Laurel P.O.V
Richardo closed his eyes briefly like a man bracing for impact.
"Because" He said,opening them again, "killing you would have been easier than living with what I'm becoming"
My heart broke open.
The room didn't breathe again for a while until the men were completely gone.
Their footsteps still lingered the corridor, heavy and final like the opening of a grave. The silence they left behind was worse than their presence. It pressed against my ears, thick and suffocating, broken only by the faint hum of the hidden ventilation and the slow, dangerous rhythm of Richardo's breathing.
My knees trembled as I bent down.
The documents were scattered across the marble floor like wounded birds, pages torn from secrecy, edges curled, ink smudged where a glass of whiskey had spilt. Names, symbols, and signatures I didn't understand. Power written on paper. Death written in ink.
I reached for one.
But his hand struck first.
The sound of paper squeezing echoed louder than a gunshot as Richardo snatched the documents from my fingers and yanked me upright with his glare alone.
"Why can't you just act ignorant" He snarled, his voice was low and sharp, "and stay obedient?"
I froze.
I had seen anger before. I had lived around men who raised their voices and called it authority. But this was different. This was controlled fury, polished and lethal like a blade kept sharp on purpose.
My heart thudded so hard it hurt.
I stared at him, really stared, at the man who had pulled me out of hell only to drag me deeper into another one. His jaw was tight, his eyes dark and unreadable, his body still bearing the marks of violence he had survived for me or because of me.
My voice came out steadier than I felt.
"I was peacefully in Ontario with my girls" I said quietly. "Who brought me into this fucking mess?"
The words landed between us like a dropped weapon.
For the first time, Richardo looked...startled.
It lasted only a second.
Then his face hardened into something colder.
"I should have left you with those men earlier"
The sentence sliced through me.
Before I could respond, he turned away, walked to the wall panel I hadn't even known existed. His fingers pressed against a part. The wall breathed open.
And the hidden door appeared again.
He shoved the documents inside without care, sealing secrets back into darkness and shut the panel with a final click that sounded like a verdict.
When he turned back to me, his voice was calm again. That frightened me more than his anger.
"You've seen too much" He said. "And they will come for you again"
My stomach dropped.
"What can I do" I whispered, stepping back, "to get away from the Dons?"
He laughed.
Not amused. Not cruel.
Just tired.
"No one has ever gotten away from the Dons alive" He said. "You should be thankful you're still breathing freely now"
The door opened before I could respond.
Abigail walked in like she owned the room and maybe she did.
Her heels were silent against the floor. Her eyes went from Richardo to me, sharp and assessing like she was measuring how much trouble I was worth.
"Perché vuoi proteggerla così tanto?" She asked.
(TRANSLATION: Why do you want to protect her so badly?)
Richardo answered her without hesitation, his voice also slipped into Italian. "Proteggo ciò che possiedo,Abigail"
(TRANSLATION: I protect what I own, Abigail)
"Ti ho anche salvato!! Saresti morto se non ti avessi scelto come Consigliere" He said calmly.
(TRANSLATION: I also saved you!! You would have been dead if I didn't choose you as Consigliere)
I didn't understand the words,but I understood the tone. History. Loyalty. Blood-deep decisions.
He said her name in a way that carried weight. Respect.
Abigail's reply was softer, but more dangerous. "Stai percorrendo la strada sbagliata"
(TRANSLATION: You're walking to the wrong path)
I caught fragments. Her voice tightened. Her gaze flicked to me again.
"Your voice has the right to question my decision,but you worry too much"
Then she said something that made Richardo stiffen.
And she turned to me.
"What if she's a spy?"
The room tilted.
Abigail's hand moved to the back of her trousers and she pulled out a gun like it had always been hidden there.
My breath vanished.
She pointed it at me with unsettling calm.
"If I find out you're here for information" She said, still watching Richardo, "I'll kill you myself"
"She isn't" Richardo snapped.
The gun fired.
For a moment, I thought I was going to die in her hands.
But surprisingly, the bullet slammed into the wall behind my head, so close I felt the heat brush my arm.
The impact cracked something inside me. I stumbled, screamed without sound and collapsed to the floor as the echo rang through my skull.
Richardo surged forward-
And his phone rang.
The sound cut through everything.
He stopped.
His eyes dropped to the screen.
I saw a glimpse of a word.
ALPHA.
The anger drained from his face.
He walked to the window to answer, his back to me, his voice lowering into something careful and dangerous.
Abigail crouched in front of me.
Her perfume was sharp. Her smile wasn't kind.
"You can get away from the Mafia" She whispered, "but you can't get away from me"
My throat burned.
"Richardo can't see the tricks you're playing" She continued softly. "But I'm the eye. And you won't see me watching until you're begging for your life"
She patted my shoulder-slow, deliberate, then she stood and walked away.
I swallowed my fear and listened.
"Я могу с ней справиться" I heard Richardo said into the phone.
(TRANSLATION: I can deal with her)
A voice answered-cold, distant, absolute.
"She's a spy"
"She is my hostage" Richardo replied so calm.
"Why isn't she dead yet?" The voice demanded.
"Вы отказались от предложений из-за неё"
(TRANSLATION: You've refused offers because of her)
"I protect what I own" I heard Richardo's response as if he was claiming me.
Silence suddenly filled the room.
Then the voice threatened on the phone.
"If she's alive after sundown, I take over"
The call ended.
My legs gave out.
That was when I knew.
ALPHA was the Don.
The one everyone feared.
The one whose name ended men.
I crawled.
Across the floor. Across my pride.
I clutched Richardo's leg like it was the last solid thing in the world.
"Please" I begged. "Save me"
He looked down at me, surprised, not by my fear, but by my weakness.
"You brought this on yourself" He said.
"I warned you not to get curious"
He stepped back.
That distance hurt more than the gunshot.
I realized then, he hadn't saved me because he cared.
He saved me because he needed his secret to be save.
A secret.
A loose end.
I was meant to die in his world of power.
His phone buzzed again. He made a call.
Then two men entered.
They grabbed me. Tied my hands.
I begged. I cried. I said his name like it meant something.
But he didn't look at me.
They dragged me down a corridor and threw me into a room.
The door slammed.
The room was beautiful.
Silk sheets. Velvet curtains. A bed fit for a queen.
A prison wrapped in luxury.
No windows. No exits.
I sank onto the bed, numb.
Tonight, I would die.
And the worst part?
The safest place I had ever known...was right beside the man who had once wanted me dead.