29

The weight of what we had just uncovered settled over the room like a thick fog. The flash drive in Dante’s hands wasn’t just leverage—it was a weapon. A declaration of war.

Ricci didn’t just own the underground.

He owned the entire city.

Judges, police, politicians—people who were supposed to be untouchable. People who made the rules.

And now, we had proof.

Luca whistled low, scrolling through the endless list of names. “This isn’t just corruption. This is a fucking empire.”

Dante leaned against the desk, his expression unreadable. “And we just stole the blueprint.”

I exhaled, my mind racing. “What do we do with it?”

Dante smirked, slow and deadly. “We burn it all down.”

The next 48 hours were chaos.

Dante had his men running every angle—cross-referencing names, tracing accounts, finding out who was still loyal to Ricci and who was already looking for a way out.

Luca handled the digital side, making sure our enemies didn’t realize what we had stolen until it was too late.

And me?

I had to keep playing my part.

Elena texted me the morning after the heist, completely unaware of what had happened in her home.

Elena: Lunch today? I need to vent.

I hesitated.

Every part of me wanted to say no. To disappear from her life before she got caught in the crossfire.

But I couldn’t.

She was still the key to getting even closer to Ricci.

And if I was going to help destroy him.

I needed to stay close to her.

Me: Of course. See you soon.

The café was quiet when I arrived, the kind of place that served overpriced coffee and had too many people pretending to be important.

Elena waved me over, her sunglasses perched on top of her head, her phone face-down on the table.

She sighed dramatically as I sat down. “You would not believe the week I’ve had.”

I forced a smile. “Tell me.”

She leaned in, lowering her voice. “My father’s been paranoid all morning. He barely spoke to me at breakfast, and his men are running around like the sky is falling.”

My stomach tightened. “Do you know why?”

She huffed, shaking her head. “No idea. But whatever it is, it’s bad. I haven’t seen him like this in years.”

I took a slow sip of my coffee, hiding the satisfaction curling in my chest.

Ricci knew something was wrong.

He just didn’t know how bad it was yet.

Good.

I reached for her hand, squeezing it lightly. “If you need anything, I’m here.”

Elena smiled, relaxing slightly. “That’s why I like you, Liv. You’re the only real person I know.”

The words sent a sharp pang of guilt through me.

Because she was wrong.

I was the biggest liar in her world.

Back at the safe house, Dante was waiting, his arms crossed as I stepped inside.

“She talk?”

I nodded, setting my bag down. “She doesn’t know what happened, but she knows her father is panicking.”

Dante smirked. “Good.”

Luca leaned against the desk. “Ricci will be scrambling, trying to figure out who hit him. But it won’t take long before he starts eliminating threats.”

I frowned. “Meaning?”

Dante exhaled. “Meaning people will start dying.”

My stomach twisted. “So we make the first move?”

Dante’s smirk deepened. “We are the first move.”

The first body dropped the next night.

One of Ricci’s men, found in an alleyway with a bullet between his eyes.

A message.

Not from us.

From him.

Dante stared at the news report, his jaw tight. “He’s cleaning house.”

Luca exhaled. “Trying to figure out who betrayed him.”

I swallowed. “What if he does?”

Dante’s smirk was sharp, lethal. “Then we finish what we started.”

Ricci’s paranoia grew by the day.

More of his men vanished. Some were found dead. Others disappeared without a trace.

And through it all, I kept meeting with Elena, pretending I wasn’t the reason her father’s world was crumbling.

Until one night.

She called me.

Late.

Her voice was shaky, filled with something I hadn’t heard before.

Fear.

“Liv… something’s wrong.”

I sat up in bed, gripping the phone. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered. “My father’s men are everywhere. He won’t let me leave the house. I...”

A muffled voice interrupted her.

Then the line went dead.

My blood turned to ice.

Dante appeared in the doorway, shirtless, his gun still in hand. “What happened?”

I looked up, my pulse racing.

“Elena’s in trouble.”

Dante studied me for a second before nodding. “Then let’s go get her.”

Because if Ricci was closing in.

He had just made his biggest mistake.

He had given us a reason to finish this.

For good.

The moment Elena’s call cut off, something inside me snapped.

I was already on my feet, shoving my arms into my jacket when Dante grabbed my wrist. His grip was firm but not unkind.

“Olivia,” he murmured, his voice edged with warning.

I yanked free. “She’s in danger, Dante.”

His expression darkened. “We don’t know that.”

I clenched my jaw. “You didn’t hear her voice.”

Luca stepped into the room, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, already pulling his gun from the holster. “What’s going on?”

Dante sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Ricci is locking down his house.”

Luca’s brows lifted. “That’s not surprising. He’s getting paranoid.”

I turned to him. “Elena called me. She sounded scared. And then the line went dead.”

Luca frowned, glancing at Dante. “You think Ricci found out about her?”

Dante’s smirk was humorless. “If he has, she’s as good as dead.”

My stomach twisted.

Dante turned to me. “We need a plan.”

I shook my head. “There’s no time.”

Dante exhaled sharply. “If we go in there blind, we get killed. Or worse, we get caught.”

Luca nodded. “He’s right. Ricci will have doubled security. If she’s a hostage, we need to be careful.”

I clenched my fists. “So we do what we do best.”

Dante’s smirk returned. “And what’s that?”

I met his gaze without hesitation. “We burn it all down.”

The plan was reckless. Dangerous. Exactly the kind of thing that could get us killed.

But Dante didn’t hesitate.

He thrived in chaos.

And so did I.

We arrived at the Ricci estate just past midnight, slipping through the outer walls under the cover of darkness. Luca had cut the security feeds, but we knew it wouldn’t last long.

Dante moved beside me, gun drawn, his body tense but controlled. “You get to her, you get out. Leave Ricci to me.”

I nodded, my pulse steady despite the adrenaline surging through me.

This wasn’t about friendship anymore.

This was about survival.

Elena’s.

And mine.

Inside, the house was eerily silent.

Too silent.

Dante’s men moved through the halls like ghosts, taking down guards before they could raise alarms.

Then...

A scream.

My blood went cold.

“Elena.”

I ran before Dante could stop me, my feet barely touching the ground as I followed the sound.

I found her in her father’s office, her hands bound, a man standing over her with a gun pressed to her temple.

Ricci sat behind his desk, swirling a glass of whiskey like this was just another business transaction.

He looked up at me, his smirk slow, amused. “Ah, Olivia. I was wondering when you’d show up.”

I raised my gun, my hands steady. “Let her go.”

Ricci sighed. “You really think you’re in control here?”

Dante’s voice came from behind me. “She’s not. *I* am.”

Ricci’s smirk faltered as Dante stepped into the room, gun aimed directly at his chest.

The man holding Elena tensed, his grip tightening around her.

Dante tilted his head. “You have about three seconds to let her go before I make you regret ever being born.”

Ricci chuckled. “Always so dramatic, Castelli.”

I took a step forward. “She has nothing to do with this.”

Ricci’s gaze flickered to me. “No?” His smirk widened. “Then why did you use her?”

My stomach twisted.

Elena’s breath hitched. “What?”

Ricci leaned back. “Oh, come on. You didn’t really think she was your friend, did you?”

Elena turned to me, her eyes wide, betrayal sinking in. “Liv…”

I swallowed hard. “It’s not like that.”

Ricci laughed. “Isn’t it? Did she tell you she was working for Castelli? That she’s the reason I’m losing everything?”

Elena’s face paled.

I took another step forward. “She doesn’t need to know any of this. Let her go, and you and I finish this ourselves.”

Ricci’s smirk faded.

Dante cocked his gun. “Or I just end you right now.”

Ricci exhaled. “Fine.”

He nodded at the man holding Elena.

The second she was free, I grabbed her, pulling her behind me.

“Elena, we have to go.”

She didn’t move.

Her eyes were locked on me, hurt carved into her expression. “You lied to me.”

My chest tightened. “I had to.”

She shook her head. “You used me.”

Ricci’s smirk returned. “Told you.”

Dante growled. “Shut the fuck up.”

Ricci chuckled. “Or what? You kill me?”

Dante’s smile was slow, deadly. “Exactly.”

The shot rang out before I could even blink.

Ricci’s body slumped against the desk, blood spreading across his shirt.

Dante lowered his gun, his expression unreadable. “Finally.”

Elena sucked in a sharp breath, backing away from me.

Her voice broke. “Who the hell *are* you?”

My stomach twisted. “Elena.”

She shook her head, tears in her eyes. “Stay away from me.”

Then she ran.

And I let her.

Because there was nothing I could say to fix this.

Dante grabbed my wrist, pulling me toward the door. “We have to move.”

I hesitated, glancing back at Ricci’s lifeless body.

We had won.

But it didn’t feel like victory.

It felt like *the end.*