Mag-log inCHAPTER 53 SALVATORE POVI stood at the dock as the boats pulled in.The water lapped against the wood beneath my boots. My clothes still carried the blood from the compound. Matteo stepped off first, bruised and tired but on his feet. Lena ran to him and pulled him into her arms. Her sobs carried on the wind, the first real break since the wedding. I saw it in the way her shoulders shook, the way she held him like he might disappear again. I didn't move. Didn't interrupt. I watched.The relief in Matteo's face. The way Lena cried into his shoulder. The scene hit me quiet, no words, just the sight of them together, safe, home. The obsession that drove me to the compound, the clouding that made me reckless, it all led to this moment. I stayed back and let them have it.The dock felt steady under my boots. The blood on my hands dried as I stood there watching, silent. But the image stayed. Lena breaking. Matteo home. The peace from the morning mixed with this. The walls, the control,
CHAPTER 52 LENA POVThe boats cut through the water toward the dock, engines loud against the quiet evening.I stood at the edge of the fortress grounds, heart hammering hard. The air felt heavy .Salvatore's men had radioed ahead. Matteo was alive. Coming home. I paced the grass, hands twisting together. The panic from the kidnapping still sat in my chest like a stone. Was taken, Because of the life we lived now, because of Salvatore, because of me. But the promise, the way he fought, it kept me standing here. Waiting.The first boat appeared through the fog. Men jumped out. Then Matteo. Bruised. Tired. But walking. Alive. He saw me and his face broke open. He ran. I ran too. He crashed into my arms and I held him tight. Sixteen years old, strong, but in that moment he felt like the boy I had protected from the start. The tears came then, hard and deep. The first real break since the wedding, Everything I had held back poured out in sobs that shook my entire body.Matteo's arms wra
CHAPTER 51 SALVATORE POVI need to bring Matteo back alive; Lena trusted me to do so.I led the team through the trees outside Caruso's hidden location. The safe house sat quiet. Guards patrolled the perimeter. My men moved silently behind me. Weapons ready. Zero words needed. Matteo was inside. Taken because of me. Because of Lena. The obsession to keep her safe had brought this. Now it drove me forward. Brutal."Positions," I whispered into the radio. Teams spread out. Front. Back. Sides. I gave the signal. We stormed the compound. . Doors exploded inward. Men shouted. Caruso guards fell quickly. . I moved through the chaos. Heart pounding. Matteo. I needed him alive.A guard came at me. I shot him down. Another rushed from the side. I took him out. The compound turned into a battlefield. My men cleared rooms. Shots echoed. Bodies dropped. I pushed deeper. The obsession clouded everything. Lena's face. Her panic. Her blame. It fueled every trigger pull. Every step forward. Diego'
CHAPTER 50 LENA POVSalvatore's promise cut through the noise of the war room."Matteo comes home alive." His voice stayed firm. He stood at the center of the maps and reports, eyes scanning every line. Men rushed around him. Phones rang nonstop. Orders flew out. The empire moved under his command. I watched from the edge, my hands clenched at my sides. The panic for Matteo sat heavy in my chest. Already acting like one of the men. Checking perimeters. Handling business. Now taken. Kidnapped. Because of the world Salvatore pulled us into. Because of me. Because of us.I stepped closer to him. "You promise. After everything I said. The blame. The destruction. You stand here. You haven't even slept. Tracking every communication. I see the truth now. Your darkness. The violence. The way you burn everything for us. I still fear it. The rage. The control. But I can't imagine surviving without you beside me. Not after last night. Not after the way you held me. The way you kissed me. The co
CHAPTER 49 SALVATORE POVThe war room hummed with constant activity.Reports came in fast from the field. Warehouses hit. Caruso men down. But Matteo's location stayed hidden somewhere. I stood over the table, eyes on the latest intercepts. Communications. Codes. Pieces coming together slowly. The pattern started to emerge."Got something," I said finally. My finger traced a line on the map carefully. "This signal. Caruso safe house near the coast. Matteo's there. Move teams now."Charlie nodded without hesitation. "Teams ready in ten minutes. We hit hard?""Hard. Alive. Matteo comes out breathing." I turned to the next report on the table. My mind split between two priorities. Matteo. Lena. The obsession to keep her safe clouded everything else. I pushed a strike on another warehouse even if it pulled men from the main rescue operation. "Double the team on the coast. No risks. Nothing happens to the perimeter."Diego stepped closer to me. "Boss. That pulls men from the north route.
CHAPTER 48 LENA POVChaos spread fast across the empire without stopping.Orders flew everywhere. Men moved in and out of the war room constantly. Maps covered every table in front of him. Salvatore stood at the center, eyes sharp, voice steady and controlled. He hadn't slept since the news came. The bandage on his side showed under his open shirt. He ignored the pain completely. Ignored everything but getting Matteo back.I watched from the side of the room. My hands twisted together nervously. Panic still sat heavy in my chest like a stone. Matteo. Taken because of me. Because of us. Salvatore's voice cut through all the noise. "Hit the warehouses tonight. Zero mercy. Caruso feels every loss. Matteo comes home alive."A man nodded quickly. "Teams ready. We move in the dark."Salvatore turned to another without hesitation. "Double the guards on the island. Zero one gets close. Lena stays in my sight until this ends."I stepped closer when the room cleared a little. "You haven't slep
CHAPTER 1.SALVATORE POVTen years ago, my family was slaughtered and burnt down in our own house. Tonight, I was finally returning the favor.Rain hammered against the black windows of the SUV as the cathedral came into view through the darkness. My fingers tightened slowly around the gun resting
CHAPTER 11.SALVATORE POVThe prisoner escaped. Three words. That was all it took for the entire fortress to feel poisoned.I slid the magazine into the gun with a sharp click while Lena stood near the windows watching me carefully. Rain hammered against the glass behind her, silver lightning flash
SALVATORE POVRevenge was supposed to feel cleaner than this. Simple. Kill everyone responsible, walking away empty but satisfied.Instead, I stood outside Lena Moretti's bedroom at two in the morning wondering why I couldn't stop thinking about the way her hands shook when Matteo smiled at her.I
LENA POVI woke up in silk sheets that probably cost more than most people's houses. And for one horrible second, I forgot where I was.The room was quiet except for the sound of waves crashing against rocks somewhere below the fortress. Pale sunlight spilled through massive glass windows overlook







