Dante's POV
"Everyone freeze." My voice cut through the chaos. "Nobody move. Nobody breathe."
Isabella's thumb hovered over her phone screen, that crazy smile stretching wider. Blood dripped from where my knife had cut her arm, but she didn't seem to feel it.
"That's right, Dante. We all stay very, very still." She tilted her head like a curious bird. "Or I push this button and we become dust together. Romantic, isn't it?"
Behind me, I felt Aria shaking. I'd pushed her behind my body, but it wouldn't matter if Isabella set that bomb. We'd all die.
My mind raced through choices. Shoot Isabella—her thumb might hit the button as she fell. Rush her—too far, too slow. Negotiate—with someone clearly unhinged?
"You won't do it," I said, keeping my voice calm. "You're about to marry the Castellano heir. You have everything to live for."
"Did have everything." Isabella's eyes were wild. "Until this bastard—" she pointed at Aria with her bloody arm "—showed up and ruined it. Do you know what Alessandro said when he found out father had another daughter? He said I was 'damaged goods.' That my family's lies made me unreliable."
"That's not Aria's fault," Elena shouted from where she was still tied to the chair. "She didn't ask to be born!"
"Shut up!" Isabella screamed. "You don't understand. None of you understand. I worked my entire life to be perfect. Perfect kid. Perfect beauty. Perfect lady. And she ruins it by living."
I saw it then—the real truth. This wasn't about family honor or protecting Lorenzo's image. This was about a selfish woman losing control of her perfect life.
"Isabella, listen to me." I took a careful step forward. "You can still have everything you want. Let us go. We'll disappear. Aria will sign papers saying she's not a Morelli. Your father can deny she ever existed. You marry Alessandro, and this all goes away."
For a moment, Isabella's thumb moved away from the button. Hope flickered.
Then she laughed that horrible laugh again.
"You think I'm stupid? You think I don't know that once people learn the truth, it never goes away?" She shook her head. "No. Better to end this now. Better to be the tragic victim of Dante Salvatore's rage than the woman whose bastard sister destroyed her life."
She was going to do it. I saw it in her eyes—the resignation, the acceptance. She'd already decided to die.
Which meant I had nothing left to deal with.
"Marco," I said quietly. "Get Aria and Elena out. Now."
"Boss, there's no time—"
"Now!"
But before Marco could move, Aria did something completely crazy.
She stepped out from behind me.
"Don't." I grabbed for her, but she was already walking toward Isabella, her hands raised.
"Aria, what are you doing?" Elena screamed.
"What I should have done years ago." Aria's voice was steady. "Isabella, you're right. I ruined your life by living. I'm sorry for that. I never wanted to hurt you."
"Sorry doesn't fix anything," Isabella spat.
"I know." Aria took another step closer. She was within arm's reach now, completely exposed. "So here's what I'll do. I'll leave. Tonight. I'll disappear so totally that no one will ever find me. I'll change my name, move to another country, never say the Morelli name again. You can tell Alessandro I died. Whatever story you want."
Isabella stared at her. "Why would I believe you?"
"Because unlike everyone else in our family, I keep my promises." Aria's eyes filled with tears. "Our mother—your mother and mine—they both deserved better than Lorenzo Morelli. But we can't change the past. We can only choose who we become."
"Stop trying to make me feel guilty," Isabella hissed. "I don't care about you. I never did."
"I know." Aria smiled sadly. "But I care about you. Because you're my sister. The only family I have left. And I don't want you to die hating yourself."
Something moved in Isabella's face. The madness flickered, and for just a second, I saw a lost woman who'd been playing a role so long she'd forgotten who she really was.
Her thumb moved away from the button.
"Aria, I—" Isabella's voice cracked.
Then a gunshot burst through the warehouse.
Isabella jerked, her eyes going wide. The phone slipped from her hand.
I dove for it, grabbing it before it hit the ground. My finger found the screen—no bomb trigger triggered. We were safe.
But Isabella wasn't.
She fell, blood blooming across her red dress. Behind her stood a figure I recognized from security photos—Lorenzo Morelli himself, smoking gun in his hand.
"Father?" Isabella whispered, reaching for him. "You... you shot me?"
Lorenzo's face was hard as stone. "You were going to kill everyone here. Including yourself. I couldn't let you destroy the family name with such stupidity."
Not "I couldn't let you die. " Not "I was trying to save you."
Just protecting his image. Even now.
"Boss," Marco said quickly. "We need to move. Cops will be here in minutes."
But I couldn't look away from Isabella, bleeding on the warehouse floor, still reaching for the father who'd shot her.
And from Aria, standing frozen, watching her sister die.
"Aria." I touched her shoulder gently. "We have to go."
She didn't move. Didn't speak. Just stared at Isabella with tears running down her face.
Lorenzo finally looked at Aria. Really looked at her. And for the first time, I saw recognition in his eyes.
"You look like your mother," he said softly. "Elena. She was beautiful too."
"Don't." Aria's voice was barely a whisper. "Don't say her name. You don't get to remember her now."
Lorenzo nodded slowly. Then he turned to me. "Take her. Keep her safe. Away from all this." He looked down at Isabella, who was barely breathing. "I've destroyed enough daughters for one lifetime."
"You shot me," Isabella whispered. "Your own daughter..."
"To save you from yourself." Lorenzo knelt beside her, his hand finally touching her face. "Forgive me, Isabella. Forgive me for making you think beauty was all that mattered."
Isabella's eyes closed.
And then sirens wailed in the distance, getting closer.
"Move!" Marco grabbed Aria's arm. "Now!"
We ran—me, Marco, Aria, and Elena. My men gave cover as we escaped through the back exit. Behind us, Lorenzo stayed with Isabella's body, waiting for the cops.
Taking the fall for everything.
We made it to the cars and drove away into the night. Nobody spoke. The silence was heavy with shock and sadness and relief all tangled together.
Finally, Aria broke the silence.
"Is she dead?" Her voice was small.
"I don't know," I admitted. "The wound looked bad, but—"
My phone buzzed. A text from my police source.
Isabella Morelli dead on scene. Lorenzo Morelli in jail. Claims self-defense, guarding hostages from his daughter's bomb threat. Press calling it family tragedy.
I showed the message to Aria.
She stared at it for a long moment. Then she turned to the window and cried—quiet, sad sobs that made my chest ache.
I wanted to comfort her. To tell her it wasn't her fault. But the words stuck in my throat.
Because in a way, this was all my fault.
If I hadn't taken Aria. If I hadn't started this war. If I'd just let my anger go...
"Don't," Aria said suddenly, like she could read my thoughts. "Don't blame yourself. This started long before you took me. This started the night my father destroyed your family."
She reached across the seat and took my hand.
Her fingers were cold. Shaking. But she held on like I was the only solid thing in a world that had just broken.
And I realized something that changed everything.
I didn't want payback anymore.
I wanted to keep this woman safe.
Even if it meant letting go of everything I'd built for fifteen years.
Even if it meant becoming someone new.
"Where are we going?" Elena asked from the back seat.
I looked at Aria—brave, broken, beautiful Aria who'd walked into a building full of guns to save her friend.
"Somewhere safe," I said. "Somewhere they'll never find us."
"And then?" Aria asked.
"Then we figure out what comes next." I squeezed her hand. "Together."
But as we drove away from the burning building, my phone buzzed again.
Another message. This one from an unknown number.
You took my kid. Now I'm taking everything you love. This isn't over, Salvatore. It's just starting. - Lorenzo
I looked at the message, then at Aria sleeping against the window, tired from everything that had happened.
Lorenzo was in police arrest. Isabella was dead. But somehow, the war wasn't over.
It was just started.
And this time, I had something to lose.