Chapter 8 - The Traitor's Price
The revelation of a traitor inside the Ravellini family brought Luca to Rhode Island within four hours. He arrived in a high-speed helicopter that landed directly on the estate’s concrete pad, his dark overcoat trailing behind him like a shroud as he stormed through the shattered terrace doors.
He didn't look at the blood on the floor or the dead mercenaries being cleared by his men. He walked straight to the kitchen where I was sitting with Sofia, his eyes wild with a terrifying, protective panic.
"Are you hurt?" Luca demanded, his large hands instantly gripping my shoulders, his eyes scanning my face with an intensity that made my heart hammer. "Mia, look at me. Did they touch you?"
"I’m fine, Luca," I said, my voice trembling as I reached up, my fingers locking onto his wrists. "Marco saved us. But they knew exactly where we were."
Luca pulled me tight against his chest, his arms wrapping around my waist with a force that almost took my breath away. He held me for a long, quiet moment, his heart pounding violently against my ribs. In that embrace, the last remnants of the Don vanished, leaving only a man who was terrified of losing the woman he had spent weeks trying to protect.
He pulled away, his face turning back into a mask of cold stone as he looked at Marco. "Who was it?"
"Silvio," Marco said quietly, leaning against the counter.
"We checked his phone records after the breach. He received a wire transfer from a shell company in the Cayman Islands three hours before the attack. He’s the one who gave Chen the sonar bypass codes for the cliffs. He’s currently at his penthouse in the Back Bay, preparing to leave for Switzerland."
Luca didn't shout. He didn't smash anything. He slowly reached into his jacket and pulled out his heavy silver revolver, checking the cylinder with a slow, rhythmic click that sounded like a death sentence.
"Marco, take twenty men and secure the airport," Luca said, his voice dropping into a register so low it felt like ice dropping into the room.
"Silvio does not leave this city. He does not reach the highway. I want him brought to the old warehouse at District 4. And call Jimmy Chen on the secure line. Tell him I have his ledger, I have his money, and I have his traitor. Tell him to meet me at the Midnight Bridge at three o'clock tomorrow morning to finish this."
He turned back to me, his dark eyes locking onto mine with a profound, heavy vulnerability. "I have to end it tonight, Mia. If I don't break them now, they will never stop coming for you. Stay here with Marco's remaining men. When the sun comes up tomorrow, you will be free."
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I reached out, my fingers catching the lapel of his jacket, tears filling my eyes as I looked at the man who was risking his entire empire to keep my family alive. "Don't die, Luca. Please. The club is gone, the city is burning... don't let them take you too."
Luca leaned down, his lips brushing against mine in a slow, deep, and fiercely possessive kiss that tasted of salt and rain. "A Ravellini doesn't die in the dark, Mia. I’ll see you at dawn."
