Marco exhaled slowly.
Luca had tried. That much was true.
Now it was his turn.
And whatever choice he made next would either damn him or define him.
The girls were opposites of Luca and Marco. Where the men were forged in shadow, compromise, and bloodline loyalty, the Scalese girls were all light and stubborn goodness.
He stood alone in the corridor, staring at nothing, his mind scrambling for a solution. A way out. A way to get Valentina to safety without detonating everything around him. Every path he traced ended the same way.
There was only one answer.
Marco would have to betray the familia he owed his life to.
The realization settled into him slowly, heavily. He had been a soldier since he was barely old enough to shave. Luca's shadow had always been there. The Genovese name had fed him, protected him, given him purpose. Going rogue was suicide.
