The anger in Alessia's chest burned hotter than fire, searing through her lungs until it clawed its way out of her lips.
"How did you find us here?" she demanded, her voice breaking in both fury and grief.
Her trembling finger pointed toward the fallen creature, her new little magpie, lying still on the grass, feathers dark with blood.
Her throat tightened, tears spilling fast, blurring Luca's face until all she could see was a shadow of the man she once trusted. "And why did you kill it? Why, Luca? That bird was mine. I hate you... "
Her sobs cracked like glass, raw and jagged, her hands shaking violently as if her very soul had been ripped apart.
To her, in that moment, Luca Morano was no longer the man she loved in secret, the man who could undo her with a single look. He was the devil himself, the feared ruler of shadows, the man whispered about with dread in every corner of the mafia world.
