woman’s scream pierces the air—Aurora’s voice, twisted with pain. The sound slices through me, and I surge forward before Dominic’s sharp command freezes me.

“Hold position,” he orders. “It could be?—”

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