Chapter 199: I had never been more afraid in my life.
Chapter 199: I had never been more afraid in my life.
Aurora
My gaze ping-ponged between them, disbelief clawing at me. “You—” my voice seized. Raffaele and Dario? Working together? How was that even…
It made no sense at all. Raffaele had been Emily’s best friend for over two years, practically part of our circle. I’d trusted him. We all had.
Dario came closer, and I flinched instinctively, my body rigid. “Did you really think you could get rid of me?” he murmured, the words dripping with venom. His fingers trailed along my arm, and I froze, too stunned to even protest.
“I met Raffaele the other day,” he continued, “and he offered to help me get custody of you.”
My head snapped toward Raffaele, my brows knitting so tightly it almost hurt. His expression remained infuriatingly calm.
“I know, it’s a shocker,” Dario said with mock sympathy. “But I guess I wasn’t the only one bitter about your relationship with Leonardo… or any other man for that matter.”
His hand came up, rough and possessive, gripping my chin and forcing my gaze to his. He leaned in until our faces were inches apart, his breath hot against my skin. “This time,” he whispered, “things are going to go the way we planned. And listen to me when I say this—”
He tightened his hold until it almost hurt. “You’re never going to marry Leonardo.”
He dipped his head, aiming for the hollow of my neck and—
A deafening gunshot ripped through the room.
I flinched violently, a chill racing down my spine, my ears ringing from the sudden explosion of sound. Two more shots followed, sharp and merciless.
Dario staggered back, eyes wide in shock, clutching at his side.
My head jerked toward the source—Raffaele, his arm steady, the gun smoking in his hand.
“Raf—” My voice broke, the word collapsing under the weight of my confusion and terror.
Dario gasped, disbelief etched across his features.
Raffaele fired again, twice, deliberately avoiding anything fatal. His voice was a low, venomous drawl. “You’re getting a little too close to my property. You’re not allowed to touch her—she’s off limits.”
Something inside me cracked.
That voice… that look… it wasn’t the Raffaele I knew. His eyes were dark, soulless, terrifying.
Dario stumbled, wheezing. “What the hell…?”
“That’s enough from you.” Raffaele’s tone sharpened like a blade. “Seems I don’t even need you anymore.”
Two final shots rang out and this time Raffaele went for his head. And then, Dario crumpled to the ground, lifeless, blood pooling beneath him.
I sat frozen, paralyzed by sheer horror, my breath sawing in and out.
Slowly, Raffaele turned to me.
A smile spread across his face—warm and gentle in shape, but chilling all the same.
He stepped closer, crouching in front of me. A trembling strand of hair had fallen across my face; he tucked it carefully behind my ear, his fingers grazing my skin.
“Now…” his voice dropped to a low murmur, “where were we?”
Terror clawed up my throat, choking me, my body locking up as his dark gaze held mine.
I had never been more afraid in my life.
\~~~~~~~~
Leonardo
The glow of my monitor cast long shadows across the office, the rhythmic tapping of my fingers against the keyboard the only sound breaking the quiet. Stacks of files lay open in front of me, every page inked with contracts, financial reports, and building proposals. Numbers scrolled endlessly across the screen, and I lost myself in them—projected costs, deadlines, shipment delays. Work always had a way of absorbing me, of dulling the ever-present edge of unease that came with my life.
A murmur of hurried voices broke through the quiet, sharp enough to pull me out of my focus. I straightened, listening and the voices grew louder, more frantic, and before I could ask what was happening, the door burst open.
Three familiar figures stumbled inside—Emily, Lucia, and Eleanora—all wide-eyed, pale, and visibly shaken. Aurora wasn't with them.
The irritation that began to rise at their unannounced intrusion evaporated instantly. Cold dread replaced it.
I rose to my feet, the chair scraping back against the polished floor. “Wha…what’s wrong? Where's Aurora?”
Emily's lips trembled around her words. “We... we went shopping for her wedding dress, as you already know,” she said, voice shaking, “and she said she wanted to use the bathroom. We were waiting for her, but she was taking so long, so we went to check... and she wasn't there. All we found was her phone, and we searched everywhere, but it—”
“What do you mean you searched everywhere?” I cut her off, my voice rising sharper than intended. “Where is Aurora?”
Emily's eyes flicked helplessly to Eleanora and Lucia. They shook their heads, just as stricken.
“We didn't know what else to do,” Lucia said hoarsely. “We came straight here instead of calling—”
“Oh, fuck,” I muttered, the words bitter on my tongue. “It's Dario.”
I didn't wait for their reactions. My heart pounded with a single, consuming thought as I strode out, barking for Salvatore. “Handle things here. I'm going to find her.”
Moments later, I was in my car, dialing my men stationed at the estate. “Aurora's been taken,” I snapped, forcing the words out steadily despite the tremor in my chest. “Dario got to her. Spread out. I want every exit, every camera, every contact monitored—now.”
A grim reminder flickered through my mind—my paranoia had made me insist Aurora wear the new necklace l'd given her, the one with the tracker hidden in the clasp. Thank God.
“Track the signal,” I ordered Salvatore the moment he picked up. Within minutes, a location pinged onto my phone: an abandoned warehouse on the far side of the city.
The drive felt endless, every red light an insult, every second wasted a knife twisting in my gut. When we finally arrived, the building loomed silent and empty, its broken windows gaping like hollow eyes.
We moved quietly, my men fanning out, each step echoing unnaturally in the vast, deserted space. The first body we found was on the second floor-bound to a chair, a bag still covering the head. Bruises and blood marred the visible skin. My heart seized until I yanked the bag away.
Not Aurora.