Page 79 of Dario DeLuca

Questions batter my brain—how did he survive the fire? How did he go unnoticed all this time? Surely, someone would have reported that there was a survivor.

My eyes narrow to slits as I study the ruined visage beneath me. "Keep talking."

He hawks up a thick wad of phlegm and blood, spitting it onto the concrete between us. "That night…" Another wheezing gasp as he struggles to draw breath. "I was just a kid, trapped under a bookcase as the flames closed in."

Searing images flicker through my mind—the hellish roar of the inferno, the scorching waves of heat that blistered flesh from bone. I wasn’t there that night, but I remember hearing about how bad the flames were. No one was meant to survive, but he did.

"By the time I crawled free, the whole place was an oven." His words emerge in a pained rasp, but his swollen eyes have a glint of sick satisfaction. "I watched your boss, your father…Carmine…flick his cigar at the kindling before leaving. He didn’t know I’d gotten out, didn’t even bother double-checking."

“You want vengeance. Why go after the mayor and his family?”

“You really think a piece of shit like Carmine covered that up alone?” Another wet cough sprays crimson droplets onto my shirt. "The mayor was in his pocket. Of course, he was only a DA then; he and the detective…Harris…they made it look like no one survived. Painted it out as if there was a tragic electrical fire that unfortunately killed everyone inside.”

“Why haven’t you come forward before now? Where have you been?”

“After your father left everything I love to burn in the ashes, I put myself out and crawled for help until I eventually passed out feet away from the rubble. Detective Harris found me and got me to safety.”

“What?” I yell, not believing what I’m hearing.

All this time, the police chief knew there was a survivor and said nothing. He knew this man was after Mia and kept it to himself. Anger flashes behind my eyes, and I have to will myself to think straight.

“He made sure I got medical treatment and arranged for me to be sent off to a distant relative. At the time, I thought he was doing the right thing to keep an innocent kid safe just in case Carmine realized I survived and came back to finish the job. “

He pauses for a moment, trying to catch his breath.

“Imagine my surprise when I saw the news coverage of the now-mayor and his beloved daughter working with the very family that killed mine to rebuild my home into that bullshit community center. From that moment on, I dug up everything that I could, and that’s when I learned about the mayor's involvement as well as that cop. They all covered their asses after ruining the lives of so many."

The room goes silent as I let what he’s said sink in. Much of this, I’d figured out. The mayor and the chief's involvement isn’t news to me. We pieced those details together from the records on my father’s drive. But he did put the final piece of the puzzle together for us.

And as angry as I am, I understand why Harris said nothing. My father, indeed, would have hunted the kid down and ended him. But now, his actions have led to our most recent events. That child he worked so hard to save grew up with hate in his heart and a mission to end the bloodline of those who took his—including Mia and Gabby.

After a beat, I continue. “Who else are you working with?”

He chokes and shifts in his seat. “No one. You killed my guy when he tried to take the mayor’s daughter at the gas station.”

I straighten, pulling the Beretta from my waistband, and check the chamber. As always, it's loaded and ready for use.

"You should've stayed in hiding, Pietro," I say, taking a measured step toward him. "Maybe then you could've lived out the rest of your miserable life pretending the past never happened."

His remaining eye widens a fraction as I level the muzzle between his eyes.

"But now that you've come gunning for the woman I love? This is where your story ends."

The confession of my feelings for Mia comes tumbling out without thought.I love her. She came into my life and turned it upside down, and I’ll be damned if I let him or anyone else interfere with that.

A mocking, blood-speckled laugh bubbles up from his lipless mouth. "Go ahead and kill me, you piece of shit. Just know…I'll be waiting for you in Hell."

"Dario, no!" Mia rushes into view, eyes wild as she pleads in a futile attempt to save this man’s life. "Please…don’t do this. No more killing."

I freeze, muscles coiled tight as I drink in the sight of her—disheveled curls framing that heart-shaped face. Despite the chaos swirling around us, she's a vision that calms the storm.

“Let the system handle him.” A delicate hand rises to caress my cheek, the warmth of her touch in stark contrast to the cold fury pulsing through my veins. "Be better than him."

She’s so good. Too good for this world. She sees the best in people and will always go out of her way to protect the innocent. It’s who she is at her very core, and she shows it every day in the work she does for the people of the city—the true innocent.

In her mind, he was just a child who was supposed to be protected. Someone let down by the system she believes will bring him to justice. But that’s where we differ. There’s no retribution, no justice. Only blood and chaos. He won’t stop until he gets what he set out for.

Her life and everyone we care about.

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