**Rose's POV**
I'm down the stairs before Dante can stop me.
"Viktor!" His name rips from my throat.
My brother stands in the entrance hall surrounded by guards. His hands are raised. His face is bruised. Blood drips from his split lip.
Behind him, five men in dark suits spread out like wolves. Giordano soldiers. I recognize one from the warehouse fire.
"Rose, don't!" Dante grabs my arm. Pulls me back.
But I've already seen it. The gun pressed against Viktor's spine. The way he shakes. The terror in his eyes.
"I'm sorry," Viktor cries. "Rose, I'm so sorry. They made me—"
The man holding the gun hits Viktor's head with it. My brother drops to his knees.
"Stop!" I try to run to him. Dante's grip tightens.
"Let him speak," the lead Giordano says. He's older than the others. Gray hair. Cold smile. "Tell your sister what you did, Viktor."
Viktor won't look at me. "They found me at the casino. Said they'd kill me unless I brought them here."
"You led them to the compound?" Dante's voice could freeze fire. "You betrayed your own sister?"
"They were going to kill me!" Viktor's voice breaks. "What was I supposed to do?"
"Be a man," I whisper. "For once in your life, be a man."
Viktor flinches like I slapped him.
The gray-haired Giordano steps forward. "Here's the deal, Corvino. You give us the girl. We leave quietly. No one else dies tonight."
"No." Dante's answer is instant.
"Then we take her anyway." The man smiles. "And we kill everyone in this house. Your choice."
Guards pour into the entrance hall. At least twenty Corvino soldiers with guns drawn. The Giordanos are outnumbered four to one.
But they don't look worried.
"You think we came unprepared?" The gray-haired man pulls out his phone. Shows Dante the screen.
I can't see what's on it. But Dante's face goes white.
"What is it?" I ask.
"Bombs," Luca says from behind us. "They planted bombs around the compound."
My stomach drops.
"We hit one button," the Giordano says. "This whole place goes up in flames. Along with everyone inside."
"You're bluffing," Dante says. But his voice isn't steady anymore.
"Am I?" The man's finger hovers over the phone. "Want to test it?"
Silence fills the hall. Heavy. Suffocating.
I look at Viktor. Still on his knees. Still bleeding. Still too weak to stand up for himself.
This is my fault. I married Dante to save Viktor three years ago. And he's still dragging me into danger. Still choosing himself over everyone else.
"Take me." The words leave my mouth before I can stop them.
"Rose, no—" Dante starts.
"Take me and let everyone else go." I step away from Dante. "That's the deal. I'll come willingly if you leave them alone."
The Giordano's smile grows. "Smart girl."
"She's not going anywhere." Dante moves in front of me. Blocking me with his body.
"Then people start dying." The gray-haired man nods at one of his soldiers.
The man raises his gun. Points it at a young guard near the door. A kid who can't be more than twenty.
"Wait!" I push past Dante. "I said I'll go. Just don't hurt anyone."
"Rose, listen to me—" Dante grabs my hand. His fingers shake. "I can't let you do this."
"You don't have a choice." I pull free. Walk toward the Giordanos before I lose my courage.
Each step feels impossible. Like walking to my own grave.
Viktor finally looks at me. "I'm sorry," he whispers again.
"I know." My voice sounds dead. "You're always sorry."
The Giordanos surround me. Hands grab my arms. Pull me toward the door.
"Rose!" Dante's voice cracks. "Please. Let me fix this."
"You can't fix everything." I look back at him one last time. "Some things stay broken."
Then I see it. The look on his face. Pure terror mixed with rage mixed with something else.
Love.
Real, desperate, drowning love.
"I'll come for you," Dante promises. "I'll burn their entire family to the ground. I'll—"
"Stand down, Dante." A new voice cuts through the chaos.
Don Alessandro walks into the entrance hall. Dante's father. The head of the Corvino family.
Every guard straightens. Even the Giordanos look nervous.
"Father, they're taking Rose—" Dante starts.
"I know." Don Alessandro's face shows nothing. "Let them."
The words hit like a punch to the gut.
"What?" Dante stares at his father. "You can't be serious."
"The Marino alliance is more important than one girl." Don Alessandro's voice is ice cold. "Let her go. Marry Celeste. Unite the families."
"She's my wife!" Dante roars.
"Not for much longer." Don Alessandro waves his hand. "The divorce papers will be filed Monday. This problem solves itself."
I can't breathe. Can't think. Dante's own father is throwing me to the wolves.
"I won't let this happen." Dante pulls his gun. Points it at the Giordanos.
Every guard copies him. Thirty guns aimed at five men.
The gray-haired Giordano just laughs. "Pull those triggers and this whole place explodes. Everyone dies. Is that what you want, Corvino?"
Dante's hand shakes. The gun wavers.
"Put it down, son." Don Alessandro's voice is firm. "That's an order."
"No." Dante's jaw clenches. "I don't care about the bombs. I don't care about the alliance. I'm not letting them take her."
"Then you're a fool." His father's eyes are disappointed. "Choose the girl and lose everything. Your position. Your family. Your life."
"I choose her." Dante's voice doesn't waver now. "I'll always choose her."
Silence.
Even the Giordanos look surprised.
Don Alessandro's face hardens. "Then you're no son of mine."
"Fine." Dante drops his gun. Raises his hands. "Take me instead. Let Rose go and take me."
"No!" I scream. "Dante, don't—"
"I'm worth more as a hostage," Dante talks over me. "The underboss for one witness? That's a better trade."
The gray-haired Giordano considers this. "You'd trade yourself for her?"
"Without hesitation."
"Interesting." The man studies Dante. "But here's the problem. We don't just want a hostage. We want revenge. Your family killed my nephew last month. His mother wants blood for blood."
"Then take mine." Dante steps forward. "Kill me and let Rose walk out of here."
My heart stops.
"Dante, no—" My voice breaks.
"It's okay." He looks at me. Really looks. Like he's memorizing my face. "I failed you for three years. Let me do this one thing right."
Tears pour down my face. "I don't want you to die for me. I want you to live for me."
"I'm already dead without you." His smile is sad. "Have been since the day you left."
The Giordano shakes his head. "Sorry, Corvino. We don't want you dead. We want you to suffer."
He nods at his men.
They drag me toward the door.
Dante lunges forward. Guards grab him. Hold him back. He fights like a wild animal. Screaming my name.
I watch him struggle. Watch him break. Watch him finally feel what I felt for three years.
Helpless. Trapped. Losing the person you love while they slip through your fingers.
We're almost to the door when Viktor speaks.
"Wait." His voice is quiet. "There's something you should know."
Everyone stops.
The gray-haired man turns. "What?"
Viktor stands on shaking legs. "Dante's not the one who killed your nephew."
"What are you talking about?" The Giordano's eyes narrow.
"I was there that night. At the docks. Your nephew wasn't killed by the Corvinos." Viktor swallows hard. "He was killed by Marco Torres. The Corvino consigliere. Marco's been feeding information to your family for months."
The room explodes.
"That's a lie!" Don Alessandro roars.
"It's not." Viktor pulls something from his pocket. A small recording device. "I have proof. Marco hired me to plant bugs in the Corvino compound. I recorded everything."
Dante stops struggling. Stares at Viktor. "You've been spying on us?"
"Marco paid my gambling debts in exchange for information." Viktor's whole body shakes. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But I can't let Rose die for something Marco did."
The Giordano snatches the recorder. Hits play.
Marco's voice fills the hall. Crystal clear.
"Kill the Giordano nephew. Make it look like a Corvino hit. Then both families destroy each other while we profit from the chaos."
Another voice responds. "What about Don Alessandro?"
"The old man's too blinded by tradition to see the truth. By the time he figures it out, we'll own everything."
The recording clicks off.
Silence.
Don Alessandro's face turns purple with rage. "Marco!"
"It gets worse," Viktor says quietly. "Marco's been poisoning Dante against Rose since their wedding day. Told Dante she was a spy. Made him push her away. Marco wanted their marriage to fail so Dante would focus on family business."
I look at Dante. His face has gone completely blank.
"Everything," he whispers. "Everything was a lie."
"Not everything." Viktor meets my eyes. "Dante really does love you. That part was always real."
The gray-haired Giordano lowers the phone. "Where is Marco Torres?"
"His office," Don Alessandro says. His voice is deadly. "Third floor."
"Then we have new business to discuss." The Giordano releases my arm. "Not with the girl. With the traitor who started this war."
His men follow Don Alessandro upstairs. Their footsteps echo through the hall.
The guards release Dante.
He stumbles toward me. Catches himself on the wall.
"Rose—" His voice breaks. "All this time. Everything I did to you. It was because of Marco's lies."
"I know." My legs won't hold me anymore. I sink to the floor.
Dante drops beside me. Reaches for my hand.
I don't pull away.
"I thought I was protecting you by pushing you away," he says. "But I was just doing exactly what Marco wanted."
"Why would he do this?" I can't understand it. "Why destroy your marriage?"
"Because—" Dante stops. His face goes white. "Oh God."
"What?"
"Marco's been working with someone." Dante stands. Pulls me up. "Someone who wants to take over the Corvino family. Someone who needs me weak and alone to succeed."
"Who?"
Dante's eyes meet mine. "My father."
The words hang in the air.
"That's impossible," I whisper. "Don Alessandro would never—"
Gunshots explode from upstairs.
Then screaming.
Then silence.
Luca appears at the top of the stairs. His face is gray. "Dante. You need to come up here. Now."
We run upstairs. Down the hall. To Marco's office.
The door stands open.
Inside, the Giordanos surround someone in a chair.
Not Marco.
Celeste.
She looks up at us. Blood drips from her mouth. Her hands are tied.
"Sorry, Dante," she gasps. "They made me do it. Made me seduce you. Made me—"
"Where's Marco?" Dante demands.
"Gone." The gray-haired Giordano sounds disgusted. "Ran the second he heard us coming. But this one sang like a bird before we could even start asking questions."
"Tell them," he orders Celeste.
She looks at me. "It was never about marriage. It was about getting close enough to kill you both. Marco and Don Alessandro planned it together. Kill Dante. Kill Rose. Blame it on the Giordanos. Start a war that destroys all three families."
"Why?" I can barely speak.
"So they could rebuild from the ashes." Celeste coughs. "Control everything. Marco as the new Don. Alessandro pulling strings from behind. Me as Marco's wife and cover."
My head spins. This can't be real.
"My father," Dante says slowly, "has been trying to kill me?"
"Not kill." Celeste shakes her head. "Break. He wanted to break you first. Make you so cold and hard and alone that you'd do anything he asked. Including starting a war."
"And Rose?" Dante's voice is ice.
"Was supposed to leave you broken-hearted and vulnerable. But you kept fighting for her. Kept loving her even when you tried not to. So they decided you both had to die."
Dante turns to his father's guards. "Where is Don Alessandro?"
"He went to handle Marco personally," one answers.
"It's a trap." Luca realizes it the same moment I do. "They're meeting up. Running together."
Dante's phone buzzes. He looks at the screen.
A text from an unknown number.
*Your father says goodbye. By the time you find this message, we'll be in a country with no extradition. Enjoy your life with Rose. However long it lasts.*
Below the message is a photo.
Don Alessandro and Marco. On a private plane. Smiling.
Dante's hand crushes the phone.
"They played us," he whispers. "They played everyone."
He looks at me. "Rose, I'm so sorry. For everything. But right now I need you to trust me one more time."
"Trust you to do what?"
His eyes are hard. Determined. The old Dante is back. But different somehow. Stronger.
"Trust me to burn down everyone who hurt us." He takes my hand. "Together. As partners. The way we should have been from the start."
I look at our joined hands.
Three years of lies. Three years of pain. Three years of being destroyed by men who saw us as chess pieces.
"Okay," I say. "Let's burn it all down."
Dante's smile is fierce. "That's my wife."
He pulls me close. Kisses me hard. Full of promise and fury and love.
When he pulls back, his eyes are blazing.
"Luca, get me everything we have on Marco and my father. Every property. Every contact. Every place they might run."
"On it."
"Viktor." Dante turns to my brother. "You helped us tonight. That bought you one chance. Don't waste it."
Viktor nods. "I won't. I swear."
"And you." Dante faces the gray-haired Giordano. "We have a common enemy now. Temporary truce?"
The man considers. Then nods. "Until we find the traitors. Then we renegotiate."
"Fair enough."
Everyone scatters to prepare. Within minutes, the entrance hall is empty except for Dante and me.
"Rose." He cups my face in his hands. "I know I don't deserve another chance. I know I destroyed us. But—"
I kiss him.
Pour three years of anger and hurt and love into it.
When I finally pull back, we're both breathing hard.
"You're right," I say. "You don't deserve another chance."
His face falls.
"But I'm giving you one anyway." I grab his shirt. "Not because you earned it. Because I'm tired of being a victim. Tired of being protected. I want to fight back. And I can't do it alone."
"You'll never be alone again." His voice is fierce. "I swear it."
"Good." I let him go. "Now let's go hunt some traitors."
We turn toward the door.
It explodes inward.
Armed men pour through. At least twenty. All wearing black. All pointing guns at us.
A figure walks through the smoke and debris.
My blood turns to ice.
It's not Marco.
It's not Don Alessandro.
It's someone I never expected.
Someone I trusted.
Gentle.
My best friend stands there with a gun in her hand. Aimed straight at my heart.
"Sorry, Rose," she says. Her voice is calm. Cold. "But you were never supposed to survive tonight."