Chapter 35
Aurora POV
The death toll keeps rising as the hours pass following the massacre of what was once my wedding day. Guests from both sides were wiped away in a storm of bullets and blood that many speculate to be a declaration of war.
The bodies haven’t even been properly mourned or buried yet and already the in-fighting has started. Leonardo’s consigliere and underboss—two men who’ve been clinging to their scraps of power like dogs for years—managed to survive amongst the wreckage.
Meanwhile, the only person who might have held it all together and probably the one man strong enough to keep Dominic in check if things went sideways is dead now too.
Leonardo’s capo. Shot twice in the chest before anyone could even figure out which way to run.
In the chaos of that night, the balance of power didn’t just shift, it broke completely.
For the time being, Leonardo’s old consigliere, Matteo, (coincidentally also Theo’s father, as I’ve come to be told) has declared himself acting boss for the Guerrero family.
It’s a temporary measure, he’s reassured, while they “stabilize” and “rebuild”. But anyone with half a brain knows that securing a title like that isn’t so easily given up once you get a taste for it. Even if Matteo believes he is above succumbing to the siren whispers of the power he now holds, it won’t be long before he finds himself wanting to keep it.
On the other side of things, Dominic’s been handed the capo role almost immediately due to an unspoken agreement among the remaining loyalists of his family—no one wants to cross the son of the man who seemed to have been the only actual target of the assassination execution. Not after the brutal way that it happened.
He’s the one they’re all afraid of now; the storm they can't control no matter how tempered Dominic seems to portray himself as at the moment. Eventually, Dominic will need to make a show out of seeking revenge to keep the suspicions of him instigating this entire mess off of him.
For now, it seems no one has suspected the true reason why the Russians attacked the wedding. No one knows why Leonardo Guerrero is now dead and had been their target when previously, there had been no animosity there in the first place.
No one knows the truth except for me and Dominic.
On the other hand, my father, Beatrice, and Camilla unfortunately also made it out of the wedding alive and untouched.
Typical.
Cockroaches always survive the fallout.
Part of me hates myself for thinking that way, but it’s the truth.
According to Gianna, Beatrice has already begun whispering about ways to spin the situation, to claw some of our family's honor back now that my marriage alliance has gone up in smoke. Camilla has barely stopped whining about being the next in line to “bridge” the families together now that Leonardo is gone and Dominic is the next one up on the proverbial chopping block.
I tune it all out because if I’m being honest, I don’t really care what happens to any of them so long as they keep me out of it.
All I care about is that Stefano is still breathing and Gianna remains safe with me at this little safehouse outside of the city.
Somehow, by some miracle, we all made it out alive.
And so did Dominic.
While it had been his plan in the first place to call upon a secret ally and let them loose on the wedding reception, things could’ve gone very poorly very quickly. The Russians were under no obligation to listen to Dominic’s demands in avoiding killing me, Gianna or Stefano, but they had.
I hesitate to even admit it to myself about how grateful I am for any of it. However every time I close my eyes, it’s not Stefano’s safety or the look of relief in Gianna’s eyes when she finally arrived at the safehouse and spotted me that I think of first.
It’s Dominic.
I don’t know what that says about me after everything… after the lies, the blackmail, the blood on both of our hands.
I should hate him. Actually, I should despise him for dragging me into this world even deeper by making me a pawn in his bloody chess game in the first place through involving me in his plan to take out his father.
But when I think back to the nights where I saw a different side of him—to the sliver of tenderness I’ve come to crave amongst the rest of the depravity he’s shown me—I can’t deny it anymore that I care for him.
More than I should. More than what is safe, really.
Since the reception, the Russians have gone completely underground. Vanishing from existence like they were never there to begin with.
It has me wondering what Dominic plans on doing now. With his father gone and only a few more of the remaining inner circle left to deal with, there isn’t much still standing in his way of taking over the Guerrero family completely now.
Perhaps he’s simply bidding his time and waiting for the right moment again.
Just like he always does.
I wonder what he plans on doing with me now that I’m no longer useful.
Dominic POV
The meeting was a mess.
Dominic leaned back in his chair, arms crossed loosely over his chest, as the arguments spilled over one another, loud and aggressive, around the ornate conference room.
His father’s old inner circle sat on one side of the long table—men who had only just recently been used to being able to bark orders and snap their fingers—were now looking like disheveled messes trying to solve this crisis.
Across from them sat the surviving core of the Caruso family, led by Aurora’s father Francesco, who were all hunched forward in tense silence.
It had been five days since the wedding turned bloodbath, since the Russian bratva had burst through the reception doors like a wrecking ball, tearing apart everything that was supposed to be unshakable, and disappeared just as quickly as they’d come.
His father’s men still had nothing to show for the investigation. No culprits caught. No bratva soldiers dragged in for questioning. Only the bodies of their own, and those from the allies who attended and were unfortunately caught in the crossfire, who were now just starting to be laid to rest.
If Dominic were honest with himself, this was all hilarious to watch unfold.
“We’re wasting time,” snarled Matteo, Leonardo’s consigliere, while slamming his palm against the table hard enough to rattle the glasses on top of it. “Someone needs to pay for this! We need answers.”
“Unless you’ve found the bratva hiding under your bed, we’re no closer now than we were when this all started.” Stefano Moretti, Francesco’s own consigliere, replied.
Grumbles of agreement and frustration moved throughout the room.
Figuring out an entirely new plan after Aurora’s blackmail had been one of the most difficult things that had been thrust into his lap. On top of that, having only a few hours to come up with an execute something with no prior planning?
Nearly impossible.
But then, Dominic wasn’t the kind of person to give up so easily when push came to shove.
It hadn't been easy convincing the Russians to do him a favor. In exchange for their precision and quick response, he’d promised them territory, money, weapons—things he’d be able to deliver once he held full power in his hands.
The Russians got their IOU and Dominic got his revenge. Everyone else was simply collateral.
In retrospect, Dominic thought it would feel better than this—getting revenge and finally killing the man who’d taken his mother from him.
He thought he’d feel... something. Satisfaction. Pride. Maybe a little bit of relief now that the bastard could no longer haunt him.
Instead, all he felt was… emptiness. A bitter void that was just as hungry for something that he still didn’t quite know what to fill it with now that the original target was finally gone. Revenge was supposed to erase that dying need inside of him. Wipe it away completely like it was never there in the first place.
Yet, all it had done was make that gaping wound inside of his chest ache even worse than before.
Dominic didn’t regret killing his father the least bit. That wasn’t what this was all about. But even when he thought about it, long and hard, nothing seemed to feel right anymore.
What did that mean?
The meeting finally ended after another hour of pointless circling, the group dispersing into smaller huddles to argue some more on their way out of the conference room.
His mind was already moving ahead to what had to be done next while following them all out. He needed to tighten up the ranks. Squeeze the life out of anyone still loyal to the old order and get rid of them before they began to solidify their newfound positions.
In the end, his father’s inner circle needed to go.
Not all at once, that would look too suspicious. But quietly, piece by piece, until there was no one left who could challenge him.
Outside the building, he spotted Romero leaning against a sleek black car, arms folded while he surveyed the street like he was half-expecting an ambush.
Dominic crossed over to him, lighting a cigarette as he walked.
“You missed the show,” he said dryly.
Romero snorted, eyes snapping to him. “Heard it as they came out. Sounded like a bunch of old women bickering over who gets the last slice of cake.”
“They’re desperate.” Dominic exhaled smoke through his nose. “They know the power switch is coming. They’re just too stupid to realize who the actual person on the other side of the marionette strings is.”
“That’s true.” Romero studied him for a moment, then said, “You look off.”
Dominic snorted softly, his gaze drifting over to one of the buildings nearby, the dying sunlight bleeding gold and red across the tops of the skyscrapers and reflecting off the shiny glass surface.
“Is that so,” Dominic drawled.
“You got what you wanted,” Romero pointed out. “With Leonardo’s dead, the family’s practically yours.”
“Yes.” Dominic flicked ash off the end of his cigarette. “Not long now.”
Romero raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. He didn’t have to. Dominic already knew what he was thinking.
He’d built his whole life on this moment—on avenging his mother and making his father pay for years of abuse, betrayal, and loss.
And now that it was done, after the throne was empty and waiting for him, there was nothing left but the cold realization that revenge didn’t fill the hole it had torn open in the first place.
What a shit thing to realize after the fact.
Dominic drew in another deep inhale from his cigarette. “Funny. I thought killing him would feel more satisfying. Perhaps I should’ve been the one to pull the trigger after all and not allowed someone else to do it for me.”
Before this, Dominic had hardly cared who would end up killing Leonardo so long as, at the end of the day, the job got done.
But maybe… maybe that wasn’t the case at all. Maybe the only way to fill this hole in his chest was through killing Leonardo himself.
Romero shrugged. “I doubt it. Killing him yourself wouldn’t change things. It wasn’t as if you were going to let Leonardo stick around to deal with the aftermath. Once you finish the job, you’ll feel fine.”
Dominic turned his head slightly, glancing at him. “You mean taking over completely.”
Romero nodded. “You’re still sharing the table with rats. Still sharing power with men who only stayed loyal to your father because they were too afraid to cross him. They’ll never truly follow you unless you get rid of them or make them fall in line.”
Dominic tossed his cigarette and ground it out under his heel. “True.”
The logical next step was purging the old guard and removing anyone with even a whisper of hesitation in their loyalty to him. Crush any lingering support for the way things used to be.
Once the dust settled the Guerrero empire would belong to him and him alone.
He exhaled slowly, feeling the steel resolve slide back into place inside him. “Start drafting a list.”
Romero smiled faintly. “Already did.”
Dominic snorted to himself. Of course he had. His ever loyal second was already one step ahead of him.
Like usual.
Dominic clapped a hand on his shoulder briefly, a rare sign of affection shared between them, before grabbing the handle to the driver’s side and pulling it open.
He slipped behind the wheel and waited until Romeo climbed in after him before turning over the engine. They pulled away from the curb and headed down the main road leaving the city.
Almost everything he fought for, killed for, nearly died for, was almost within his reach.
He just had to finish what he started and finally claim his crown.
