The estate smoldered under the midday sun, its scorched walls and shattered gates a testament to the night's chaos. Bella's boots crunched over debris, rifle steady, eyes scanning. Yet despite the battlefield, her attention was pulled by the two men at her side Crystal and Christian.
Crystal moved like liquid danger, every step precise, every glance scorching her. He brushed her arm not accidental this time, deliberate and Bella felt it like a spark that ignited her nerves. His dark eyes held something feral, a claim he refused to voice aloud but that burned clear in his gaze.
"You think you can keep tempting me like this?" he muttered, voice low, raw with unspent tension.
Bella smirked, heart hammering. "I don't tempt. I control the fire."
Before Crystal could answer, Christian stepped close, his presence solid, commanding. His fingers pressed against the small of her back as he guided her behind cover, and Bella felt the pull of his storm-dark intensity seep into her skin.
"You're reckless," he murmured, almost a growl, his lips brushing her ear. "One wrong move—"
"—and I survive," she finished, voice sharp, teasing, letting the heat between them coil like a living thing. She didn't choose yet but both men knew she could, and that alone sent shivers down their spines.
Bullets screamed past them, the chaos of Russo's remaining forces tearing at the estate. But Bella didn't flinch; she thrived. Each shot she fired was precise, each maneuver calculated. Crystal covered her left flank, Christian the right. Together, they were a deadly triad, lethal and magnetic.
Crystal growled low as another mercenary lunged for her. Bella twisted, grabbed his wrist, flipped him into a pile of rubble, and their fingers lingered, locked in a brief, electric moment. "Careful," he muttered, dark and warning.
"I don't need careful," she replied, eyes glinting with dangerous delight. "I need chaos."
Christian's hand pressed against her back again, grounding her even as the battle raged. His voice was low, intense. "You'll destroy us all if you keep this up," he said, the words edged with desire she could feel in her chest.
Bella's gaze darted between them, fierce, untamed, impossible to resist. Crystal's heat and Christian's storm the two fires threatening to consume her drew her pulse into a chaotic rhythm she couldn't deny. And yet, she stood firm, letting both men feel the tension coil like a living, breathing thing.
A sharp explosion rocked the estate. Smoke and dust clawed at their faces, and Bella leapt atop a burning car, rifle raised, firing at the advancing mercenaries. Crystal vaulted beside her, landing with lethal grace, and Christian moved in from behind, every step deliberate, protective.
Their movements synchronized as if she had orchestrated them, and in that deadly ballet, the electricity between them was undeniable. Crystal pressed against her arm briefly to steady her aim; Christian's chest brushed her back when he guided her to better cover. Bella's heart raced not from fear, but from the pull of two storms converging, raw and relentless.
Crystal's lips curved into a dangerous smirk. "You're mine," he growled.
Christian's hand tightened on her back, firm but not overbearing. "No. You're ours. But I'll fight for you every second."
Bella's lips curved into a wicked grin. "Then fight," she whispered, letting her words wrap around them like fire. "Fight for me. But know this I decide who survives my storm."
Both men stiffened, dark desire flaring in their eyes, tension thick and almost unbearable. Bella felt it coil, sharp as a knife, intoxicating and dangerous. She let herself savor it, even in the middle of bullets and smoke.
Anthony's soft laughter drifted up from the shadows of his cell, haunting and approving. "Ah, the storm has found its center," he murmured. "She commands fire, men, and hearts alike."
Bella's pulse surged. The battlefield was alive, the fire around her nothing compared to the storm between them. For the first time in the war, she realized: she was untouchable, desired, and untamed and she could bend both men and battle alike to her will.
The estate burned, the mercenaries fell, but in that moment, Bella understood the dangerous truth: the war wasn't just outside. It raged inside her, inside them, a storm of fire, passion, and power. And she intended to master every part of it.