Chapter 200:  Raffaele!

Chapter 200:  Raffaele!
Leonardo

She was about the same height, the same build, her red hair matted and darkened with blood. Relief hit me hard, followed swiftly by horror.

“Damn it,” I hissed under my breath, my jaw clenching.

We pressed on, each floor revealing more horrors—silent, broken bodies slumped against walls, the unmistakable stench of death clinging to the air. I didn't let myself linger. Aurora was here somewhere. She had to be.

At last, I climbed to the top floor. The metallic tang of blood was stronger here.

And then I saw her.

Aurora—tied to a chair, wrists bound tight, a gun pressed to her temple. Standing beside her was a man, his stance casual, confident, like he had all the time in the world.

As we drew closer, his head lifted. “Oh, there you are,” he said almost lazily, swinging the gun to press harder against Aurora's skin.

I raised my hand in a sharp signal; my men lowered their weapons instantly. My own gun remained trained on him.

The man stepped closer into the light, and my stomach turned cold.

Wasn’t that Raffaele? Emily’s boyfriend? I blinked certain for a split second that I was mistaken—but no. It was him.

My gaze flicked briefly to the crumpled form on the ground just feet away. Long, dark hair spilled across the concrete floor, the familiar build instantly recognizable.

Dario.

Dead.

My mind reeled. Did Raffaele kill him? Why? Too many questions clawed at me, but none of them mattered as long as Aurora had a gun pressed to her head.

“I was thinking,” Raffaele said conversationally, his thumb stroking Aurora's cheek almost mockingly,

“that I might have to make a little video to send to you. Just so you'd know your precious fiancée was still breathing.”

I leveled my gun at him, every muscle locked tight.

“Careful,” he murmured, digging the barrel into Aurora's skin. She winced, the soft sound slicing straight through me. “You wouldn't want me to pull the trigger, would you?”

A slow, boiling rage uncoiled in my chest, scorching through my veins. Every instinct screamed at me to pull the trigger, to put a bullet between his eyes—but I forced the fury down, locking it beneath sheer willpower. One wrong move, one slip, and she'd die before I could reach her.

I swallowed the fury, my knuckles white around the grip of my gun. Stay calm. Think. Don’t be hasty. You just need to find a way to get her out here.

No trouble at all.

Aurora

I don't know how Leonardo always finds me whenever I'm kidnapped. It's like he's got some sixth sense, or maybe he really is a god who knows where I am at all times. I'll figure that out later... if we both make it out of this alive.

Right now, all I can see is him—standing just a few feet away, gun raised, aimed straight at Raffaele. And behind me, I can feel the cold steel of Raffaele's gun pressed to my temple, biting into my skin every time l move even an inch.

My heart is slamming so hard against my ribs that I can barely hear Leonardo when he speaks, his voice low, steady, deadly. “What do you want?”

A low chuckle rumbles behind me, far too close to my ear. “Isn’t it obvious? I want your wife... oh wait,” Raffaele corrects himself with a cruel smile I can feel without even seeing it, “she's not your wife yet. I want your fiancée.”

“Not gonna happen.” Leonardo's voice doesn't waver, but I can feel the tension in the air crackling like a live wire.

“Oh, it is going to happen,” Raffaele says, his breath fanning hot against my cheek. “Because she was mine first. Before you even came into her life, she was mine.”

A shiver races down my spine. Mine?

Raffaele keeps going, his tone turning almost dreamy. “I've always been there, you know. When Emily became my friend and mentioned she was best friends with the infamous Aurora De Luca—daughter of Marcello De Luca—I knew I had to meet you. And when I did…” His fingers dig into my shoulder as he leans in. “When I saw how even more beautiful you were in person, I fell in love instantly. But you never looked at me the same way. You never returned my feelings. Do you have any idea how much that hurt?”

Without skipping a beat he continued. “I then set out on a quest to make you fall in love with me, but I then found out you had a boyfriend, Dario. But luck was on my side and soon you guys broke up but you were still rejecting my advances weren’t you?”

Leonardo's voice cuts through, sharp as a blade. “She doesn't want you. Let her go.”

Raffaele laughs, the sound sending a cold wave down my back. “Oh, it doesn't matter if she doesn't want me. I've given her more than enough time to figure that out.”

He lowers his head until his lips are almost grazing my ear, his grip tightening as the gun digs harder into my temple. I can't stop the whimper that escapes me. "I can always take her by force."

Panic claws its way up my throat, and I finally find my voice. "Why? Why me? Can't you have any other pretty girl in the world? What about Emily? I thought you were together…”

He scoffs. “Oh save the crap. I never liked Emily. I just pretended so I could get close to you, get more information, and hang around without raising suspicion. And after Leonardo took you away, it would've looked weird if I was still obsessed with you. So, I asked Emily to be my girlfriend. I knew she already liked me—that alone made it easy.”

Anger and disbelief flash through me even through the terror. “Are you serious? Emily loves you. She cares about you, and this is what you say about her?”

“Do I look like I care?”