Chapter 27 Twisted Alliances.

Chapter 27 Twisted Alliances.
Aria's POV
The room fell silent, tension coiling tighter. I could see Enzo calculating odds and measuring distances. We were surrounded, outgunned and betrayed by someone we'd trusted.
"One question," I said, buying time. "The one time Luca's fake death. The rumors we heard about him escaping an assassination attempt. That was you, wasn't it?"
Sofia's expression shifted, surprise flickering. "You're smarter than I gave you credit for." "That's right. The rumor about Luca faking his death that spread like wildfire through the families was all my idea to pull you in deeper and part of the bigger plan to manipulate every step you took while we stayed one move ahead."
"It was the perfect cover," I continued, pieces falling into place. "Everyone thought he was dead or hiding. Meanwhile, he was building his network and making alliances, which you helped him do. Why?"
"Because chaos creates opportunity," Sofia said.
"With Luca presumed dead, the five families started fighting over territory. Enzo got caught up in revenge, and I positioned myself as the power behind the throne.
When Luca resurfaces, which he has done, also after you're both dead, he'll have more power than ever and I'll be at his side."
"Until he kills you too," Enzo said. "He won't." Sofia moved closer to him and I saw something dangerous in her eyes. "Because I know things about you that he doesn't. Both your weaknesses and secrets. The kind of information that keeps me valuable."
"You don't know me anymore," Enzo said.
"Don't I?" Her hand reached out, almost touching his face. "I know what makes you tick, Enzo. What drives you and what breaks you? We had something once, before you threw it away."
"We had nothing," he said coldly. "Just ambition and violence."
"And isn't that all there is?" She smiled.
Sofia stood off to the side with her men circling us, her bandaged shoulder from the wound I gave her earlier not stopping the smirk on her face.
As she spoke those words, I heard a faint click from behind a panel in the wall, an inner door swinging open quietly and Luca stepped out with three of his guards trailing him.
Their weapons at the ready but not firing yet, he just positioned himself in the corner of the room, with his arms folded across his chest, observing the scene unfold without uttering a single word and his eyes scanning us like we were pieces on a board he controlled.
Seeing him there so silent and composed after everything he had put us through, the lies, the chases and the near-deaths. All of it pushed me over the edge already.
"But we're wasting time. Gentlemen, kill Moretti and take the girl alive."
Everything happened at once. The shot broke the tension like a dam bursting and the room turned into a storm of gunfire and bullets flying from all directions while Enzo yanked me behind a thick marble pillar for cover, his own weapon barking back at the guards closing in.
The nearest guard raised his weapon and I moved on instinct. My gun came up, firing twice. The guard dropped, blood spreading across his expensive suit.
"Scatter!" Enzo shoved me sideways as bullets tore through the space we'd occupied. We dove behind a heavy desk as the room exploded into chaos.
"Marco, now!" Enzo shouted into his comm.
An explosion rocked the building, Marco's breaching charge in the basement. Guards scattered, momentarily distracted and we used the confusion to fight back.
I fired at anything that moved, not thinking, but just surviving. Another guard went down and then another. My hands were steady now and muscle memory was taking over. I'd killed before. This moment was just more of the same.
Through the gunfire, I saw Dahlia scrambling for cover and saw Sofia disappearing through a side door.
In the midst of it all I spotted Luca retreating smoothly through that same inner door.
"He's here!" I shouted to Enzo.
But Luca was already moving and slipping away like smoke. His men covered him as he vanished again, slipping away like he always did and leaving the fight to rage without him.
I started after him, but more guards blocked my path. I took down two, but there were too many and we were being pushed back toward the main door.
"Fall back!" Enzo grabbed my arm. "We need to regroup!"
"No!" I tried to pull away. "He's getting away!"
"He's escaping," I yelled to Enzo over the roar of shots echoing off the walls, my heart pounding with frustration because Luca was always one step out of reach, but Enzo was already adjusting his position and firing at another guard who dropped with a scream.
"We can't chase him now," Enzo shouted back while reloading quickly, his eyes sharp and focused. "Sofia's the one pulling strings here and we need to take her out first, or we're done."
Enzo zeroed in on Sofia then, spotting her ducking low behind a flipped-over desk and her guards trying to shield her but falling one by one to his precise shots.
So he advanced on her position, unleashing a barrage that splintered wood and forced her to scramble backward into a connecting corridor.
The dim emergency lights were flickering overhead and casting erratic shadows on the walls.
I covered Enzo from my spot, picking off a guard who tried to circle around him, the recoil jolting my arm, but he kept pushing forward and targeting Sofia relentlessly.
His bullets pinged off metal fixtures as she fired back sporadically, "You think you can end this, Enzo?"
She called out during a brief pause and her voice echoed down the hall, "But I know your weaknesses better than anyone, that protective streak for her.
It's going to get you killed just like it almost did back when we were together."
The corridor twisted into darker sections of the estate, narrow passages with low ceilings where the gunfire sounded even louder, booming in my ears as I followed Enzo.
The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder and sweat. Sofia knew how to exploit those old connections and throw taunts about their shared history to rattle him.
But Enzo didn't let up, his shots driving her deeper into the maze while Marco and Lucia's voices crackled in my earpiece, reporting they were engaging more guards from the other side.
The fight narrowed down when Sofia's remaining men got pinned down by Marco and Lucia, bursting through a side door, their arrival splitting the group and leaving her isolated.
So it turned into a direct one-on-one with Enzo, the two of them exchanging fire in rapid bursts down the hallway until I heard her gun click empty and the slide locking back with no more rounds.
She muttered something I couldn't catch and bolted into an adjacent room, shoving the door mostly closed but leaving it ajar just enough to tempt pursuit and her breathing was heavy from the chase.
Enzo didn't hesitate, kicking the door wide and stepping inside with his gun sweeping the space, but Sofia had positioned herself right behind the entry.
Pressed flat against the wall and as he crossed the threshold, she lunged forward and plunged a syringe into the side of his neck with a quick jab. The plunger depressed fully before he could react.
Immediately, she saw me and equally noticed that I was about to attack her; she pressed a button and the door shut behind them.