Chapter 20: Rage and Ruin

I watched her walk away, every fiber of my being screaming at me to follow. But Don Carmine had his hand on my shoulder, pulling me into a conversation about shipping routes and territorial agreements. Business that couldn't wait, apparently.

Except it could. It all could. Because nothing mattered more than—

I shook my head, trying to clear it. What was wrong with me? Lily was just an employee. A beautiful, infuriating, too-curious-for-her-own-good employee, but still just an employee.

Who was I kidding?

"Scusami, Don Carmine," I said, extracting myself from the conversation. "I need to check on something."

The old man's eyes twinkled knowingly. "La ragazza, sì? Go. Some things are more important than business."

I moved through the crowd, scanning for that emerald green dress. She'd probably gone to the bathroom, or maybe outside for air. Claire's words had been cruel, designed to hurt. I should have shut her down sooner, harder.

Five minutes passed. Then ten.

A cold knot formed in my stomach.

I checked the bathrooms—had Braille ask the women inside. Nothing. The balcony, the garden, the lobby. Nothing.

"Bentham," I said into my phone, my voice tight. "Have you seen Lily leave?"

"No, sir. I've been at the front entrance the entire time. No one matching her description has left."

The knot in my stomach turned to ice.

I found Matteo, my head of security, by the bar. "Lily's missing."

His expression immediately sharpened. "How long?"

"Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes."

"Cazzo," he swore. "The security feeds?"

"Check them. Now."

While Matteo pulled up the hotel's security system on his tablet—we'd made sure we had access before the event—I continued searching, my movements becoming more frantic. People were starting to notice, whispers following in my wake.

I didn't care.

"Dante." Matteo's voice was grim as he caught up with me. "Service corridor, east wing. She went in with two men. Fifteen minutes ago. They haven't come out."

My vision went red. "Who?"

"Unknown. But look at this." He showed me the footage. Two men, built like soldiers, faces I didn't recognize. But the way they moved, the way they positioned themselves—these were professionals.

Someone had taken her. Someone had taken my Lily.

"Lock down the hotel," I ordered, my voice deadly calm. "No one leaves until I find out who—"

"Dante." Matteo's hand on my arm stopped me. "We can't. Too many important people here. It would cause a scene. Questions."

He was right. A scene would mean police, investigations, attention we couldn't afford. But I didn't care about that right now.

"I don't give a damn about—"

My phone rang. Unknown number.

I answered it immediately. "Where is she?"

A laugh on the other end, cold and familiar. A voice I hadn't heard in years but would never forget.

"Dante Moretti. So quick to assume. But then again, you always were perceptive." The voice spoke in Italian, smooth and mocking. "Your little accountant is quite pretty. Such a shame she got caught in the middle of our... disagreement."

"Salvatore." I spat the name like poison. Salvatore Russo. A name from my past, from the part of my life I'd tried to leave behind.

"Ah, so you do remember me! I'm touched. After all, it's been what—five years since you killed my brother?"

"Your brother was a traitor and a coward," I said coldly. "He got what he deserved."

"Perhaps. But you know how family is, Dante. Blood for blood. The old ways. Your father would have understood."

My jaw clenched. "What do you want?"

"Face to face. You and me. We settle this the old way. If you win, you get your little dove back. If I win... well, let's just say you won't have to worry about her anymore."

"Where?"

"The old warehouse district. Pier 47. You know the one—where we used to run shipments through. One hour. Come alone, Dante. And I mean alone. I see any of your men, and I put a bullet in her head before you can blink."

The line went dead.

I stood there, phone in hand, rage coursing through my veins like fire. Salvatore Russo. I should have killed him when I had the chance, should have wiped out the entire family line. But I'd been merciful, had let him flee to Sicily with his tail between his legs.

Mercy. Always a mistake in this world.

"Matteo," I said, my voice eerily calm. "Get the car. Pier 47."

"Sir, you can't go alone—"

"I'm not asking, Matteo. Get. The. Car."

He hesitated, then nodded. "I'll have men positioned around the perimeter. Out of sight, but close enough if—"

"No. He'll be watching for that. This has to be just me."

"Dante, that's suicide."

"Then I die." I looked at him, and whatever he saw in my eyes made him step back. "I'm not letting him kill her because of me. She's innocent in all of this."

"You care about her." It wasn't a question.

"That's irrelevant," I said, but we both knew it was a lie.

I cared about her more than I'd cared about anyone in years. Maybe ever. And now she was going to pay the price for my past sins.

\---

The warehouse district was exactly as I remembered it—abandoned, decrepit, the smell of salt water and rust heavy in the air. Pier 47 loomed ahead, a skeletal structure of metal and concrete.

I parked the car and got out, checking the gun at my waist. Just one. If Salvatore was smart, he'd have a dozen men in there. But this wasn't about smart. This was about honor. About settling old debts.

The warehouse door was open, light spilling out into the darkness.

I walked in.

The space was vast and empty except for the figures in the center. Salvatore stood there, older now, grey streaking through his dark hair, but still with those cold, calculating eyes. Around him were at least eight men, all armed.

And tied to a chair in the middle, mouth gagged, was Lily.

Our eyes met across the distance. Hers were wide with fear, mascara streaked down her cheeks, but there was something else there too—anger. Even terrified, even bound and helpless, she was furious. God, she was magnificent.

"Dante!" Salvatore spread his arms wide. "You came. I'll admit, I wasn't entirely sure you would. After all, she's just some girl, no? Not worth dying for."

"Let her go, Salvatore. This is between you and me."

"Oh, but that's where you're wrong." He walked over to Lily, trailing his fingers along her shoulder. She flinched, and I saw red. "You see, when you killed my brother, you didn't just take his life. You took everything from me. My family's honor, my father's respect, my position. Everything."

"Your brother was selling us out to the Bratva. He was a traitor."

"He was my blood!" Salvatore roared, his composure cracking. "And you executed him like a dog in the street!"

"He deserved worse."

Salvatore's hand moved to Lily's hair, grabbing it roughly. She let out a muffled cry, and I took a step forward.

Immediately, eight guns were pointed at me.

"Ah, ah, ah," Salvatore warned. "Not yet. First, we talk. Then maybe you die."

"What do you want?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"I want you to suffer like I suffered. I want you to lose something precious. I want you to feel what it's like to be powerless." He pulled out a knife, pressing it against Lily's throat. "So here's how this works. You let my men beat you—don't fight back, don't resist—and maybe, maybe, I let her live."

"Don't do it!" Lily tried to shout through the gag, her eyes pleading.

But I was already unbuttoning my jacket, dropping it to the floor. Then my gun.

"Dante, no," Salvatore laughed. "You're actually going to do it. For some girl you barely know? My sources tell me she's only been working for you for what, a few weeks? And you're willing to die for her?"

"Just let her go," I said quietly. "She has nothing to do with this."

"But that's where you're wrong. She has everything to do with this. Because the great Dante Moretti, the man who showed no mercy, who built an empire on blood and fear—he has a weakness now. And her name is Lily."

He was right. And I didn't care.

"Do it," I said to his men. "But let her go first."

"No. She watches. I want her to see what kind of man you really are. What kind of monster she's been sleeping under the same roof with."

"I haven't—" Lily tried to protest, but Salvatore backhanded her.

That was it.

I charged forward, but his men were ready. The first punch caught me in the stomach, driving the air from my lungs. The second hit my jaw, snapping my head back. I could have fought back—I'd been trained by the best, had survived worse odds—but every time I raised my hands to defend myself, I saw Lily's terrified eyes, saw that knife at her throat.

So I let them hit me.

Again and again.

Fists, boots, the cold concrete of the floor as I fell. Blood in my mouth, pain radiating through my ribs. One of them broke, I was sure. Maybe two.

But I didn't fight back.

"Stop! Please, stop!" Lily was screaming through the gag, tears streaming down her face.

"You see?" Salvatore crouched next to me as I lay bleeding on the floor. "This is the man you worked for. A killer. A monster. He's destroyed families, ended lives. And now he's being destroyed for you. How does that feel?"

I coughed, blood spattering on the concrete. "Salvatore," I managed. "Let. Her. Go."

"Why? So she can run back and report all of this? So she can tell the authorities? I don't think so."

Through my swelling eyes, I saw him walk back to Lily, saw him raise the knife.

"No!" I tried to get up, but my body wouldn't cooperate.

"Say goodbye, Dante. Goodbye to your weakness. Your redemption. Your—"

A gunshot cracked through the air.

Salvatore stumbled, a red bloom spreading across his shoulder. His men whirled around, and suddenly the warehouse erupted in chaos.

Matteo burst through a side door with a team of my men, guns blazing. I'd told him to stay back, but of course he hadn't listened. Loyal to a fault.

In the confusion, I dragged myself toward Lily. My vision was blurring, my body screaming in protest, but I had to reach her.

"Lily," I gasped, my hands fumbling with the ropes binding her. "Lily, are you—"

She was crying, shaking, but she was alive. That was all that mattered.

I got her hands free, and she immediately tore the gag from her mouth. "You idiot! You complete and utter idiot! You could have been killed!"

"But you're alive," I managed, cupping her face with a bloody hand. "That's all that matters."

"Dante, you're—oh God, you're bleeding so much—"

My vision was darkening around the edges. "Lily, I need to—I need to tell you—"

"Save your strength," she sobbed. "Help is coming. Matteo called for backup. You're going to be fine."

I wanted to tell her that I'd do it again. That I'd take a thousand beatings if it meant keeping her safe. That somewhere in the past few weeks, she'd become more important than my empire, my reputation, my life.

But the darkness was closing in, and all I could manage was her name.

"Lily..."

Then nothing.