The rain had not stopped. It poured like the heavens themselves wept for the damned souls trapped within the Moretti compound.
Ayla didn't sleep that night. Couldn't. Elira's wide, lifeless eyes haunted every blink. The echo of the gunshot played over and over in her head. She paced the small room they had given her—if it could even be called that. A cell dressed in velvet. No windows. Just stone walls that seemed to close in tighter with every passing hour.
Her reflection in the cracked mirror looked nothing like the girl who had entered the city weeks ago. Hollow-eyed. Blood-spattered. And burning with a fury she no longer tried to hide.
A knock.
She tensed. "What?"
The door creaked open, and Kade stepped inside. His eyes were cold, unreadable, but his voice was low. "Luca wants you. Now."
---
The grand hall was empty this time. Just Luca. And a table set for two.
Candles flickered, casting strange shadows across his face as he poured two glasses of deep red wine.
