Luca’s sharp voice cut through the tension like a blade.
“We need to run. Now.”
The first gunshot rang out, shattering the tense silence.
Marco grabbed Carmen’s wrist and pulled her back, his instincts kicking in as bullets tore through the air.
Ella’s men were shooting to kill.
Carmen’s heart pounded violently against her ribs. She barely had time to process Matteo’s blank stare before chaos erupted around them.
Marco and Luca fired back, taking down two men as they rushed toward the exit.
Carmen’s legs felt weak, her stomach twisting.
“Matteo!” she screamed, desperation making her voice crack.
She turned, trying to push past Marco, but his grip on her was like iron.
“We can’t get to him now!” he snapped. “Move!”
More gunfire.
The scent of burning gunpowder filled the air.
Luca kicked open the front doors, leading them outside where the car was waiting.
“Go, go, go!” he shouted.
Marco shoved Carmen inside first, then climbed in as bullets shattered the windows behind them.
Luca hit the gas.
The tires screeched as they sped away from the mansion, the night swallowing them whole.
A Tense Escape
Inside the car, no one spoke.
Carmen sat in the back, her breathing unsteady, her hands shaking violently.
Matteo’s voice echoed in her mind.
“I don’t know you.”
Her body shuddered. Ella had poisoned him. Stolen him right in front of her.
Marco sat in the passenger seat, his jaw clenched so tight it looked painful.
His hands trembled with fury. Frustration. Helplessness.
Luca’s grip on the wheel was tight, knuckles white.
“That was a f**king setup,” he muttered, his tone sharp. “She wanted to show us she’s already won.”
Marco’s eyes darkened.
“She hasn’t won,” he growled. “Not f**king yet.”
Carmen lifted her head, her voice raw with grief.
“She’s been brainwashing him for weeks,” she whispered.
Marco’s breath hitched. He knew she was right. Matteo hadn’t been taken yesterday. He had been slowly slipping away.
Every time he reached for Ella instead of Carmen. Every time he spoke in strange riddles. Every time he hesitated when calling them Mama and Daddy.
Ella had been playing the long game.
And Marco had let it happen.
“We were too late,” Carmen said, tears slipping down her cheeks. “I lost him.”
Marco snapped toward her.
“We’re not losing him,” he said, his voice lethal. “Do you hear me, Carmen?”
She didn’t respond.
Just stared at him, eyes hollow.
Marco’s chest tightened. He knew what she was thinking. That Matteo was already gone. That maybe there was no coming back from this.
That maybe…
They had truly lost their son.
Marco’s fingers curled into fists.
“I refuse to f**king lose,” he snarled. “Not to her.”
His pulse roared in his ears as he pulled out his phone.
Luca glanced at him.
“Who are you calling?”
Marco didn’t answer.
He scrolled through his contacts, his heart pounding in his chest. He had one last option. Someone from his past. Someone he never wanted to call again.
But right now?
There was no other choice.