Chapter 55
Sofia's POV
The fog clung to us like damp cloth, swallowing every sound but his breathing and my ragged sobs. His arm crushed my waist, half dragging, half carrying me deeper into the ruins of cliffside stone.
Behind us, Luca’s roar tore through the mist.
“SOFIA!”
My heart lurched. “Luca!” I screamed, straining against Diego’s grip. “I’m here!”
He yanked me tighter, his hand clamping my jaw until my teeth rattled. “Shout again, and I’ll make sure your precious brothers follow your voice into their graves.”
“Coward!” I spat, thrashing.
His mouth brushed my ear. “Strategist.”
Gunfire cracked above. Alessandro’s cold bark carried: “Cut him off! He won’t get far!”
Diego laughed low, unhurried despite the chaos. “He underestimates me. He always did.”
“You’re insane,” I hissed.
“I’m patient,” he corrected, dragging me into a hollow under jagged rock. The air smelled of salt and smoke. He shoved me against stone, caging me with his body. His eyes burned, inches from mine.
“Look at you,” he murmured. “Still breathing because of me.”
“Because you stole me from them!”
“Because they would’ve failed you,” he countered, voice low, certain. “They always fail you.”
I shook, fury and fear colliding. “They came for me. You didn’t. You took me.”
His smile curved, cruel and soft at once. “You think love is who runs toward the fire. But survival? Survival is who pulls you from it. Again and again. That’s me, Sofia. It’s always been me.”
I slapped him, palm cracking against his scar. He didn’t flinch. His grin only widened.
“Good,” he said softly. “I like when you fight.”
Boots thundered closer. Voices cut through fog.
“Alessandro, this way!” Luca’s voice, raw, desperate.
“Don’t shout,” Alessandro snapped. “He’ll track us easier. Move silent.”
“Silent? He’s dragging her like prey! We don’t have time!”
I pressed against the rock, throat tight, tears hot. “They’re coming,” I whispered.
Diego tilted his head, listening. His grip on my chin softened, became almost tender. “Yes. And I want them to.”
My blood iced. “Why?”
He leaned close, his forehead nearly brushing mine. “Because every time they arrive, you hesitate. You can’t decide. And every second you can’t, I win.”
“You won’t!”
His smile curved darker. “I already did.”
The brothers’ silhouettes emerged through mist, rifles raised. Luca charged forward, reckless. “SOFIA!”
“LUCA!” My scream broke, raw and desperate.
“Let her go!” he bellowed.
Diego pulled me in front of him, arm like iron across my throat. “One more step,” he called coolly, “and she’s nothing but memory.”
“Don’t you touch her!” Luca’s fury cracked the air.
Alessandro moved beside him, eyes sharp, calm. His voice carried authority like steel. “Sofia, listen to me. Stay still. Don’t fight him now. Do you hear me?”
“Alessandro—” My sob tore free.
“You’ll walk out,” he promised, steady as stone. “But not if you panic.”
Diego chuckled. “He pretends control, but he’s shaking inside. Look closer, Sofia—see how his hand twitches on the trigger? He’s afraid.”
“Shut your mouth!” Luca roared, gun lifting.
“Shoot, then,” Diego taunted, pressing his cheek to mine. “See if you hit me, or her.”
“Luca, no!” I cried.
Luca’s chest heaved, eyes burning. His gun wavered.
“Lower it,” Alessandro commanded.
“Not until he—”
“Now!”
Luca snarled but obeyed, the barrel dipping a fraction.
Diego smirked. “See? Still my game.”
The standoff held, mist choking every breath.
“Let her walk to us,” Alessandro said evenly. “We end this without more blood.”
“No,” Diego said simply.
“Then what do you want?”
His laugh was low, dangerous. “For her to finally admit who she belongs to.”
“I belong to no one!” I shouted, shaking. “Not you, not them—”
“Lie,” Diego whispered against my ear. “You belong to whoever saves you. And that’s never been them.”
Luca exploded forward a step. “You bastard—”
Alessandro caught his arm, yanking him back. “Don’t. You’ll get her killed.”
“I won’t watch him touch her!”
“You’ll watch,” Alessandro hissed, “or you’ll bury her.”
The words froze me, jagged in my chest.
Diego smiled wider, feeding on their rage. “See? They’re too busy fighting each other. But me? I don’t argue. I act.”
He began dragging me backward again, deeper into mist. My heels scraped stone. I sobbed, thrashing.
“Luca!” I screamed.
“SOFIA!” His voice broke.
Alessandro’s voice followed, colder but closer. “Hold on. Just hold on.”
“Don’t promise her,” Diego mocked. “Promises are cages. I offer freedom.”
“You don’t know the word,” I spat, twisting.
He gripped my jaw, forcing me to face him. “You’ll learn.”
Gunfire erupted suddenly from the cliffs. Bullets sparked stone. Luca dove forward, tackling Alessandro aside as shards sprayed.
“Go!” Luca roared.
“Cover me!” Alessandro snapped back, firing into mist.
Diego seized the moment. He spun us down the slope, dragging me with brutal force. My knees slammed, pain blazing. I cried out, reaching back toward the brothers.
“SOFIA!” Luca’s scream was raw, guttural, animal.
I clawed at Diego’s arm. “Let me go! Please!”
He bent close, breath hot. “Never.”
The slope plunged us into a ravine where water foamed between rocks. Mist thickened, drowning the world.
I stumbled, nearly falling. He caught me, lifted me bodily. My fists pounded his chest, useless.
“Why?” I sobbed. “Why won’t you just kill me if that’s what you want?”
He stopped, eyes burning. “Because I don’t want you dead. I want you awake. A throne means nothing if you’re not sitting on it beside me.”
“You’re sick!”
“No,” he said softly. “I’m inevitable.”
I shook my head violently. “You’ll never have me. They’ll find me. They always do.”
He smirked. “And I always take you first.”
Behind us, echoes of pursuit closed in. Luca’s roar: “DIEGO!”
Alessandro’s sharper: “Flank him! Don’t let him vanish!”
Diego tensed, then laughed. “Too late.”
He reached into his coat. Metal glinted.
“No,” I whispered. “What is that?”
“Insurance,” he murmured, pressing a small detonator into my palm. His hand covered mine, forcing my finger near the trigger. “One wrong move, and this whole cliffside joins the sea.”
My breath shattered. “You wouldn’t—”
“You’ve seen what I would,” he cut in, dark and calm.
Tears blurred my vision. “Why give it to me?”
“Because I trust you more than them,” he said, smiling. “Even when you hate me.”
I trembled, caught between pulling away and clinging.
Behind us, Alessandro shouted, closer now: “Sofia, drop what he gave you! Don’t listen!”
“Don’t!” Diego hissed, crushing my hand around the trigger. “One slip, and they drown with us.”
Luca’s voice, furious: “Sofia, FIGHT HIM!”
“I’m trying!” I screamed, sobbing.
“You’re choosing,” Diego whispered. “Every second, you’re choosing me.”
“No!”
“Yes.”
The ravine opened into a hidden cove. Water churned below, black and merciless. A small boat rocked against the rocks, tethered, waiting.
Diego pulled me toward it, his hand still clamped over mine, finger still forced against the trigger.
The brothers burst onto the ridge above, rifles trained.
“LET HER GO!” Luca roared, eyes wild.
“Release her!” Alessandro commanded.
Diego smirked up at them, pulling me tight against his chest. “Gentlemen, she’s not yours to take. She never was.”
Tears blurred my sight. “Please,” I begged, voice splintered. “Please stop—”
“No stopping now,” Diego murmured.
The mist thinned just enough for me to see Luca’s face — red, broken, desperate. Alessandro’s — cold, calculating, but his hands trembled faintly.
For one heartbeat, hope swelled. They had him cornered. They’d end this.
Then Diego bent, lips at my ear. “Time to choose again.”
And he shoved me into the boat, leaping in after, cutting the rope with one swift slash.
The vessel lurched into black water.
“SOFIA!” Luca’s scream ripped through me, raw enough to kill.
“Hold!” Alessandro barked. “Don’t shoot, you’ll hit her!”
I scrambled to the boat’s edge, reaching back, tears pouring. “LUCA!”
Diego yanked me down, his grip iron, his smile carved from victory.
And as the boat slipped into fog, the last thing I saw were my brothers — one roaring, one aiming — both fading, powerless.