Luciano – POV

In my world, trust is more valuable than gold.

And I don’t hand it out.

Not even to my wife.

But Ciara…

She looks at me like she’s searching for something. Not scared. Just curious.

It makes me drop my guard.

Makes me honest in a way I never meant to be.

The attack came at dusk.

Two cars. No plates. No warning.

Mateo caught it first—

“Six men. Unmarked. West gate.”

This wasn’t random.

It was a message.

And I had every intention of answering with bullets.

Ciara – POV

I didn’t expect him to protect me.

But he did.

Luciano grabbed me, pulled me behind him, and took aim.

He wasn’t just calm—he was a machine. Controlled. Deadly.

I asked, “They came for you?”

He didn’t look at me.

“They came for what I love.”

My heart skipped.

He didn’t realize what he’d said.

But I did.

Soraya – POV

The world exploded.

Gunshots cracked like thunder.

Screams. Glass. Panic.

I grabbed a knife off the counter. I wasn’t about to die in some corner, crying.

Then

“GET DOWN!”

Mateo tackled me just as the window shattered.

His body shielded mine.

Glass cut my face. My ears rang.

“You’re insane,” I breathed.

“Maybe,” he said. “But I’m not letting you die like that.”

Even when it was over, he stayed on top of me.

His hand didn’t move.

And I hated how right it felt.

Luciano – POV

I cornered the last man myself.

Knocked the gun from his hand.

Then I saw Ciara.

She was standing behind me. Watching.

I should’ve finished it quick.

But I didn’t.

I looked the bastard in the eyes.

“Tell them next time, I won’t stop at six.”

Then I shot him.

Blood hit my shirt.

Ciara didn’t scream. Didn’t flinch.

She just stared at me like I’d shown her something real.

Something brutal.

Something true.

Ciara – POV

He didn’t say sorry.

Not for the blood. Not for the kill.

And I didn’t ask him to.

Because something in that moment felt… right.

Not the death. Not the violence.

But the certainty.

He’d protect me—even if it turned him into something terrifying.

And that was the night I stopped asking myself who the villain was.

Because I knew—

It wasn’t just him.

Mateo – POV

I wasn’t supposed to care.

Not about Ciara.

Definitely not about Soraya.

But seeing her bleeding—

That shook something in me.

She wasn’t one of us.

But she stood like a fighter. Brave.

And that messed with my head.

Later, I found her on the balcony.

She had a cigarette in her hand.

“I thought princesses didn’t get dirty,” I said.

She looked at me. “I thought monsters didn’t bleed.”

I leaned on the rail. “We don’t. We just break quieter.”

Her lips twitched. “Is that supposed to impress me?”

“No. I figured you’d like a man who breaks.”

She didn’t answer for a long time.

Then she said, “I liked the way you covered me today.”

“You’re welcome.”

She met my eyes. “Don’t make it a habit.”

Too late.

Soraya – POV

Mateo made it hard to breathe.

He was angry, brooding, infuriating.

But I felt safe near him.

I came here for Ciara.

But I stayed… because he made me want to.

We sat under the stars, not talking much.

He handed me a glass of whiskey.

I took it.

“Why are you always watching me?” I asked.

“Because I can’t figure you out.”

“Try harder.”

He smiled slowly. “You like that I can’t.”

He was right.

Before he left, he brushed my cheek with his thumb.

“You should clean that cut.”

“You offering to help?”

“Only if you ask nicely.”

I didn’t.

But I wanted to.

Ciara – POV

Love wasn’t in the contract.

But it slipped in anyway.

In the quiet moments.

In the way he looked at me without touching.

Now I can’t stop thinking about him.

The man I was forced to marry.

The man who kills without blinking.

The man who still hasn’t kissed me.

I found Soraya in the garden.

“He hasn’t touched me,” I said.

She blinked. “Okay. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you want him to?”

“I think I’m going crazy.”

“No,” she said. “You’re falling.”

Luciano – POV

She hums when she thinks no one’s listening.

A soft sound. Gentle.

It stays in my head longer than gunfire.

I found Mateo cleaning his rifle.

“She’s different,” I said.

“So are you,” he replied.

I ignored him.

“I want to protect her.”

“You already do.”

“Not like that.”

He looked at me. “She scares you.”

I nodded. “She makes me want things I shouldn’t.”

That night, I knocked on her door.

“I can’t sleep,” I said.

“Me neither.”

She let me in.

Ciara – POV

He sat on the bed like he didn’t know what to do.

“I don’t understand you,” I whispered.

“Good. If you did, you’d run.”

“I already tried.”

“You never really wanted to.”

Then I kissed him.

It started slow.

Then we unraveled.

Breathless. Hands tangled.

It wasn’t about power. It was about want.

About trust.

Gunfire, A scream.

Mateo’s voice: “We’ve been betrayed!”

Luciano jumped up.

“I’m coming with you,” I said.

“No.”

“Then promise you’ll come back.”

He didn’t answer.

He just ran into the fire.

And I stood there—half dressed, fully in love—

Knowing I’d given my heart to a man made of war.

Luciano – POV

Blood doesn’t lie.

It stains everything.

Tells you who stood with you.

We lost three men tonight.

Shot in the back.

Which meant only one thing There’s a traitor.

Ciara tried to follow me.

I locked her in the panic room.

“I can’t protect you if you follow me into hell,” I told her.

She pounded on the door. “Then bring me back alive.”

Even then She made me feel alive.

Mateo stormed in. Arm bleeding.

“Someone let them in. One of ours.”

“Who?”

“We don’t know yet.”

But it wasn’t over.

Ciara – POV

In that vault, I could only hear my own heart.

Soraya came in. Pale. Shaking.

“They’re saying your father’s name,” she whispered.

My chest went cold.

“No. He’s gone.”

But I knew better.

My father didn’t die a villain.

He lived long enough to raise one.

When the gunfire stopped, Luciano came back.

His eyes were darker than I’d ever seen.

“They think you were part of it,” he said. “That your father sent you.”

I looked at him. “And what do you think?”

He didn’t answer.

And that silence…

Hurt more than any bullet.