Dante's POV
The words hang in the air like a death sentence.
Aria stares at me, bleeding from the bullet she took FOR me, and I can see the exact moment her heart breaks.
"You were there." Her voice is empty. Dead. "You watched my mother kill my father and did nothing."
"I was fourteen years old—"
"I DON'T CARE!" She tries to stand, gasps in pain, collapses back. "You were there. You SAW. And you never told me!"
"Because I was a terrified kid with a gun to my head!" The truth explodes out of me. "My father dragged me along. Said it was time I learned the family business. I didn't know we were going to your house. I didn't know what was happening until it was too late."
"Liar."
"I'm NOT lying!" I run my hands through my hair, frustrated, desperate for her to understand. "We walked in. Your mother was already there. Already holding a gun. Your father was on his knees, begging her not to do it. And she just... she looked at him like he was nothing. Like he meant nothing."
Aria's breathing hard, tears streaming down her face.
"My father handed her the gun," I continue, the memory burning. "Said 'Do it. Prove your loyalty to the Syndicate.' And she did. She pulled the trigger without hesitation. Your father fell, and I—" My voice cracks. "I threw up. Right there. My father was so disgusted with me."
"You should have stopped her."
"How?" I'm almost shouting now. "I was a kid! My father had five armed men with him. If I'd tried anything, they would have killed me. Killed you too, probably."
"So you saved yourself and let my father die."
"YES!" The word tears out of me. "Yes, I was a coward. I was fourteen and scared and I chose to live. I'm sorry, Aria. I'm so, so sorry. But I can't change what happened."
She turns away from me. Won't even look at me.
"Get away from me," she whispers.
"Aria—"
"I said GET AWAY!"
I move to the other side of the panic room. Give her space. My shoulder throbs where the bullet grazed it, but the physical pain is nothing compared to watching her curl in on herself, sobbing quietly.
I did this. My silence. My lies. My cowardice fifteen years ago and my secrets now.
I've destroyed her trust completely.
My phone suddenly buzzes. Impossible—the signal's jammed.
But it's not a regular call. It's our emergency frequency. Matteo.
I answer. "Tell me you're close."
"Five minutes out with a full team." Matteo's voice is tense. "What's your situation?"
"Trapped in panic room. Sofia Moretti is alive and trying to kill us. Aria's shot. I'm shot. And she hates me."
"Which part should I address first?"
"Just get here. Fast."
I hang up. Look at Aria.
"Help's coming," I say quietly.
She doesn't respond.
"Aria, I know you don't want to hear this, but we need to work together until we're safe. After that, you never have to see me again. I promise."
Still nothing.
Then, barely audible: "Why keep it secret? If you felt so guilty, why not just tell me?"
"Because I was selfish." The truth. Raw and ugly. "I knew if you found out, you'd look at me exactly how you're looking at me now. Like I'm a monster. And I didn't want that. I wanted..." I stop.
"Wanted what?"
"I wanted you to see me differently. To see that I'm not my father. That I'm trying to be better." I laugh bitterly. "Stupid, right? Keeping secrets while trying to prove I'm trustworthy."
"Very stupid."
A small victory. She's talking to me.
"For what it's worth," I say, "I've spent fifteen years trying to make up for that night. Protecting you. Investigating the truth. Going against my father's empire. It doesn't erase what I did—or didn't do. But I've been trying."
"Trying isn't good enough."
"I know."
Silence falls between us. Heavy. Broken.
Then the panic room shudders. Hard.
"What was that?" Aria asks.
Another shudder. The walls vibrate.
I check the security panel. My blood runs cold.
"They're using explosives. Trying to blast through the door."
"Can they?"
"Eventually. This room can withstand a lot, but sustained explosives..." I do the math. "We have maybe twenty minutes before the door fails."
"And Matteo?"
"Five minutes out. Maybe less."
"So we just have to survive fifteen minutes of my psychotic mother trying to murder us." Aria laughs, but there's no humor in it. "Great."
BOOM.
Another explosion. Closer. Stronger.
The lights flicker.
"Dante." Aria's voice is small. Scared. "If we don't make it—"
"We'll make it."
"But IF we don't, I need you to know..." She looks at me finally. Those beautiful dark eyes filled with pain and confusion and something else. "I don't completely hate you."
It's not forgiveness. But it's something.
"I don't deserve even that much," I say.
"Probably not." A tiny, sad smile. "But I took a bullet for you anyway. So maybe I'm stupid too."
BOOM.
The panic room door groans. Metal bending.
"They're getting through," I mutter.
I grab the emergency supply bag, pull out two guns. Toss one to Aria.
She catches it despite her injury. "What's the plan?"
"When that door opens, we shoot anyone who isn't Matteo."
"Simple. I like it."
We position ourselves on either side of the door. Both wounded. Both exhausted. Both knowing we're probably going to die.
But at least we'll go down fighting.
BOOM.
The door buckles. I can see light through the cracks.
"Almost through!" Sofia's voice calls. "Last chance, baby girl. Come out peacefully and I'll make it quick!"
"She really thinks I'm going to surrender?" Aria mutters.
"She doesn't know you very well."
"No. She doesn't."
Our eyes meet across the small space. An understanding passes between us.
We're not surrendering.
We're not giving up.
We're—
The door explodes inward.
Smoke fills the panic room. Figures rush in, black masks, guns raised.
I fire. Aria fires. Two soldiers drop.
But there are more. Too many.
Someone hits me from behind. I go down hard. See Aria struggling with two men, fighting despite her wound.
"ENOUGH!" Sofia's voice cuts through the chaos.
Everyone freezes.
She walks through the smoke like a queen, gun in hand, smile on her face.
"Drop your weapons or I shoot your friend," she tells Aria, pressing her gun to my head.
Aria's hands shake. But she lowers her gun.
"Good girl." Sofia signals. Her men grab Aria, force her to her knees beside me.
We're both on the ground now. Defeated. Caught.
Sofia looks between us. "You know what? I've changed my mind. Killing you both is too easy. Too quick." Her smile widens. "I have a better idea."
She pulls out a syringe.
"What is that?" I demand.
"Insurance." She jabs it into Aria's neck.
Aria cries out, thrashes, but the men hold her firm.
"What did you give her?!" I try to fight, but someone kicks me down, pins me.
"A little cocktail of my own design," Sofia says calmly. "In about six hours, her heart will stop. Painlessly. Peacefully. She'll just go to sleep and never wake up."
"NO!" Aria's struggling weakens. The drug is already working.
"The antidote is in my possession. One dose. Only I know where." Sofia crouches, cups Aria's face. "You want to live, baby? Then Dante has to make a choice."
She turns to me.
"Here's the deal, Constantino. You have six hours. You can spend them trying to save Aria—finding me, getting the antidote, keeping her alive. Or..." She pulls out a second syringe. "You can take this. Same poison. You die with her. Romantic."
"That's not a choice," I spit.
"Oh, but it is. Because if you choose to save her, you have to leave her. Right now. Hunt me down before the clock runs out. But Matteo is almost here, and when he arrives, he'll take Aria to the hospital. They'll waste precious hours trying to figure out what I gave her. Hours you don't have."
"You're insane."
"I'm practical." She stands. "Tick tock, Dante. What's it going to be? Stay with her and watch her die? Or leave her to save her?"
I look at Aria. She's fading fast, eyes unfocused.
"Don't," she slurs. "Don't leave... me."
My heart shatters.
But Sofia's right. If I stay, Aria dies. If I go, I might—MIGHT—save her.
"I'm sorry," I whisper.
I kiss her forehead, stand up, and run.
Behind me, Aria screams
my name.
But I keep running.
Because sometimes loving someone means leaving them.
Even when it destroys you both.