Page 52 of Luciano

I wanted to fucking strangle her.

No matter how fast I was, no matter how many times I told her to stay put, to be careful, to just once listen—she never did.

She never fucking would.

I couldn’t abide by it anymore.

Not the recklessness. Not the arrogance. Not the way she played these games, knowing damn well the stakes weren’t just hers to bear.

At some point, she had to learn.

At some point, she had to understand that if she kept testing my limits, one day, she’d cross a line she couldn’t come back from.

We were going to have a talk.

A real one.

Not a fight. Not a warning. Not a growled"Aria, what the fuck were you thinking?"before she kissed me and laughed it off and I let her.

No.

This time, she was going to sit the fuck down and listen.

Chapter 24

Luciano

The warehouse’s fluorescent lights flickered like dying stars over Matteo’s broken form. He sat before me, a ruined man, his breathing wet and labored. Blood dripped from his split eyebrow onto the concrete—each drop a ticking clock counting down his final moments.

I adjusted my cufflinks, the silver catching the dim light.

“There’s a saying, Matteo. ‘A man who doesn’t understand the rules of the world he lives in won’t live long enough to break them twice.’”

My polished Oxfords clicked against the floor. “I thought you understood that much, at least.”

Matteo spat a glob of blood and phlegm near my shoe. A final act of defiance, I guess.

He wasn’t going to beg. That, at least, I respected.

Aria shifted impatiently, her manicured fingers tapping against her thigh. Saint stood statue-still beside me, his expression unreadable—but I knew he was angry beyond reason. Ava stood behind me, half-hidden. The sight of her face—bruised and battered—made my jaw tense.

But my focus stayed on Matteo.

“I didn’t think you had it in you to cross me,” I admitted. “I knew you were vengeful over your son. But I credited you with sufficient wisdom to comprehend the delicate equilibrium that keeps our world from descending into chaos. The order. The rules that keep men like us from turning into fucking animals.”

My voice rose.

“Wives are off-limits. Children are off-limits. Or at least they should be.” I shouted.

Ava jumped, taking a step back.

That angered me.

This was Matteo’s fault. He should’ve come for me—not her.

Matteo let out a wheezing breath, his chest heaving. “He was my only son.”

“Your son’s death brought me no pleasure.” I crouched, bringing us eye to eye. “But he knew the rules. He made a choice, and that choice got him killed. It’s your fault, really. One doesn’t introduce a lamb to wolves, then feign surprise at the carnage.”

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