Elena's POV
The man's words hung in the rain, heavy as the storm itself.
You made a mistake when you brought her.
Dante didn't flinch but Elena saw the shift in his expression a tightening around the eyes, a shadow crossing his face.
"Who sent you?" Dante demanded.
The man took another step closer, boots crunching in the gravel. His dark coat clung to him, rainwater streaming down the lapels. "You already know who" he said softly. "Vincenzo's debts don't die just because you walked away."
"I didn't walk away" Dante replied. "I buried it."
"Not deep enough."
Elena could feel the tension between them, old, bitter, dangerous. Whatever history they shared it wasn't finished.
The man's eyes flicked to her. "She doesn't even know does she?"
Elena's throat went dry. "Know what?"
Dante's gun didn't waver. "You don't say her name."
The man smiled faintly. "You think you can protect her from the truth? That's not who you are."
"Try me."
The rain was relentless, slashing through the night like shards of glass. Mateo whimpered quietly in Elena's arms and she tightened her hold.
The man's gaze softened, almost pitying. "You've always had a weakness for strays Dante. But this one?" His tone darkened. "She's not yours to save."
Dante moved before Elena even saw it coming. In one fluid motion he closed the distance, grabbed the man by the collar and slammed him against the side of the car.
"Talk" Dante hissed. "Or you die here."
The man only laughed, a hollow, humourless sound. "You wouldn't kill me. Not with her watching."
Dante's jaw clenched. "Try me."
The man's eyes gleamed. "You think you know why she was there that night but you don't. She didn't just witness something Dante. She was the reason they came."
Elena froze. "What are you talking about?"
The man smirked, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "Ask him."
Dante shoved him back, gun raised. "You're lying."
"Am I?" the man coughed, spitting red into the mud. "Her ex wasn't just unlucky, Dante. He was tied to us, to the family. She didn't just see something she shouldn't have. She took something. Something we were meant to retrieve."
Elena shook her head. "No… that's not true."
But a flicker of doubt crept in. That night, the one that changed everything, the screams, the gunfire, the men in masks, she'd thought it was random. A cruel twist of fate.
Now she wasn't sure.
"Tell me what he means" she said, voice trembling.
Dante's gaze flicked to her then back to the man. "He's trying to divide us."
"Maybe" the man said "or maybe you're just too afraid to admit that her past dragged you back into the war you tried to escape."
The sound of engines in the distance cut through the storm, more vehicles approaching fast.
Dante's head snapped up. "Move" he ordered grabbing Elena's arm.
"What about him?" she asked.
Dante hesitated then hit the man once, hard. He crumpled to the ground.
"No time" Dante said. "We leave him."
They sprinted toward the trees, mud sucking at their boots. Mateo clung tightly to Elena, his small face buried against her shoulder.
Behind them headlights broke through the rain, more cars, men shouting.
Gunfire erupted, echoing through the forest. Bullets tore into the trees around them splintering bark. Dante shoved Elena forward returning fire in short, controlled bursts.
"Keep running!" he shouted.
Her lungs burned, her legs screamed but she didn't stop. The river wasn't far, she could hear it now roaring over the storm.
They broke through the treeline, the current surging below a narrow footbridge. The wooden planks creaked under their weight as they crossed.
Halfway across Dante turned and fired again, covering their retreat. One of the pursuing vehicles skidded to a stop at the edge of the trees.
"Dante!" Elena cried.
"Go!" he barked.
She reached the other side, gasping and turned just as Dante's last shot hit the fuel line of one of the cars.
The explosion was deafening. A bloom of fire lit the rain soaked night followed by the echoing crack of trees splitting under the shockwave.
Elena ducked shielding Mateo as debris rained down.
When she looked up again Dante was running toward her through the smoke, his clothes soaked, his face streaked with soot and rain.
He reached them, grabbed her hand and pulled her into the cover of the trees.
They didn't stop until the sounds of pursuit faded completely.
Only then did they collapse near a cluster of rocks overlooking the river, breathing hard.
Elena turned to him her chest still heaving. "You knew" she said.
Dante didn't look at her.
"You knew they were after me for a reason" she pressed. "Why didn't you tell me?"
He wiped rain from his face, his jaw set. "Because I didn't know for sure."
"But you suspected."
He said nothing.
Elena's voice cracked. "You should've told me."
His eyes met hers, dark, raw. "And what would you have done Elena? Run? You'd be dead by now. Both of you."
Tears blurred her vision mingling with the rain. "You don't get to decide that."
"I do when your life depends on it."
They stared at each other, anger and fear tangled between them, burning hotter than the fire behind them.
Finally she whispered, "Who are you Dante?"
He hesitated, then quietly "Someone who owes a debt I can never repay."
Before she could respond a sharp crack split the air, not thunder but a gunshot.
The bullet hit the rock behind them, sending shards of stone flying.
"Down!" Dante grabbed her, pulling her to the ground, shielding her with his body.
More shots followed echoing from across the river.
"They tracked us" he said through gritted teeth. "They're still coming."
Elena clutched Mateo close, heart pounding. "We can't keep running forever!"
Dante looked at her, really looked at her and for a moment something broke in his expression.
"No" he said softly. "We can't."
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small weathered envelope. He pressed it into her hand.
"If I don't make it out of this…."
"Don't" she said fiercely. "Don't you dare."
"you take this to the address inside. There's a man there named Luca DeLuca. He'll know what to do."
"Dante I'm not leaving you!"
He opened his mouth to respond but then a flashlight beam cut through the rain followed by voices shouting in Italian.
Dante swore under his breath. "They brought reinforcements."
He turned to her. "When I say run you run. Don't look back."
"No" she said shaking her head. "Not again."
"Elena…."
"Not again" she repeated, her voice trembling. "I'm done running."
For a heartbeat they just stared at each other, rain falling between them, fear and something deeper written across both their faces.
Then Dante smiled a small, almost imperceptible. "Then we fight."
He rose, gun in hand, moving toward the edge of the clearing.
Elena clutched the envelope her hands shaking.
She didn't open it. Not yet.
But as another gunshot split the night she had the sudden, terrible feeling that whatever was inside would change everything she thought she knew about him, about herself, about why their lives had collided at all.