Chapter 16 

The forest behind the Rossi estate was thick with shadows and the stench of blood. 

We ran. 

Branches slapped against my face. Mud splashed my boots. The trees-tall, skeletal-loomed like the dead watching us. Behind us, the gunfire hadn’t stopped. Not since we’d escaped the burning mansion. 

“They’re still on us,” Sam gasped, glancing over his shoulder. 

No shit. 

They were fast. Smarter than we thought. The mafia hunters didn’t care about the war betwee families-they wanted bodies. And now that the Rossi empire had fallen, they came like vultures 

This was the moment they’d been waiting for. 

I should’ve seen it coming. 

We were easy prey now, fractured and exhausted. Our enemies were many. Their weapons 

worse. 

They had guns that weren’t just loud. They tore through armor like it was paper Special-forces-grade-illegal even by underworld standards. 

Every time one of my men fell, the blast left nothing but red mist and silence. 

We sprinted deeper into the trees. I guided them through old paths-paths I memorized as a child when I needed to escape the estate. 

But something felt off. 

The air was too quiet. 

The birds had stopped singing. 

I skidded to a halt near a fallen tree. Sam signaled from the right, waving for us to follow him 

toward a clearing. 

“This way!” 

I hesitated. 

“This isn’t-” I started, but they were already ahead of me. 

I chased after them-and the ground dropped out beneath us. 

We stopped. 

Before us was a jagged cliff face. A wall of rock stretching up like the edge of the world. Behind us? The forest-and the sound of boots closing in. 

“Dead end,” Lothario growled. 

No escape. 

Sam’s face went pale. “Shit-” 

I spun around, gun raised, just as the first of them emerged from the trees. 

Hunters. 

12:08 am P P P P 

At least twenty. Dressed in black, armed to the teeth. Faces masked. Eyes cold. 

We opened fire. 

The woods became a warzone. 

Bullets tore through trees, splinters exploded into the air. My men dropped one by one. I ducked, rolled, shot, kept moving. Lothario was beside me, his hands a blur with every shot. Sam tossed grenades, clearing small gaps-but they kept coming. 

They were better trained. Better armed. And they were not here to arrest. 

They were here to clean up. 

“We’re pinned!” Sam yelled. “This isn’t working!” 

gritted my teeth. Then I saw them. 

Don Matteo and Marian. 

Slipping through the chaos-dragging themselves toward the side of the cliff, where a narrow 

rail curved into the rocks. 

Cowards. Always finding the cracks. 

Marian looked back once, her eyes meeting mine. 

She smirked. 

‘Dammit!” I snarled, raising my gun. 

sprinted after them. 

But then- 

IVANNA-MOVE!” 

Lothario’s voice. 

turned-and saw the glint of a sniper scope. 

Too late. 

BANG! 

The shot rang out. 

But I wasn’t the one who fell. 

“CHRIS?!” 

He stood between me and Lothario-just for a second. 

Then he dropped. 

Blood soaked his shirt, crimson pooling fast. He gasped for breath as he crumpled, his hand clutching Lothario’s coat as he sank. 

I fell to my knees beside him. 

“No… no, no-dammit, Christ” 

His eyes blinked slowly. He smiled, even as his lips turned red. 

“You told me… not to die on you,” he whispered. “Sorry, I guess…. I didn’t listen well.” 

“Shut up,” I snapped, my voice cracking. I pressed my hands against the wound, shaking. “Don’t you dare go out like this. Not now. Not after all that guilt and brotherly crap you just dumped on 

Chapter 16 

12:08 am PP PP. 

me.” 

He coughed. “Still… got it off my chest…” 

Another shot whizzed past us. 

More hunters arrived, emerging from the trees like nightmares. 

We were surrounded. 

Trapped. 

Lothario reloaded, blood running down his arm. “This is bad. Ivanna-!” 

Then we heard it. 

WUMP. WUMP. WUMP. 

A heavy thumping sound-above. 

Ne looked up. 

A black helicopter hovered above the clearing, slicing through the canopy. The emblem on its side made my blood run cold. 

knew it. 

knew that logo. 

And then- 

Sunfire exploded from the side door. Hunters dropped, one by one, taken out by precise, 

calculated shots from above. 

Another helicopter arrived. Then a third. 

Our enemies began retreating-scrambling through the trees, abandoning their pursuit. 

kept staring up at the helicopters, dazed by the wind and noise, my heart pounding so loud it drowned everything else out. 

But I should’ve known better. 

should’ve looked away. 

Should’ve remembered that in war, distraction is a weakness. 

‘Ivanna!!” 

Lothario’s voice tore through the chaos-urgent, desperate. 

whipped my head toward him, confused-then I felt it. 

A sharp burst in my side, like lightning tearing through my ribs. 

My body jerked before I even understood. 

The ground rushed up to meet me. 

W-What…? 

Why am I falling…? 

My knees hit the dirt. My gun slipped from my fingers. My vision spun as blood pounded behind 

my eyes. 

I could barely breathe. 

Chapter 16. 

3/4 66.1% 

12:08 am Pppp. 

Lothario was running toward me-I could see his mouth open, shouting something I couldn’t 

hear. 

But behind him- 

A masked man. Rifle raised. Aiming. 

‘N-No…” I gasped, voice shredded by panic and pain. 

tried to scream. 

To reach him. 

But my body wouldn’t move. 

My vision blurred, and the last thing I saw- 

.othario collapsing not far from me. 

And Chris… 

Chris being dragged away by two more masked figures, limp and bleeding. 

My fingers twitched against the earth. 

Shit… 

‘hen- 

Everything went black. 

12:08 am P P P P