Rain fell hard that night.
Thick drops beat against the windows of the De Rossi estate like a warning. Aria stood in the hallway outside the boys' room, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. The image of James's body.. bloody, lifeless, strung up like some kind of message was stuck in her mind.
She couldn't unsee it.
Couldn't unfeel the horror that twisted in her chest every time she closed her eyes.
Luciano had tightened security again. Double guards on every door. Patrols every fifteen minutes. Check-ins every hour. It didn't matter. Nothing felt safe anymore. Not even with men carrying guns stationed outside her room.
She was tired. Not just physically, but inside. Her soul felt bruised.
David wasn't going to stop. Not until he broke them all. One by one.
Luciano stepped out of the war room downstairs and saw her standing there. He walked toward her slowly, his hands tucked into the pockets of his suit pants. He was wearing black sharp and cold like the storm outside.
"You should be sleeping," he said gently.
"I can't," she whispered. "Every time I close my eyes, I see him. Hanging there. His face. The way his mouth was open like he was still trying to scream."
Luciano didn't look away. "That was meant for me."
She shook her head. "No. It was meant for me."
They stood in silence for a moment.
Then Luciano leaned against the wall beside her. "James was a good man. Loyal."
"I know."
"I handpicked him to protect you."
"I trusted him."
"You still can trust me."
"I want to. But every time I start to feel safe, something worse happens."
He looked at her then. Really looked. "That's what it means to be in my world, Aria. That's what I tried to protect you from five years ago. But you're not just in it anymore. You're in the center."
Her voice cracked. "I didn't ask for this."
"No one ever does."
He paused.
"I found something tonight. In James's file. Something strange."
Aria turned to face him fully. "What is it?"
"James didn't apply for the job through the family. He was recommended."
"By who?"
"Someone I trusted. My uncle."
Aria's eyes narrowed. "The one who died in the fire last year?"
Luciano nodded. "Which doesn't make sense. Because according to the timeline… the recommendation came after his death."
Her blood turned cold. "Are you saying....?"
"I'm saying David didn't just place a spy in my house. He used my own dead family to do it. Which means someone's faking records from the inside."
"Still? After everything?"
"I thought we'd cleaned out the rats last year. Apparently, one was smarter."
Aria ran a hand through her hair. "So what now? What's the plan?"
Luciano didn't speak at first. His jaw clenched. "We stop reacting."
"What do you mean?"
He pushed off the wall. "For the last week, David has set the pace. He's been playing us like pieces on a board. But now it's time to flip the board."
Aria followed him as he walked down the hall and into the war room. Inside, Matteo, Enzo, and two new men were waiting around the long table.
Luciano stepped to the front.
"We have a trace."
Everyone turned toward him.
"James's phone," he said. "It was off when we found the body. But before that, it pinged two towers outside the city near the old textile factory on Riverbend Road."
Matteo frowned. "That place's been shut down for years."
"Exactly," Luciano said. "And guess who owns the land now?"
Aria already knew. "David."
Luciano nodded. "Under a shell company. Registered just last month. We got confirmation two hours ago."
Aria's chest tightened. "So he's using the factory as a base?"
"More likely, a staging ground," Luciano said. "Weapons. Men. Surveillance."
"We go in tonight?" Matteo asked.
"No. We don't storm it. Not yet."
Luciano turned back to Aria.
"We do something else first."
"What?"
"We draw him out."
Her eyes widened. "You want to use me as bait."
He didn't answer, but the look in his eyes said everything.
"No," she said immediately. "That's insane. He wants to hurt me, Luca. Or worse. You saw what he did to James."
Luciano stepped toward her. "And if we wait, if we keep hiding behind walls and cameras, eventually he's going to get close enough again. Maybe not to you. Maybe to the boys."
She went cold.
"I'm not going to let that happen," he said. "But I need him to come out of the shadows."
"I'm not putting myself out there for him to come hunting."
"You wouldn't be alone. You'd be protected every second. But if he thinks you're vulnerable… if he believes you've separated from me, even for an hour, he'll make a move. That's when we trap him."
"I have two children to live for. I'm not risking my life."
"And I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to trust me."
She looked at him for a long moment.
"Do you?" he asked quietly. "Do you trust me?"
Her throat tightened. "I don't know."
Luciano reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He handed it to her.
She opened it slowly.
It was a letter.
Written in David's handwriting.
"She chose me once.
She'll do it again.
All I have to do is take the boys,
And she'll come crawling back."
Aria's hands shook.
"This was mailed to one of my safe houses. With a lock of Nico's hair."
She gasped. "What?"
"He's not bluffing, Aria. He's already found ways to get close. We can't keep reacting."
She stared at the letter.
Her babies.
David had touched them. Been close enough to take a piece of them without anyone noticing.
She closed her eyes and nodded.
"Okay," she whispered. "We do it your way."
The plan was set quickly.
Aria would be escorted to an off-site safe house publicly. The guards would be obvious, but only up to a point. After two hours, a decoy vehicle would return to the estate, while Aria remained hidden in a secure location. The goal was simple: make David believe she was exposed.
Make him come to her.
Luciano left nothing to chance. Every room of the safe house was wired. Snipers would be positioned nearby. Matteo would run the perimeter with two of his best men. Aria would wear a wire and tracker. Any movement, any breach and the entire team would move.
But still, Aria couldn't stop shaking.
The morning of the plan, she kissed the twins goodbye with tears in her eyes.
"Where are you going, Mommy?" Nino asked, his tiny hand in hers.
"Just for a little while," she said softly. "To help Daddy."
Nico frowned. "Will you come back?"
She hugged them both tightly. "Always."
Luciano waited by the SUV, dark sunglasses over his eyes. Aria climbed in beside him, hands clenched in her lap.
"You okay?" he asked.
She gave a small nod. "No. But I'm ready."
The ride to the safe house was quiet. Tense. Every bump in the road made her flinch.
The safe house was a quiet cottage near the lake. Hidden behind trees and away from the main road. Aria had spent one summer there as a child. She never thought she'd return like this.
Luciano stepped out with her and handed her a phone.
"If anything goes wrong," he said, "press this red button. It sends a signal directly to me."
Aria nodded.
Then, slowly, he leaned in.
And kissed her.
It wasn't rushed. It wasn't hungry or rough.
It was soft.
Slow.
A promise.
"Stay alive," he whispered.
And then he was gone.
The door shut behind her, and silence filled the house.
She sat on the couch. Waited.
The first hour passed.
Nothing.
The second hour.
Still nothing.
She stood up and walked to the window.
And then… her phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
"Turn around."
Her blood froze.
She turned.
And screamed.
There, standing in the hallway behind her, was David.
Smiling.
No gun.
No guards.
Just him.
"Hello, darling," he said softly.
Aria stumbled backward.
He raised his hands. "Don't scream. Not yet. You'll want to hear what I have to say first."
Her hand went to her phone, ready to press the panic button.
David tilted his head.
"If you do that… if you call for Luca right now… your sons die."
Her finger stopped.
Her heart raced.
He stepped closer.
"I didn't come here to hurt you. I came to make a deal."
Aria's voice shook. "What kind of deal?"
David's smile widened.
"The kind that gives you everything you ever wanted… and destroys him in the process."