Elena's POV
For a heartbeat everything was still. The only sound was the rain, soft, steady, relentless. Then came the flicker of headlights through the cypress trees.
Dante's posture changed instantly. The quiet tension that always surrounded him hardened into something sharp, deliberate.
"They found us" he said.
Elena's pulse spiked. "Who….?"
"Doesn't matter. Move."
She didn't argue. She turned and bolted up the stairs, her bare feet silent against the wood. Mateo was awake when she entered the room, sitting up confused, rubbing his eyes.
"Mommy?"
"Shh" she whispered whilst grabbing his jacket. "We're going somewhere safe, okay?"
Downstairs a door opened then the muffled click of a weapon being loaded.
Dante's voice was calm but cold. "They won't breach quietly."
Elena lifted Mateo into her arms, his small hands clutching her neck. The air smelled faintly of gun oil and rain. Every sound seemed too loud, the wind, her heartbeat, the soft creak of the floorboards as she moved.
Dante met her at the top of the stairs. He was already bleeding through his bandage again, the pistol steady in his good hand.
"Basement" he said. "It's reinforced."
"What about…."
He cut her off with a look. "I'll cover you."
She opened her mouth to argue but the words died when she heard it, the unmistakable crack of gunfire in the distance.
"Go" he said, voice low but unyielding.
Elena hesitated for only a moment before obeying. She rushed down the hall toward the narrow door at the end. Behind her Dante moved with deadly precision, checking corners, scanning windows.
A sudden shatter of glass. Bullets tore through the kitchen window splintering wood and glass into the air. Elena ducked instinctively shielding Mateo.
"Keep your head down!" Dante barked.
She scrambled toward the basement door. Her hands trembled as she pulled it open revealing a steep staircase descending into darkness.
"Go!"
She turned back once more, just long enough to see Dante fire through the broken window, his face a mask of focus and fury. The flash of the muzzle illuminated him for a heartbeat and then he was moving again, switching positions, shouting orders into his comms.
Elena half stumbled, half ran down the stairs. The concrete floor was cold beneath her feet. The basement smelled faintly of dust and gasoline.
She set Mateo down behind a crate kneeling beside him.
"Stay quiet" she whispered. "Stay with me."
Above them the fight continued, short bursts of gunfire, the slam of doors, the muffled crunch of boots.
Then…. silence.
The kind of silence that made her heart stop.
"Dante?" she whispered, barely audible.
Nothing.
Mateo clung to her arm his little body shaking. "Mommy, I'm scared."
She swallowed hard. "I know baby. Me too."
She strained to listen. The wind, the rain, then a sound. Footsteps. Slow, deliberate, coming down the stairs.
She grabbed the pistol Dante had left her. Her hands were shaking but she held it the way he'd shown her, both hands low and steady.
"Dante?" she called softly.
No answer.
The footsteps came closer.
Her finger hovered near the trigger.
Then a shadow appeared at the base of the stairs.
"Don't shoot" Dante said, his voice low but firm.
She exhaled so hard she almost sobbed. "You scared me."
He descended the last step moving stiffly. His sleeve was torn, and blood streaked his forearm.
"Are they gone?" she asked.
"For now." He scanned the room, checking the corners. "They knew exactly where to hit. Someone fed them intel."
Her stomach turned. "Lucia?"
"Maybe. Or someone higher."
He crouched beside Mateo resting a hand gently on the boy's shoulder. "You did good kid. You stayed quiet."
Mateo nodded, wide-eyed.
Dante's hand lingered a moment before he stood again. "We can't stay here. Backup's twenty minutes out."
Elena frowned. "We can't go out there!"
"We don't have a choice. If they found this place they'll find the others."
She shook her head. "Dante, you're bleeding. You need a hospital."
His gaze met hers, steady, unreadable. "I need to keep you alive."
The words hit harder than they should have.
He moved toward the wall, pressing his palm against a hidden latch. A small section slid open revealing a narrow passage beyond concrete and shadow.
"Emergency tunnel" he said. "It leads to the river. From there we take the service road."
Elena hesitated. "You planned this?"
"I plan for everything."
They moved quickly. Mateo clung to her hand, small and silent. Dante took the lead, weapon raised. The tunnel was cold, damp and smelled faintly of earth.
After a few minutes the faint sound of the storm faded behind them replaced by the steady echo of their footsteps.
Finally Dante stopped and turned to face her.
"You're doing well" he said quietly.
Her laugh came out strained. "I don't feel like it."
He stepped closer, the dim emergency light casting shadows across his face. "You didn't freeze. Most people would've."
"Most people don't have a child to protect" she said.
For a moment they just stood there, close enough that she could feel his breath, see the faint lines of exhaustion around his eyes.
"You could have run" she said softly. "You could have left us."
His gaze locked on hers. "That's not who I am."
"Isn't it?"
He hesitated, then quietly "It used to be."
Something inside her shifted. She didn't say anything. She didn't need to.
He reached up brushing his thumb gently across a smudge of dirt on her cheek. The gesture was unexpected, tender. She felt her pulse skip, her breath catch.
"Dante…."
He dropped his hand, the moment breaking. "We should move."
She nodded though her voice failed her.
They continued down the tunnel until the air grew fresher. When they emerged the night was still stormy, the wind biting against her skin.
Dante scanned the tree line, eyes sharp. "Stay close."
They made it halfway to the car before he froze.
Headlights again, this time from the north road cutting through the trees.
Elena's heart plummeted. "They found us again?"
"Maybe not them" Dante muttered, raising his gun. "Maybe worse."
The car stopped a few yards away. A door opened.
A tall man stepped out, his coat billowing in the wind. Even from the distance Elena could see the familiarity in his movements, the confidence of someone who belonged to the same world as Dante.
Dante's jaw tightened. "He shouldn't be here."
"Who is he?"
The man called out, his voice carrying easily through the rain. "You've been hard to find Dante."
Elena recognized the accent. The same sharp tone Marco had used when he mentioned Vincenzo's brother.
"Get behind me" Dante said quietly.
Elena obeyed without question, clutching Mateo close.
The man took another step forward, smiling faintly. "You have something of mine old friend."
Dante raised his weapon. "You made a mistake coming here."
The man's smile didn't falter. "No. You did, when you brought her."
He nodded toward Elena.
She felt Dante tense beside her and for the first time, real fear flickered in his eyes.