Chapter 144

Author’s POV. The walls of the safehouse felt too small. Too fucking suffocating. The metallic scent of blood hadn’t faded. It clung to the air, the floors, their clothes, sinking into their skin like a permanent stain. Aurelio lay motionless in the next room, hooked up to machines keeping him breathing, his body eerily still, too fragile for a man who had once been untouchable. Renzo hadn’t left the hallway. He stood there like a guard dog, his fists bruised from punching the walls, his knuckles split and raw. His whole body was wound tight, a live wire ready to snap. He wouldn’t even look at the rest of them. Couldn’t. Nikolai had his back pressed against the wall, one leg bent, his fingers drumming against his thigh. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes burned with something cold. Calculating. Already planning. Already preparing for war. Valentino sat on the arm of the couch, his hands gripping the edge so tightly that his nails dug into the fabric. He hadn’t said a word. Had