Chapter 201: I am the bad guy.

Chapter 201: I am the bad guy.
Aurora

“Do I look like I care?” His voice drips disdain. "Why would I settle for Emily when I can have someone better? A woman with power, riches, and the bloodline and heir of the De Luca empire.”

I swallowed hard. “Then you've got the wrong daughter. I'm not the heir anymore—I gave it to my sister.”

“I know,” he says, completely unfazed. “But it doesn't matter. You're Marcello's legitimate daughter. Now I have you, I'll send your father a nice little video. He'll have no choice but to turn the empire over to me... maybe even Leonardo would too. Then I'll marry you, and we'll live a very happy life together.”

Leonardo takes a slow, deliberate step closer, his gun still raised. “In your fucking dreams.”

Raffaele's arm tightens painfully around me, jerking me back against his chest, the gun grinding against my temple until a sharp cry escapes me. Leonardo freezes mid-step, a muscle twitching in his jaw.

“Come on, pretty boy,” Raffaele taunts, his voice a sick mix of amusement and malice. “Why'd you stop?”

I squeezed my eyes shut, my whole body trembling. Fear coiled so tightly in my chest I could barely breathe. I know Leonardo—he always saves me. Somehow, he always gets me out of trouble. But with a gun to my head, I can feel his hesitation.

And with that look in Raffaele's eyes... I don't think he'd hesitate to pull the trigger just to watch Leonardo break.

Then, all of a sudden, a voice cut through the tense air.

“Raff? Is that you?”

My gaze snapped to the entrance. Emily stood there, pale as snow, with Eleonora just behind her. My mind reeled. Emily? How the hell did she get here? Was she with Leonardo the whole time?

“What... what are you doing?” Emily's voice trembled, her wide eyes fixed on the gun pressed to my temple. “Why are you holding a gun to Aurora's head? What's going on? Get away from her—otherwise they're going to think you're the bad guy!”

My stomach twisted. Even from here, I could see the disbelief etched into her face. If I feel this betrayed even without being that close to Raffaele, what must Emily be feeling? She'd trusted Raffaele for years. I couldn't imagine the storm of emotions tearing through her right now.

Behind me, Raffaele laughed, the sound low and mocking. “But I am the bad guy.”

Emily shook her head frantically. “No, no, no... you're my Raffaele. My best friend. You can't be the bad guy!”

“Emily..” Eleonora reached for her shoulder, but Emily shrugged her off, a pained laugh breaking from her lips.

“This must be some kind of prank, right? Because if it is, Raffaele... it's not funny.”

Raffaele's laughter erupted, sharp and jarring in the quiet. “Look around you, Emily. Does any of this look like a joke to you?”

Realization slowly sank into Emily's features, draining all color from her cheeks. “You... played me,” she whispered.

“Good. You're finally catching on, babe,” Raffaele said with an unbothered shrug.

“But... but why?” Her voice cracked on the word.

I felt Raffaele sigh behind me, his breath warm against the back of my neck. “Because I had to. From the moment you told me you were best friends with Aurora De Luca, I knew I had to get close to her. You were my way in. Pretending to care about you, dating you... all of it got me closer to what I wanted. And what I wanted was her.”

Emily's knees buckled, and she crumpled to the floor. “So... it was all just a joke? I didn't mean anything to you?”

No one else moved or spoke. It was as if the world had frozen, leaving them in their own twisted reality.

“Not all of it,” Raffaele finally said, voice cruelly amused. "The sex was good."

Emily let out a shaky sob, folding in on herself. Eleonora crouched beside her, murmuring words of comfort.

“How did you guys get here?” Leonardo asked without looking at them, his gun still trained on Raffaele.

“We forced Salvatore to give us the location,” Eleonora replied softly. “Lucia was too scared to come, that’s why she’s not here.”

Location? The word echoed in my mind. Leonardo… tracked me? But with what?

Raffaele chuckled darkly. “So, we have more company, and yet I'm still the one with the upper hand.”

Leonardo's glare could have cut glass.

“I wonder what Marcello would do,” Raffaele mused, “if I took possession of both his daughters.”

“Eleanora, get out of here,” Leonardo commanded.

“Oh, she's not going anywhere,” Raffaele countered, tightening his hold on me. “If she tries, I'll blow her sister's head off. Worst case, I die instantly. But by then, your best friend, your sister, and your precious lover”—he tilted his chin at Emily, Eleonora, and Leonardo in turn—“will all be dead. Just like Dario over there.”

Emily's eyes flew wide, and Eleonora gasped. Only then did they notice the dark shape on the floor—Dario's lifeless body.

Leonardo

The muzzle of Raffaele's gun dug into Aurora's temple, a cruel promise waiting to detonate. He was sweating now, agitation crawling through his every movement, the presence of Emily and Eleonora clearly rattling him. His voice carried that manic edge, rising and falling as he monologued,

“You all don't get it, do you? She was always supposed to be mine. I'm the one who truly deserves her... not him, not anyone else.”

Each shift of his stance, each twitch of his wrist, 1 tracked carefully. My gun was steady in my grip, but I didn't dare take the shot-not yet. One wrong move and Aurora would pay for it.

“Raffaele,” I said evenly, keeping my tone measured, “this isn't the way. You know how this ends if you pull that trigger.”

He barked out a laugh, sharp and unhinged. “Oh, I know exactly how this ends. With her finally being where she belongs—by my side!”

Behind me, Emily's voice cracked like thin glass. “Raff... please. Let her go. You don't have to do this.” Her hands trembled at her sides, her whole body shaking.

For the briefest second, Raffaele's gaze snapped to her, a flicker of something unreadable passing through his expression. I saw it-the falter, the distraction.

There.

I raised my chin ever so slightly, signaling with two fingers at my side. One of my men, stationed by the doorway, moved a fraction, starting the slow circle around the room's perimeter.

“Raffaele,” Emily tried again, desperation bleeding into every syllable. “You're not like this. You're my best friend—please.”

I felt a dull pang for her. The denial, the heartbreak—she was still grasping at a version of him that had never existed.

He jerked Aurora tighter against him, pressing the gun harder against her temple. "Shut up, Emily! You never understood. None of you did!”

“Is that why you're hiding behind her?” I said, letting my voice cut through the tension like a blade. “Because you're too much of a coward to face me without a shield?”

Raffaele's lips twisted into a grin that didn't reach his eyes. “So what if I am? At least this way I don't get shot.”

His words made something hot and sharp flare in my chest, but I forced it down, keeping my breathing even. Not yet. Not until he's exactly where I need him.

And still, my fingers moved subtly at my side, the signal clear: Now.

The signal was given.

Raffaele's grip shifted, just for a breath—enough. My finger squeezed the trigger, the shot cracking through the tension like a whip.