Chapter 5 WHERE IT HURTS

The attack came three days later.

Not loud. Not messy.

Precise.

Elena was in the library when the alarms didn't go off.

That was the first thing that unsettled her.

She'd learned the rhythms of the building quickly-the quiet hum of security, the subtle shifts when guards changed posts. This silence was wrong. Too clean.She was reaching for a book she had no intention of reading when the lights flickered.

Once.

Twice.

Then the glass shattered.

Elena screamed as she was dragged to the floor, hands covering her head. Shouts echoed down the corridor-gunfire sharp and controlled, not panicked. Men moved fast. Too fast.

A body hit the ground near her. Blood pooled across the marble.

"Down!" someone yelled.

She didn't move fast enough.

Hands grabbed her arm-not familiar ones-and terror exploded through her chest.

"No-!"

A single shot rang out.

The grip vanished.

Alessandro was suddenly there, like he'd torn through the building on instinct alone. His suit jacket was gone, gun raised, eyes lethal. He scanned her in half a second, checking for blood, for injuries, for signs she was already gone.

"Elena," he said sharply. "Can you stand?"

She nodded, shaking violently.

He didn't ask permission. He pulled her into him, one arm around her shoulders, shielding her as Luca barked orders nearby.

"You're safe," Alessandro said lowly, fiercely. "I've got you."

The words broke something in her.

They were locked in a secure room minutes later. Reinforced steel. No windows.

Elena sat on the floor, knees pulled to her chest, breathing too fast. Her hands wouldn't stop trembling.

Alessandro crouched in front of her.

Not towering. Not commanding.

Human.

"They knew where you were," she whispered. "They came for me."

"Yes," he said. "And that is on me."

She looked up, eyes blazing despite the fear. "You said I'd be protected."

His jaw tightened. "I underestimated my enemy."

"That almost got me killed."

"I know."

Silence stretched between them-raw, exposed.

Then Elena laughed. A broken sound. "This is insane. I was worried about rent two weeks ago."

Alessandro reached out-then hesitated.

That hesitation mattered more than the touch.

"You shouldn't be here," he said again, but this time it sounded like regret.

"And yet I am," she replied. "Because of you."

The truth landed hard.

He sat back against the wall, running a hand through his hair-an unconscious gesture she hadn't seen before.

"They won't stop now," he said quietly. "You're leverage."

"Then let me go."

His head snapped up. "No."

"See?" she said bitterly. "Control."

"No," he said, voice rough. "Fear."

She blinked.

"Of losing power?" she asked.

"Of losing you," he admitted-then froze.

The room went still.

Elena stared at him, heart pounding. "You don't get to say that," she whispered. "Not unless you mean it."

Alessandro looked away, jaw tight, eyes dark with something dangerously close to guilt.

"I don't let myself care," he said. "It makes people targets."

"Too late," she replied softly. "You already do."

A beat.

Then footsteps outside. The world crashing back in.

Alessandro stood, mask sliding back into place-but it didn't fit as well anymore.

"You'll move closer to my quarters," he said. "No arguments."

She almost protested.

Almost.

Instead, she said quietly, "If I'm staying... you stop pretending I'm just a problem to solve."

He met her gaze.

"I don't know how to pretend that anymore."

Later, alone in his office, Alessandro stared at the bloodstain on his cuff.

The enemy had crossed a line.

But worse-

So had he.

And there was no going back.