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Chapter 16 — Beneath the Flicker of Firelight
The rain fell in sheets over Florence, streaking the villa's vast windows with lines of silver. From his study on the top floor, Leon Mancini stood in silence, staring out into the tempest. His black shirt was half-unbuttoned, sleeves rolled up, forearms taut as his fingers dug into the edge of the mahogany desk.
He hadn't touched his phone in over two hours.
Not since Elira left the dinner table in silence—eyes shining with emotions he couldn't name.
Not since he watched her walk toward her guest suite, barefoot, her heels dangling from her hand like a final note in a broken melody.
The storm had started the moment she disappeared down the hall. Almost as if the sky echoed his unrest.
He tried focusing on the ledgers before him. Underground networks. Shipment manifests. Names of those who owed him. Those who might dare to betray him.
But all his thoughts circled back to her.
Elira.
Too innocent for his world. Yet burning with a fire that made him want to abandon his empire and drown in her contradictions.
A knock at the door snapped his reverie.
It was Gianni.
"You need to see this," the man said, voice low, face pale.
Leon followed him without a word. Down the marble staircase, through a back hallway, into the underground control room — walls covered in surveillance monitors, most of them blank except one.
A single live feed played: the back entrance of the villa.
There, standing under an umbrella, was a man in a dark suit. Unarmed. His posture calm. His face barely visible.
But Leon knew that face.
Luca Romano.
Ex-ally. Now a ghost from a past life that Leon had buried in blood and smoke.
Leon's jaw tightened. "What the hell is he doing here?"
Gianni swallowed. "He asked for you by name. Said he came with a message."
Leon's mind raced. Luca had vanished three years ago, after an internal fallout that had left two heads of rival families dead. The fact that he'd resurfaced now, at Leon's private villa—without weapons, but with purpose—meant only one thing:
Someone had drawn him out. And it wasn't just business.
Leon straightened. "Let him in."
Gianni blinked. "Boss—"
"Now."
As the guards escorted Luca into the sitting lounge, Leon descended the stairs and entered the room like a silent shadow. The fireplace flickered behind him, casting flames across his sharp features.
Luca stood as if they hadn't once tried to kill each other.
"Leon," he said with a slight smirk. "Still prefer the expensive Scotch?"
Leon didn't answer. He poured himself a glass, took a slow sip, and leaned against the mantel.
"Say what you came to say. Then leave."
Luca exhaled, glancing once at the security camera in the corner.
"I didn't come for war," he said. "I came to warn you. Someone's moving pieces behind your back. They're targeting your soft spots. Not your business. Your people."
Leon stilled.
"What people?"
Luca's voice dropped.
"Someone put a price on Elira Solano's head."
The glass slipped from Leon's hand and shattered across the marble.
Everything inside him went cold.
His fury ignited so fast, so violently, it stunned the men around him. The heat in his veins overpowered even the fire crackling behind him.
"How do you know?" Leon's voice was sharp, lethal.
"Because I intercepted the contract before it reached the dark circuit," Luca replied. "And I did it because I owe you. One favor. One life."
Leon didn't blink. "Who ordered it?"
"I don't know yet. But they're close. Very close. Someone with access to her schedule. Someone from the inside."
Leon's fists clenched. There were only a few people who had access to Elira's whereabouts.
And one of them was Scarlett.
He stormed out of the room without another word, leaving Luca behind.
He found Elira in the hallway outside her room, already changed into a simple silk gown, her damp hair tied in a messy braid. She looked up as he approached, startled by the storm in his eyes.
"Leon—what—?"
He pulled her into the study before she could protest, locking the door behind them.
"You're not going to the studio tomorrow," he said coldly.
Her brows furrowed. "Why?"
"Because someone wants you dead."
The words sliced the air like a blade. Elira stared at him, mouth slightly parted. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about a contract. An actual price on your life."
Her breath caught. "Who would—?"
"I don't know," he said, voice tight. "But I will find them. And when I do…"
He didn't finish.
She stepped closer, eyes searching his face. "Is this about the mafia?"
He met her gaze, stunned. "You knew?"
"I had suspicions," she whispered. "I'm not blind, Leon. I've seen things. The men who follow you. The names whispered in the studio. The rumors... I just didn't want to believe them."
A pause.
"And yet," she said softly, "I stayed."
He blinked.
"I stayed because I felt safe with you, despite all the signs. I stayed because when you look at me, it's like I'm not just a part of your world — I am your world."
His heart thudded.
"Elira…"
She placed her hand on his chest. "If I'm in danger, don't push me away. Don't try to protect me by hiding me in a golden cage. Fight beside me. Or not at all."
Something broke in him then. The steel walls. The controlled silence. The mafia mask.
He took her face in his hands and kissed her — slow, fierce, and raw. A kiss that was half-promise, half-possession. A kiss that said she wasn't just his muse, his weakness…
She was the center of everything.
When they pulled apart, her lips were trembling.
"What now?" she asked.
"Now," he said, voice like fire and smoke, "I take you somewhere no one can touch you. And then I burn the world down to find who dared to threaten you."
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End of Chapter 16