13

The silence after Nicolas hung up felt suffocating.

I stared at the phone in Dante’s hand, my body frozen. My mind screamed at me to move, to react, but I was trapped in the weight of what had just happened.

He knew.

He knew that I knew.

And now, the real hunt was about to begin.

Dante was the first to move. He tossed the phone onto the table, his jaw tight, his entire body coiled like a predator ready to strike.

“He just declared war,” he muttered.

I forced myself to breathe. “And what do we do?”

Dante’s gray eyes locked onto mine. “We end it.”

Dante’s men moved fast. Within an hour, the safe house was reinforced with extra security. Armed guards patrolled the perimeter. Surveillance feeds were monitored in real-time.

I felt trapped.

But I also knew the truth.

If I left, I was as good as dead.

Dante stood near the window, his phone pressed to his ear. His voice was low, sharp, filled with the kind of authority that made people obey without question.

I had never seen him like this.

This wasn’t just the billionaire businessman.

This was the man people feared.

And for the first time, I understood why.

I rubbed my temples. “So what’s the plan?”

Dante ended the call and turned to me. “We cut off Nicolas before he can move.”

I frowned. “You mean.”

“We take him out first.”

A chill ran down my spine. “You’re talking about killing him.”

Dante’s jaw flexed. “Do you think he’s giving you the same courtesy?”

I clenched my fists. “I just—I need a second to process this.”

Dante exhaled sharply, then stepped toward me. “I need you to understand something, Olivia. This is the only way.”

My heart pounded. “There’s always another way.”

His gaze darkened. “Not in my world.”

Hours passed in tense silence.

I tried to think. Tried to figure out if there was a way out of this that didn’t involve bloodshed.

But deep down, I knew...

There wasn’t.

Then my phone buzzed.

A message.

Unknown Number: Meet me. One hour. No Dante.

My stomach dropped.

It had to be Nicolas.

I looked up, my heart racing. Dante was still distracted, talking to his men, issuing orders.

I had a choice.

I could stay.

Or I could go find my own answers.

I inhaled sharply.

And then I made my decision.

The location was a private marina just outside the city. Isolated. Dangerous.

Which meant I was probably walking into a death sentence.

I had taken one of Dante’s cars without his men noticing. I had left my phone behind.

I needed to do this alone.

Or at least, I thought I did.

But when I arrived, I wasn’t the only one who had decided to play dirty.

Because Dante was already there.

And he was waiting for me.

I barely had time to react before Dante grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the shadows, his grip tight, unyielding.

“What the hell are you doing?” he hissed.

I struggled, but his grip didn’t loosen. “I could ask you the same thing.”

His jaw clenched. “You really thought you could sneak out without me knowing?”

I exhaled sharply. “I had to do this, Dante.”

“No,” he growled. “What you had to do was trust me.”

I swallowed hard. “I can’t just sit around and let you decide how this ends.”

His eyes burned into mine. “You think you’re in control here?”

Before I could respond, a voice cut through the darkness.

“Ah, there she is.”

I froze.

Nicolas stepped forward, flanked by two men.

He looked just as I remembered—calm, composed, like he hadn’t just spent the past few weeks trying to have me killed.

Like he wasn’t a man who had betrayed my father.

Like he wasn’t a monster.

Dante shifted, subtly positioning himself between me and Nicolas. “You’ve made a mistake coming here.”

Nicolas smirked. “You say that like you have the upper hand, Castelli.”

Dante’s fingers twitched at his side. “I do.”

Nicolas chuckled. “You always were arrogant.”

Then his gaze slid to me. “And you, Olivia… I have to admit, I’m impressed. I thought you’d be dead by now.”

A surge of rage ripped through me. “Go to hell.”

His smirk widened. “You first.”

And then...

The first gunshot rang out.

Dante moved fast, pulling me down just as bullets whizzed past.

Chaos erupted.

Dante’s men emerged from the shadows, returning fire. Nicolas’s men scrambled for cover.

The air filled with the scent of gunpowder and the sharp echoes of violence.

I barely had time to think.

Then I saw him.

Nicolas.

He was slipping away, retreating toward the docks.

Coward.

I pushed to my feet before I could stop myself.

“Olivia!” Dante shouted, but I ignored him.

I ran after Nicolas.

I caught up to him near the edge of the pier.

He turned, his expression unreadable. “Brave. But stupid.”

I was out of breath, my hands shaking. “Why?”

He sighed. “You already know why.”

I clenched my fists. “I want to hear you say it.”

His gaze darkened. “Because I did what your father couldn’t. I survived.”

The words hit like a slap.

“You ruined everything,” I whispered.

Nicolas exhaled. “No, Olivia. I built something better.”

I shook my head. “No. You destroyed lives. You killed Ferrara. You tried to kill me.”

His lips curled slightly. “And yet, here we are.”

I reached for the gun Dante had given me earlier. My fingers trembled.

Could I do it?

Could I pull the trigger?

Nicolas watched me carefully. “You’re not a killer, Olivia.”

My grip tightened.

“You don’t have to do this,” he murmured. “Walk away. Go back to your life. You don’t belong in this world.”

I swallowed hard.

Maybe he was right.

Maybe I wasn’t a killer.

But Dante was.

And in the next second, a gunshot echoed through the night.

But it wasn’t mine.

Nicolas’s body jerked.

A single hole between his eyes.

I turned, my heart racing.

Dante stood a few feet away, lowering his gun.

His gaze met mine.

“No loose ends,” he said simply.

And just like that.

It was over.