Chapter 74 ~ The final chapter

Chapter 74 ~ The final chapter
ADRIAN

Pain shot through my body, but I ignored it as I sped through the streets. My shirt was soaked in blood from the number of people I’d killed that day.

I let him think I was dead and honestly, I thought I was dead too.

Luca came through as always, and now I was trying to find the location where they’d taken Ella. “We’ve found the son of a bitch,” Luca said. 

I swerved my car hard and gunned it toward the pinned location.

I had to admit, I was impressed. I never thought the boy had the balls to betray me, especially knowing what I’d do to him. I reached his hideout and slammed my car into the wooden gate. I didn’t have time to waste, and I didn’t give a fuck.

I kicked down the door and found him packing his bags. Anger seethed through me. The amount of pain I wanted him to endure was unimaginable, but I was on a tight clock.

Terrified green eyes looked up at me like they’d seen a ghost. Everyone thought I was dead and that was my weapon today.

“She got to your dick, Jay? Mmm? I can smell her cunt all over you,” I whispered, stalking toward him like a predator.

“I’m sorry,” he said, dropping to his knees in a pathetic attempt to beg. I kicked him so hard he went flying into the wall. My stitches pulled uncomfortably, so I reined myself in.

I would need every ounce of strength to rescue Ella.

“Showed her you’re the new catch now, eh? Luca’s in new territory, so that means you’re next, eh?” I said, slamming a punch into his nose.

“No, Boss. It was a mistake!” he cried as I drove my fist into his stomach.

“A mistake? Your fucking mistake got my wife killed, Jay. What are we going to do about it? She’s about to get married right now,” I said coldly.

I struck him so hard he collapsed to the ground, gasping. I planted my boot on his neck, pressing just enough to keep the air out but not enough to kill him just yet.

I was sure something snapped from the way blood gushed out.

“They’re at St. Andrews,” he choked out. I didn’t waste another second and blew his brains out and walked back to the car, with Luca right behind me.

“Gather all the families and forces. I want every bit of backup we can get,” I growled. 

“Yes boss.” Came the immediate response as everyone moved instantly.

I slid behind the wheel and slammed my foot on the accelerator, heading straight for the church.

The second we reached St. Andrews, hell broke loose. 

Guns blazed, bullets tore through the air, and the enemy scrambled to fight back but they were hopelessly outnumbered.

Never fucking underestimate me.

I kicked the church doors open and stormed inside. 

My eyes locked on Ella instantly.

My Ella, being held between two goons like some trophy they’d earned. My rage snapped, and in the next heartbeat, both their heads exploded in a rain of red mist.

She broke free and ran to me, colliding into my chest with enough force to almost knock the wind out of me. Her arms locked around my neck as if she was afraid I’d vanish again.

“You’re alive!” she sobbed into me, her voice breaking.

I cradled her face, stroking her hair, soothing her in the middle of chaos. For a moment, nothing else existed. No gunfire. No screams. Just her heartbeat against mine.

I was so lost in her that I didn’t notice the danger until it was almost too late. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed movement, 

“Noooo!” A voice split the air a second before a gunshot cracked.

I spun Ella away from the line of fire, ready to return it, but what happened next froze me. 

My mother fell, a bloom of red spreading across her chest. Above her, Carlos staggered, a bullet clean through his skull and it took me a second to realize it was Ella’s bullet.

Carlos hit the floor like dead weight. My mother’s breathing was shallow and ragged. 

For the first time in years, I was speechless.

I had been considering killing her myself in recent weeks, thinking her betrayal was unforgivable. 

But watching her life slip away now, seeing the woman who had raised me bleeding out crushed something inside me I didn’t know could still break.

I dropped to my knees beside her, pressing hard against the wound.

“I…I…I—” she stammered.

“Shhh,” I cut her off, my voice sharp but shaking. “You’ll be fine. Just stay with me. GET A FUCKING AMBULANCE!” My voice thundered across the church, silencing everyone.

Men scrambled. Orders barked. Chaos turned into motion. I didn’t take my eyes off her, my hands still clamped over the wound.

“Boss, we’ve captured them all,” Luca said, his voice flat, his eyes already knowing my answer.

“Kill them all. We take no prisoners.”

We held each other’s gaze for a moment, an unspoken understanding passing between us, and he nodded once before walking away to carry it out.

The ambulance screeched up outside within minutes. They stabilized her quickly, hauling her onto a stretcher. I followed, my pulse a hammer in my skull.

“Will she be okay?” Ella’s soft voice pulled my attention back.

I turned, meeting her gaze. “Yes, baby. My God…” My jaw clenched so hard it ached. “I shouldn’t have killed them so quickly for what they did to you.” I kissed the corner of her swollen eye, my chest burning with fury all over again.

“Your mother saved my life,” she whispered, ignoring my threats and the violence still ringing in my voice.

“Yes,” I admitted, “she did. So marry me.”

She blinked at me. “We were already engaged.”

“Not like that.” I took her hands in mine, holding her there, forcing her to see the truth in my eyes. “For real this time. Stay by my side forever. Fight with me. Rule the fucking underworld with me.”

She hesitated, a ghost of a smile playing on her lips. “But we’re dysfunctional.”

I chuckled low in my throat. “Then go insane by my side.”

Her eyes softened, and her voice dropped to a whisper. “I love you.”

For a moment, my heart stopped. This woman, this infuriating, dangerous, beautiful woman had gotten under my skin so deep I couldn’t imagine a life without her. 

She was supposed to be a pawn I destroyed, a lesson to others. Instead, she had become my equal and my match.

We had always been written for each other two sides of the same fucked-up coin.

I pulled her into me and kissed her hard, pouring every ounce of rage, relief, and devotion into it. 

Around us, the church still reeked of blood and smoke. Bodies lay where they’d fallen. But for the first time in a long time, I didn’t care about the war raging outside.

Because I had her and together, we would burn the world before we ever let it take us apart again.