Page 57 of Unworthy Ties
I didn’t hesitate. My boots slammed against the metal grating as I climbed, Felix right behind me. Every second counted. Salvatore’s grip on Gabriella tightened, her wide eyes meeting mine.
“Let her go!” I roared, my voice echoing through the cavernous space, but it only seemed to amuse him.
His laughter echoed through the cavernous space, a chilling sound that danced along the rafters. “You think you can just waltz in here and take her? You’re too late.”
Salvatore held a knife above her throat, glinting in the dim light like a serpent ready to strike. The air thickened with tension, each heartbeat a countdown to catastrophe.
Gabriella’s eyes darted wildly, panic and instinct warring in her gaze. With a desperate flick of her wrist, she shoved the knife slightly to the side, just enough to unbalance Salvatore’s grip.
It was the opening I needed. With a burst of adrenaline, I lunged, striking Salvatore’s chest with everything I had. He stumbled, eyes wide with disbelief, and in one final desperate move, he lost his balance. The knife clattered to the floor as he fell, the sound echoing through the warehouse like a death knell.
I wanted so badly to take my time killing him; to make him scream in pain as he suffered. But I didn’t have that luxury as the world began to shudder around us. The ground rumbled, and Ifelt a strange vibration beneath my feet as if the very structure of the warehouse was protesting against our intrusion.
Through my years of training in the mafia, my reflexes had been honed to near perfection. Instinctively, I leapt to the next section of scaffolding, my body moving before my mind even registered the danger, just as Salvatore Romano plummeted to his death in the chaos.
I landed with a thud on the section of scaffolding Felix was standing on. The impact rattled the unstable metal, and combined with the collapse of the section Salvatore had taken down with him, the vibration shuddered outward like a shockwave. Gabriella’s platform groaned under the strain, bolts snapping loose one by one until the entire piece lurched violently.
The metal frame screamed as it hung by one last bolt, grinding and snapping reverberating through the air. I could almost feel the warehouse itself inhale, preparing to exhale chaos. Gabriella’s terrified scream pierced through the noise, and instinct propelled me forward.
Our twin blood surged in tandem again—Felix hurled himself forward at the very same moment, as if the same pulse had driven us both. At the same time, we both outstretched our hands for her. As Felix’s hand shot towards her, she flailed and her fingers found mine instead.
I pulled her up from dangling over the void as she clung desperately to my wrist, her breath hitching with fear and disbelief. Her terrified gaze locked onto mine, and something deep within me shattered as I felt the warmth of her skin against my palm.
As I hoisted her up, the world around us faded into a distant roar. Gabriella’s eyes brimmed with a mix of gratitude and fear, a reflection of everything we had just faced. The moment ourfingers intertwined felt electric, a connection igniting between us that transcended the chaos surrounding us.
“That is very romantic,” Felix said, a sense of urgency in his voice. “But we need to get the fuck off this scaffolding.”
The scaffolding creaked ominously beneath us, echoing Felix’s words as I yanked Gabriella up, adrenaline surging through my veins. We had to move fast; the entire structure groaned like a wounded beast, and the ground trembled beneath our feet.
As we sprinted across the unstable scaffolding, every step felt like a gamble with fate. The surrounding chaos seemed to intensify, the sounds of destruction growing louder with each passing moment.
Felix took the lead, his movements quick and decisive as he led us through the maze of metal beams and crumbling platforms. The air was thick with dust and the acrid smell of burning metal, adding to the sense of urgency that fueled our escape.
Finally, we reached the edge of the scaffolding, a narrow path leading to safety. Without hesitation, Felix urged us forward, his determination unwavering. As we made our escape, the structure behind us groaned its final protest before succumbing to the forces of gravity.
The entire structure collapsed in a thunderous roar, crashing down in a storm of twisted metal and sparks. I held Gabriella tight against me as the ground shook, dust billowing up around us, swallowing the wreckage in a choking haze.
For a long, breathless moment, none of us moved. Then Felix let out a sharp laugh—half-relief, half-exhaustion. “We made it,” he said.
I glanced at Gabriella, her trembling hand still gripping mine like a lifeline, her wide eyes locked on me. My chest heaved, lungs burning, but I managed a small, grim smile.
“Yeah,” I said. “We did.”
Chapter 30
Rocco
The ringing in my ears hadn’t faded, but the reality of our survival began to set in, slow and heavy, like the ache after a long fight. Gabriella and I were covered head to toe in dust, our clothes streaked with grime, our skin burning with the sting of scrapes we hadn’t even noticed in the chaos. Each breath pulled in the metallic tang of smoke and rust, thick in my lungs, but all that mattered was that we were breathing at all. We stumbled through the wreckage side by side, the sharp crunch of twisted metal and shattered glass beneath our feet marking our path as we pushed toward the back door. When it finally gave way, the cool night air rushed to meet us, a shock after the suffocating heat inside.
We emerged into the moonlit courtyard, the sky a deep indigo canvas dotted with stars, like tiny diamonds scattered across velvet. The world felt eerily still, as if it held its breath, waiting for our next move. I turned to Gabriella, her face illuminated bythe pale glow of the moon. Her hair, tangled and wild, framed her face like a halo, and despite the chaos that surrounded us, she looked ethereal.
“I’m sorry,” I said, the words quiet but heavy. I wasn’t even sure what I was apologizing for, but there seemed to be so much to carry. For putting her in danger, for not finding her sooner, for every moment she’d been afraid because of me. But when her eyes met mine, searching and steady, I realized what I really meant was something deeper, something I’d been holding back far too long.
“Why are you sorry? It was my fault.” She ground the toe of her shoe in the dirt as if trying to bury the weight of her own guilt. “I shouldn’t have left the house.”
“I should have told you about those files,” I said. “About the other options I had for marriage.”
Her lips parted slightly, like she wanted to say something, but instead she just reached out and touched my arm, her fingers leaving streaks of dust against my skin. That small contact unraveled me more than the firefight, more than the collapse of steel and stone.
