Chapter 8

We stood in the center of the courtyard, where the falling snow worked tirelessly to bury the bloodstains on the cobblestones-the remnants of Dante's men trying to halt Luca's entry.

Around us, the engines of the SUVs idled, a low, mechanical growl cutting through the winter air.

Luca held me securely in his arms.

He carried me because my legs refused to hold my weight.

The pain in my back was no longer just an injury; it was a living, parasitic thing, pulsing in time with every beat of my heart.

But we weren't leaving yet.

Dante stood like a sentinel by the gate.

His entire army fanned out behind him, and I could feel the eyes of snipers perched on the roof, tracking our movements.

"You don't just walk away from a marriage," Dante stated, his voice flat. "The Commission won't sanction this."

"The Commission will see the photos of her back," Luca countered, his grip on me tightening. "They will see her hand. They will grant the annulment before the ink is dry."

"I hold a debt," Dante announced.

He produced a coin from his pocket.

It was heavy gold, stamped with the Vitiello crest on one face and the Moretti wolf on the reverse.

It was an ancient obligation. A life debt owed by my father to his father.

"I am calling it in," Dante said.

Luca froze.

"You are invoking a Blood Debt?" Luca asked, incredulous. "To keep a wife you clearly hate?"

"No," Dante replied.

He looked down at Sofia, who was clinging to his arm like a vine.

"I am using the debt to buy immunity for Sofia. You cannot touch her. Not today. Not ever. The Vitiello family cannot hunt her."

Bile rose in my throat, hot and acidic.

He wasn't trying to keep me.

He was utilizing the most powerful currency in our world to ensure I couldn't get justice for my hand.

For Mia.

He was purchasing her safety with the currency of my suffering.

"Done," Luca spat, the word tasting of ash. "The debt is paid. Sofia lives. But Gianna leaves."

"Fine," Dante said.

He didn't even look at me.

"Take her. She is useless to me now anyway."

Useless.

Because I couldn't play. Because I was broken.

I let my head fall against Luca's chest.

"Wait," I whispered.

"Gianna, we need to go," Luca urged, sensing the volatility of the air.

"My cello," I rasped. "The broken one. I want it."

"It is trash," Dante called out, dismissive.

"It is mine," I insisted.

One of Luca's men sprinted back inside.

He returned a moment later, clutching the battered case.

He slid it into the trunk of the waiting SUV.

I looked at Dante one last time.

He looked powerful. Untouchable. The Ice Prince reigning over his kingdom of snow.

But to me, he looked small.

"Goodbye, Dante," I whispered, though the wind snatched my voice away before it could reach him.

He turned his back on me to comfort Sofia.

I vomited then-blood and stomach acid splattering onto the pristine wool of Luca's coat.

"Get her in the car!" Luca shouted, his voice distorting. "She's crashing!"

The world dissolved into black.

When I surfaced from the darkness, the steady hum of jet engines was the only sound.

I was hooked up to an IV, the clear fluid dripping rhythmically.

My hand was heavily bandaged.

Luca sat beside me, his eyes scanning a file.

"Mia?" I asked, my voice a ruin.

Luca looked at me.

His eyes held a profound sadness.

"We couldn't find the body, Gianna. The landfill... it's vast."

He was lying.

I could tell.

He wanted to spare me the details. Or perhaps he didn't want me to know he hadn't looked because of the immunity deal.

It didn't matter.

She was gone.

I looked out the window at the bed of clouds beneath us.

I was going to the Hamptons. To neutral ground.

I was free.

But looking down at my bandaged hand, I knew the truth.

I wasn't free.

I was just a survivor of a war I never knew I was fighting.