Page 107 of Revenge & Ruin

My heart is pounding so hard it hurts. I stagger forward, barely aware of my own movement, my feet carrying me toward the building, my mind screaming that I have to get to him and pull him out.

But the flames only grow fiercer, a searing barrier of heat pushing me back, taunting me with the finality of what’s happening.

“No—Teo!” His name rips out of me, raw and broken, swallowed up by the roar of the fire.

I try to move forward again, but an arm catches me around the waist once again, dragging me back. Leon. Always there to catch me.

His face is tight, his grip like iron as he holds me back. I twist, fighting, clawing against him, desperate to get to the burning shell of the house. I barely recognize the sound that comes out of me. It’s a guttural, agonized cry.

“Isabella, stop! It’s too late!” Leon’s voice cuts through the haze, sharp and pained. “You can’t go in there—it’s over!”

I twist harder, rage and grief blurring my vision, making me wild, out of control.

“Let go of me!” I scream, my voice breaking. “He’s in there! He’s in there, and he’s… he’s…” I can’t even say the words.

The reality feels like glass in my throat, cutting every time I try to breathe.

He’s gone.

The realization slams into me with the force of a blow. My legs go weak, and I would collapse if it weren’t for Leon holdingme up. I sink against him, sobs choking me, as Leon’s grip tightens, but it’s as if I’m barely aware of him anymore.

“You loved him,” he murmurs, his voice softer, something between anger and grief.

His words sink in, but they barely register. I close my eyes, my chest heaving as the truth tumbles out, spilling past the grief, past the pain.

“Yes,” I whisper. “Yes, I loved him. I love him.”

The words, never spoken aloud, tremble with that terrible truth. They hang in the air, heavy and final.

I love him.

And now he’s gone.

And then.

There’s a scream.

Cassandra, who was curled up on the ground, is now being dragged backward by her hair.

My mother’s claw-like fingers curl through the dark strands of Cas’ hair as she stands over her. With one swift movement, she brings a knife to the pregnant woman’s neck. “Get up, whore.”

I watch in terror as Cas wordlessly complies.

“Let her go,” the plea erupts from my mouth without thought.

But Ida Natali isn’t looking at me. She’s looking at my brother.

“You always wanted to know what it would take to win my approval. Let me teach you now so that you can become the leader I know you to be.”

Leon’s arms go rigid around me. “What?”

“Your sister has brutally disappointed me,” she says. “But none of our plans need to change. Vitale is dead. Moretti is dead. All that remains is this whore and her unborn child.”

I can feel Leon’s heartbeat begin to elevate.

“All you need to do is kill her. Then all of this, the war, the Guild, will be over. You will become the new don of the Italian Mafia. There’s no one left to stand in your way.”

It’s all he ever wanted. I know it is.

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