Chapter 184 The Final Moment

Chapter 184 The Final Moment

The doors blew open.

Gunfire tore through the warehouse as Dante, Matteo, and their men stormed in with ruthless precision.

Bullets slammed into walls, crates exploded, screams filled the air.

De Luca’s men fell one after the other, some dropping before they could even raise their weapons.

“Down!” Matteo barked.

When the smoke thinned, the room froze into a nightmare.

De Luca stood near the far end, a gun shaking in his hand, his eyes wild and desperate.

Sofia lay on the concrete floor, her wrists were bound, face swollen and bruised, blood staining her lip.

She barely lifted her head when she heard Dante’s voice, her breath hitching.

Luca's arm was locked around Isabella, dragging her tight against his chest.

The barrel of his gun was pressed firmly to her head.

Dante stopped dead.

“Luca,” Dante called him slowly, his gun pointed straight at Luca. “Let her go.”

Luca laughed, the sound cracked. “Look at you,” he sneered. “The mighty Dante Marino. All this firepower… and you still can’t pull the trigger.”

Isabella’s knees trembled, but she didn’t cry out. Her eyes met Dante’s across the room.

She shook her head slightly, a silent plea.

Dante whispered heavily with pain. “This wasn’t supposed to end like this—”

“Shut up!” Luca roared, shoving Isabella forward so the gun bit harder into her skin. “One step closer and she’s dead!”

Matteo moved instinctively, but Dante lifted a hand, stopping him without looking away.

“Luca,” Dante said, his voice breaking through clenched teeth, “this ends now. You’ve already lost.”

Luca’s eyes flickered with something dark and wounded. “No,” he whispered. “I lost the moment I was born in your shadow.”

“You!” Dante growled, his voice shaking with contained rage. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done De Luca? Do you even comprehend the lives you’ve ruined, the blood you’ve spilled, the families you’ve destroyed?”

De Luca’s face went pale, but he smirked.

“I should have killed you the first time I saw you.” Dante continued, stepping closer. “Do you think hiding behind men, money, and guns can protect you from me? From justice?”

De Luca tried to speak, but Dante cut him off sharply. “No! You will answer every question and when I’m done with you, De Luca… no one, not your allies, not your money, not even Luca will save you from what’s coming!”

“Now, you.” Dante's eyes locked onto his brother’s.

“Luca,” Dante’s voice was sharp. “Explain to me… why? Why betray your own blood? Why betray me, our family, everything we built?”

Luca snorted out bitterly, the gun in his hand trembling slightly. “You don’t understand, Dante… you’ll never understand!” he shot back, his voice rising.

“I don’t understand?” Dante echoed angrily. “I’ve protected you, I’ve shielded you from everything, and all this time… you were feeding information, plotting behind my back, killing people close to us, including… including Lucia?” His voice cracked, disbelief and rage intertwining.

Luca’s face went pale, his mouth opening and closing, trying to justify himself. “It wasn’t supposed to go this far! I didn’t—”

“You didn’t what?!” Dante’s tone thundered. “You didn’t think your betrayal would hurt me? That it would destroy everything? My trust? My city? My happiness? My cousin is dead because of you! My blood, Luca! Our blood!”

Luca’s hands tightened around his gun, but he didn’t fire. “I did what I had to do… I had to survive, Dante. To secure my power. I wanted my empire and De Luca—”

“An empire?” Dante’s laugh was cold and bitter. “An empire built on lies, murder, and betrayal? Is that what you call survival? You killed your own sister—our cousin—for power? And you call it survival?”

“I… I had no choice! You don’t know what it’s like!” Luca’s voice cracked, desperation creeping in.

Dante’s eyes narrowed, his finger brushing the trigger but not pulling it yet. “You had a choice every time, Luca. Every single time you looked at me, at our family, at Lucia… you chose this path. Tell me, Luca… what exactly was so important that my blood meant nothing to you?”

Luca swallowed hard, the weight of guilt finally beginning to sink in. “I… I thought I could control it. I thought I could, I thought I was doing it for both of us at first but, I don't know.”

“For us?!” Dante’s voice shattered like glass, raw and unrestrained. “You call this ‘for us’? Betraying me, betraying your own blood, siding with De Luca, killing Lucia? You’re a monster, Luca. A psychopath! And the worst part… the absolute worst part… is that you are my brother. My blood. And I loved you and will still love you.”

Luca’s eyes were filled with conflicting emotions.

“You chose De Luca over your own family. Over me. Over everything that mattered!”

For a moment, silence hung between them.

Dante’s voice softened. “I don’t know if I can ever forgive you… but I promise this: you will pay for every life you’ve destroyed, every lie you’ve told, every drop of blood spilled by your hand. Starting with me holding you accountable… starting now.”

“I don't need your forgiveness, you can go to hell with it.” Luca regained his composure.

Matteo’s fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white, the sound of his teeth grinding almost audible over the chaos in the warehouse.

His eyes flicked from Luca, who stood frozen under Dante’s piercing gaze, to Sofia slumped on the floor, bruised and trembling.

He shifted slightly behind a stack of crates.

Every second that passed without action made his blood boil more. “Dante’s handling Luca… but what about Sofia? She’s still at risk. I can’t just wait.”

He caught a slight twitch in Luca’s shoulder, a hesitation, and immediately considered his options.

Matteo needed to create a distraction, pull Luca’s attention away.

But even as his mind raced, Matteo’s gaze kept flicking to Dante, who was practically
One wrong move, and it wouldn’t just be Luca, they could all be caught in the crossfire.

Matteo’s heart pounded. I’ll find a way. I have to.