(Isla's POV)
Luciano didn't wait for the masked man's hand to touch the door handle.
He grabbed my wrist hard. "Move!"
Before I could blink, he yanked me across the room and shoved open a panel I didn't even know was part of the wall. A narrow tunnel waited behind it dark, cold, tight.
Another gunshot exploded behind us.
I screamed, but Luciano covered my mouth and pulled me inside.
"Quiet," he whispered. "They'll follow the noise. Not us."
My lungs burned. My heart beat so fast it felt like it was punching through my ribs. I could hear footsteps pounding in the bedroom we had just escaped from… angry footsteps.
"Find her!" a man yelled. "She's close!"
Luciano slammed the secret panel shut.
Everything went dark.
He grabbed my hand. "Stay right behind me."
I followed him, my steps shaky, my breath uneven. The tunnel walls felt too close. It was like walking through the throat of the mansion itself.
I whispered, "Luciano… why is this happening? Why do they want me?"
"Because of who you are," he said without stopping.
"I don't even know who I am!"
He didn't answer, and that scared me more than the masked men.
A loud boom came from the ballroom like someone broke a door off its hinges. Screams followed. Chairs scraping. People running. More gunfire.
"Are they attacking the wedding?" I asked.
"Yes," Luciano said. "But you were the prize. Everything else was a distraction."
My knees went weak. "Why me?"
"Because Viktor Kozlov doesn't forget old enemies."
The name sent chills down my spine.
"Who is that?"
"A monster," Luciano said. "And a man who hates the Virelli family and the Torres family more than anything."
"But I'm not part of"
"Yes," he cut in. "You are."
My steps froze.
My whole body turned cold.
"You're saying someone wants to kidnap me because of my parents?"
"Because of your bloodline," Luciano said. "And because of secrets even you don't know."
We turned a corner in the tunnel. My breath shook as I whispered, "I don't understand."
"You will," he said. "But not here. Not while men with guns are searching for you."
We kept moving.
The tunnel sloped downward, leading deeper under the mansion. The sounds of the ballroom grew fainter, but the fear didn't leave my body. It only grew.
The thought of masked men chasing me wanting me made my legs shake so badly I almost tripped. Luciano caught me before I fell.
"Careful," he said softly.
His voice… it wasn't cold this time. It sounded worried. Real.
I held onto him, swallowing hard. "I didn't ask for any of this."
"I know."
He led me to a small metal door hidden behind pipes. He opened it and guided me inside a dim room with stone walls and a single chair.
"This is the safe room," he said. "No one gets in without a passcode."
I stepped inside, hugging myself. My hands were still trembling.
Luciano knelt in front of a panel and typed something fast. The lock clicked loudly.
I whispered, "Will they come this far?"
"They might." His jaw tightened. "Kozlov's men are professionals."
The word professionals sent a shiver up my spine.
He stood up and faced me. His eyes were sharp, but there was something else there nowsomething almost gentle.
"You'll stay here," he said. "Do not open this door for anyone except me or Dante. Understand?"
My voice came out weak. "Yes."
"Say it," he insisted.
"I won't open for anyone but you or Dante."
He nodded once. "Good."
He reached out as if he wanted to touch my shoulder… but he pulled his hand back. "I'll be back soon."
"Luciano, please don't leave me here alone"
"I have to stop them," he said. "If they breach the ballroom, they'll search the whole mansion. I won't let them reach this room."
Tears burned my eyes. "I don't want to be kidnapped."
"You won't be," he said, his voice low and firm. "Not while I'm breathing."
My chest tightened. For the first time since the chaos began… I believed him.
He turned toward the door.
"Luciano" I whispered.
He paused.
"Why do you care so much?" I asked. "You don't even know me."
He didn't turn around when he answered.
"I know enough."
And then he was gone.
The door shut, locking me inside.
The silence felt heavy. Wrong. Crushing.
I pressed my ear to the metal door. I could hear faint echoes from the mansion, people yelling, gunshots, footsteps on the floor above me.
My legs felt weak, so I slid down against the wall and pulled my knees to my chest. I held my breath, trying not to panic.
Why was this happening?
Why did masked men want me?
Why did Luciano look at me like I was the center of a war I didn't understand?
My thoughts were spinning. My heartbeat was too loud. And then
I heard him.
Luciano.
His voice outside the door, shouting, "Stay back!"
Something crashed.
A grunt.
A punch.
A heavy thud.
My blood ran cold.
He was fighting someone right outside.
My breath hitched. "Luciano?"
No answer.
Another hit.
Another grunt.
Then silence.
A horrible, heavy silence.
My stomach twisted. I pressed my hand to the door, my voice shaking. "Luciano? Luciano please answer me"
Footsteps.
But not his.
Slow.
Calm.
Wrong.
A man's voice spoke from the other side.
A voice I didn't know.
A voice that made my whole body freeze.
"Don't worry, Miss Torres…"
My heart dropped to the floor.
"We'll take good care of you."
No.
No no no
The door handle began to turn.
Slowly.
On purpose.
Like the person wanted me to feel every second of it.
I stumbled back, my entire body shaking, tears filling my eyes.
"Luciano…" I whispered, even though I knew he couldn't hear me.
The lock clicked.
The handle twisted again.
And the door
began to open.