The honeymoon suite was a gilded cage.
Gianna sat on the edge of the king-sized bed, arms crossed, staring at the glass of untouched whiskey in front of her. The city lights of Florence flickered like distant gunfire through the floor-to-ceiling windows, but inside this room, tension was the only thing burning.
Kai leaned against the doorway, his jaw tight, eyes dark with a storm Gianna wasn't sure she could weather.
They were married.
But peace?
That was a lie.
---
"Did you think this would make it easier?" Kai's voice cut through the silence, low and rough.
Gianna's eyes snapped up. "I thought maybe… you and I might actually survive this."
Kai laughed, bitter. "Survive? We're married, not allies."
She stood, pacing. "I didn't ask for this. You didn't ask for this. But now it's our reality."
"And yet," he said, stepping closer, "you look like you want to tear me apart."
She stopped, fierce. "I'm trying not to."
---
Outside, the city was boiling over.
The news of the Castellano-Moretti marriage spread like wildfire, sparking outrage from every corner of Florence.
Mafia factions loyal to Alessio Moretti spat venomous threats; the streets buzzed with whispers of rebellion.
Meanwhile, Lorenzo Castellano's forces mobilized, blocking roads and hunting spies, determined to protect their empire at any cost.
---
At the Castellano estate, Lorenzo paced, phone pressed to his ear.
"I don't care if she's married to my son," he growled. "If Gianna falters, if she betrays us, I'll burn La Rosa Nera to ashes."
On the other end, Alessio Moretti smirked in his dim office, swirling a glass of red wine.
"She's a Moretti by blood," he said softly. "But her heart's a battlefield. I'll have my daughter where I want her — inside the Syndicate, eating it from within."
---
Back in the suite, Gianna's phone buzzed with a single word from Matteo.
> "They're moving. Now."
Kai saw it too — the tight line of her jaw, the way her eyes hardened.
"We're not just fighting outside," she said, voice sharp as a blade. "We're fighting here. Between us."
Kai stepped forward, the air between them thick enough to choke on.
"Then fight me, Gianna. Fight to stay."
She met his gaze, burning and relentless.
"I will."
---
That night, the honeymoon exploded into chaos.
Gunfire in the streets, shadows moving like ghosts through alleyways.
A power tussle fueled by rage, blood, and the fragile line between love and war.
Gianna and Kai, enemies bound by marriage, stood at the edge of a precipice.
One wrong move would plunge them — and Florence — into darkness.