Chapter 2 - BULLETS AND BREATHLESS LIESTime fractured into milliseconds.
Matteo’s jaw clenched so hard I thought bone would snap. The silence between them wasn't hesitation; it was the calculated calibration of a predator measuring wind speed and angles.
"You think she means something to me?" Matteo’s voice was velvet-wrapped poison. "She’s a disgraced nurse I bought off the street to wipe my son's nose. Kill her, Julian. See how fast my men turn your bones into dust."
A cold spike drove straight through my chest. A nurse I bought off the street.
For a second, the warmth of the man who had looked at me with haunting vulnerability in my bedroom evaporated. He was the Chicago mob boss again—ruthless, untouchable, and incapable of mercy.
Julian hesitated, his eyes darting to Matteo’s unblinking gaze. That fraction of a second was all the opening required.
Bang.
There was no loud explosion, just a dull, wet thud. Julian’s eyes went wide, his grip on the knife slackening as a clean bullet hole tore through his right shoulder. He dropped me, gasping, stumbling backward into the dark paneling of the wall.
Before he could raise his weapon, Matteo was across the hall. He didn't shoot again; he slammed Julian into the wall with enough force to shatter the plaster, driving the butt of his pistol into Julian's temple. Julian crumpled like a broken marionette, unconscious before he hit the floor.
Matteo stood over him, chest heaving, his gaze snapping instantly back to me.
He didn't check Julian. He didn't check the perimeter. He crossed the floor in two strides, ripped Leo from my arms with surprising gentleness, and grabbed my wrist with his free hand, yanking me forward.
"Move," he hissed, dragging me toward a hidden panel behind the nursery bookcase. "They're breaching the east wing. If we don't get underground now, we're all dead."
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"You lied to him," I gasped, stumbling behind him as the secret door clicked open into pitch-black stairs. "You called me nothing. You used me!"
Matteo didn't look back as he pulled me into the dark. "I kept you alive, Elena. Shut your mouth and run."
