Chapter 20 Chapter 20
Luciano POV
His life left his body, and he dropped to the ground.
The room fell silent for a single second, then Matteo’s screams shattered it. He thrashed wildly, pulling against the ropes that bound him, his voice cracking as he shouted his son’s name over and over again. Desperation filled the air, thick and suffocating.
I turned slowly to face him,and then I laughed.
The sound burst out of me, loud and unrestrained. I couldn’t stop it. My gaze moved lazily from the lifeless body on the floor back to Matteo’s broken face. His pain was raw, real, and uncontrollable.
“Tsk… tsk,” I whispered. “What a pity he had to end this way.”
Matteo’s head snapped up, his eyes burning with hatred. His grief twisted into rage, sharp and ugly.
“You are a monster,” he growled. “This is why your father never wanted you. You were never worth loving.”
His words cut deep, but he wasn’t finished.
“Of course,” he continued bitterly, “you’re the product of a woman who spread her legs for anyone who looked at her.”
The room went still,For a moment, I didn’t move.
Then something inside me snapped.
I knew exactly what he was doing. He wanted to provoke me. He wanted to hurt me with words when his body could no longer fight back. And he succeeded.
No one spoke about my mother.
No one.
I felt the anger rise fast and hot, burning through my chest and into my veins. My hands clenched at my sides as memories I had buried long ago tried to surface. I didn’t allow them the chance.
Without hesitation, I reached for my pistol.
Matteo froze when he saw it, his eyes widening in sudden fear. His mouth opened, but no words came out this time.
“Wrong choice,” I said coldly,I raised the gun and pointed it directly at him.
Pak. Pak.
His body went still, his head dropping forward as life left him just as it had left his son. The screaming stopped. The insults ended. The room finally fell silent.
I stood there for a moment, breathing steadily.
Then something unexpected washed over me,relief.
A deep, dark sense of satisfaction filled my chest. The anger faded, replaced by calm. Justice, in my world, had been served.
I lowered the gun and turned toward the bodyguards standing near the door. Their expressions were blank, their loyalty unquestioned.
“Clean this mess up,” I ordered. “Leave no traces.”
They nodded immediately, already moving into action.
I didn’t look back,as I walked toward the exit, my footsteps slow and controlled, Damien fell into step behind me. He didn’t speak. He never did when words weren’t needed.
The door closed behind us, sealing away the blood, the screams, and the past.
Some people call me a monster.
Let them.
In this world, monsters survive.
“Boss, we’ve gotten the information we needed,” Damien said.
I stopped in my tracks instantly and turned toward him. The hallway seemed to narrow, the air growing heavier. I didn’t say a word. I simply stared at him, waiting.
Seconds passed.
Too many seconds.“Speak, Damien,” I gritted out. “I don’t have all the time in the world.”
My patience was thinning fast, stretched tight like a wire about to snap.
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a brown envelope. He walked closer and handed it to me carefully, as if the contents might explode in my hands.
“Everything you need is in there,” he said quietly. “But we should act fast. Valeria has plans to leave the country very soon.”
The words hit me like a bullet.
For a moment, everything stopped.
The noise around me faded. My breath caught in my chest. I stared at him, unsure if I had heard correctly. Then my eyes dropped to the brown envelope in my hand, before lifting back to his face.
Leave the country.
My fingers tightened around the envelope.
Without saying a single word, I turned and walked past him.
My steps were steady, but my mind was not. Thoughts crashed into each other, loud and relentless. I couldn’t stop them no matter how hard I tried.
She was leaving,running.
Trying to disappear from my world.
I told myself I couldn’t stand the sight of her. I told myself she was nothing but trouble, a thorn in my side, a constant challenge. And maybe that was true. But no matter how much I tried to deny it, I couldn’t let her go.
She was the reason I pushed through life when everything else felt empty.
She was the reason my blood still burned.
Every time I saw her face, something inside me came alive,something dangerous, something wild. I hated it. I craved it. I couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.
People would call it obsession,I didn’t care what they called it,All I knew was this,Valeria belonged in my world.
The more she tried to run from me, the more desperate I became to keep her close. Her resistance only fed the fire inside me. It twisted something deep in my chest, turning desire into need.
I stopped walking and clenched my jaw.
She thought distance would save her.
She was wrong.
I would not let her leave. Not now. Not ever. I didn’t care what it cost. I didn’t care who stood in my way. Anyone who tried to take her from me,anyone who helped her escape,would burn for it.
Slowly, I opened the envelope,photos, documents, names, dates.
Every detail of her plan laid out in black and white. My lips curled into a dark smile as anger settled into something colder, something sharper.
She had been planning this for a while.
Behind my back, my grip tightened until the paper crumpled slightly.
I felt the familiar calm that came before the storm. This wasn’t panic anymore. This was the focus. Control. Purpose.
I folded the envelope and slid it back under my arm.
No one leaves me, I turned and headed back down the hallway, my steps firm, my decision made. Damien looked up when he saw my expression. He didn’t ask questions. He already knew.
“Prepare everything,” I said coldly as I passed him. “We move now.”Because Valeria could run, But she would never escape me.