No one spoke after Alessandro's final words.
The silence in the corridor was no longer quiet.
It was armed.
Elena could almost feel the calculation moving between the two men. Not anger. No noise.
Strategy.
Alessandro broke the stare first, his attention returning fully to her.
"Get your things," he said.
"We are leaving."
Elena did not move.
"I am not going anywhere with you."
His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly.
"You are not safe here."
A faint sound escaped Luca. Not quite a laugh.
"She was attacked the moment she entered my territory," he said calmly. "That suggests the threat is larger than geography."
Alessandro ignored him.
His gaze remained fixed on Elena with unsettling intensity.
"You should have called me."
The statement stunned her.
"Called you?" she repeated softly. "After you divorced me in a public restaurant?"
A shadow passed through his expression.
"I ended my marriage. I did not revoke my responsibility."
The arrogance of it almost stole her breath.
"You lost the right to responsibility," she replied.
Something dangerous flickered in his eyes then.
Not rage.
Something closer to injury.
Before he could respond, Luca stepped slightly forward. Not blocking her. Not shielding.
But near enough that the gesture carried meaning.
Alessandro noticed.
Of course he noticed.
His voice cooled several degrees.
"You are standing very close to my wife."
"Ex wife," Luca corrected.
A thin smile touched Alessandro's mouth.
"Legal language does not interest me."
The air tightened again.
Elena exhaled slowly.
"This is pointless," she said. "I am not returning to a man who believes I betrayed him."
"You did," Alessandro replied.
The words landed like ice.
Luca's gaze sharpened.
Elena felt something inside her.
Not hurt.
Not this time.
Clarity.
"Then why are you here?" she asked quietly.
A pause followed.
For the first time since she had known him, Alessandro seemed to choose his words carefully.
"Because someone tried to kill you."
"And suddenly my life matters again?"
"It always mattered."
The answer came too fast.
Too raw.
He seemed almost aware of it himself, because his expression hardened immediately afterward.
Elena studied him.
Five years of marriage had taught her how to read the spaces between his words.
Something had shifted.
Small.
But undeniable.
Luca spoke before the silence could stretch further.
"She is staying."
Alessandro turned slowly toward him.
"You are enjoying this."
"I enjoy correcting your mistakes."
A quiet beat passed.
Then Alessandro said something that made the temperature drop.
"Be careful you do not become one."
For a fraction of a second, something lethal flashed behind Luca's calm exterior.
Elena stepped forward.
"Stop."
Both men looked at her.
Good.
Let them.
"I will decide where I go," she said.
Not loudly.
But with enough steel that neither interrupted.
"I will not be transferred between you like territory."
Alessandro's gaze moved over her face.
Measuring.
Searching.
"You sound different."
"I am."
Another silence.
Then one of Luca's men appeared at the far end of the hall.
"Sir. He is awake."
Luca nodded once.
"Good."
Elena's attention sharpened.
"The attacker."
"Yes."
"I want to see him."
"No."
Both men said it at the same time.
She almost smiled.
"I was the target. I deserve answers."
Alessandro studied her.
"You would not have survived five years with me if you were fragile," he said quietly.
The statement was not kind.
It was recognition.
Luca glanced between them, then made a decision.
"Five minutes," he said.
Alessandro's head turned sharply.
"This is reckless."
"So is underestimating her," Luca replied.
A long moment passed.
Then Alessandro said nothing more.
That silence was permission.
They descended into the lower level of the house.
The air grew cooler.
Heavier.
The man in the chair looked smaller than Elena expected.
Blood crusted at the corner of his mouth. His wrists were secured. One eye swollen nearly shut.
Fear radiated from him in sharp waves.
Good.
Let him be afraid.
When Luca stepped forward, the man flinched violently.
"Elena," Luca said quietly, "stay behind me."
She did not argue.
"Who sent you?" Luca asked.
The man swallowed.
"No one."
Luca sighed softly, as though disappointed by a child.
One of his men stepped forward and pressed something cold against the attacker's hand.
The scream was immediate.
Elena did not look away.
She refused to.
"Try again," Luca said calmly.
"Titus," the man gasped. "It was Titus Morelli."
The name meant nothing to her.
But the effect on Alessandro was instant.
His entire body went still.
"That is impossible," he said quietly.
Luca's eyes narrowed.
"You know him."
"Titus Morelli has been dead for three years."
The attacker shook his head frantically.
"He is alive. I swear it. We were paid through intermediaries. No names. No faces. Just instructions."
Elena felt a slow chill creep down her spine.
Someone who was supposed to be dead…
was hunting her.
"Why me?" she asked.
The man looked at her with desperate confusion.
"We were told you knew something."
"Knew what?"
"I do not know!"
Luca studied him for a long moment.
Then he turned slightly toward Alessandro.
"Seems your ghosts are becoming active again."
Alessandro's gaze remained locked on the prisoner.
A storm gathering behind his composure.
"This is connected to the accusation against her," Luca continued.
"Yes," Alessandro said quietly.
Understanding moved between them.
Old enemies.
Old wars.
Old secrets.
Elena realized something chilling then.
This had never been about a simple divorce.
She had been removed from Alessandro's life with precision.
Engineered.
Planned.
Alessandro turned to her slowly.
For the first time since she met him…
she saw something dangerously close to regret.
"If Titus Morelli is alive," he said, "then you were never accused by coincidence."
Too late, she thought.
Much too late.
Luca spoke softly beside her.
"Which means," he said, "this is no longer just your war, Alessandro."
Their eyes met.
"It is mine now."
The room seemed to shrink.
Predators aligning.
Predators circling.
Elena drew a slow breath.
Her life had not fallen apart.
It had been strategically dismantled.
And now…
The men who ruled her world were preparing for something far bigger than revenge.
War was coming.
And this time…
She refused to stand in the shadows.