Chapter 95

Aurora POV

The minute Dominic left for the extraction, doubt started eating at me.

At first, I ignored it. Told myself it was nerves that I would soon be hearing from Luca that Dominic, Romero and his twin would all be returning to him in body bags.

Guilt doesn’t feel any different from fear when it first digs its claws in. But the longer I sat there, listening for the sounds of Luca losing his mind as he got the news, the more that subtle ache in my chest began to twist into something unbearable.

I was never built for this. For betrayal… for orchestrating a man’s death.

Even a man like Dominic Guerrero.

I’d found Luca hunched over one of the laptops, a CCTV stream pulled up, the screen showing a grainy feed from some hidden camera flickering every few seconds as Dominic’s SUV. My eyes were glued to the screen, not able to look away for even a second as they idled in front of the warehouse.

The second they got out of the car and walked inside, Alek’s men would be waiting to ambush them.

Could I really let him walk into this?

Could I really let him die like this?

The man who blackmailed me. The man who sold my best friend to a psychopath. The man who broke me in ways I didn’t think I could be broken.

He’s all those things and yet he’s still the man who owns too much of my heart for me to rip him out cleanly.

I hate myself for it.

I hate him for it, too.

But I know the answer before I can even fully form the question: I can’t let him die. Not like this.

I don’t waste time swiping Luca’s phone off of the desk while he remains focused on the CCTV feed. I’m careful not to make much noise as I hurry back to the bedroom and shut myself inside of it again, locking the door as my hand shakes.

Luca’s phone is password protected but that doesn’t matter. I’ve got Dominic’s number memorized by now. Swiping to the emergency call log, I punch in his number and hold it up to my ear.

Dread leaks into my gut

What if he doesn’t believe me?

God, I never thought of that possibility until now. And even if he does believe me, what’s stopping Alek’s men from ambushing them anyway?

The other end rings only once before Dominic’s voice picks up. “Yeah?”

My throat is so tight I can barely get out the words. “Dominic.”

He pauses for a second. “What’s wrong?”

“You need to leave. Now.” My words tumble out in a panicked whisper. “It’s a trap, Dominic. Alek’s not coming for a trade. He’s setting it up to ambush you.”

Right as I get the words out, gunfire cracks through the line.

No!

“Dom—?” The call drops instantly, the screen going black in my hand.

I stare at it like I can will it to come back to life, to reconnect, to give me proof that he’s still breathing. My fingers curl so tightly around the phone that my knuckles ache and for a horrifying second I’m sure I’m going to crush the damn thing in my grip.

Please let him get out. Please don’t make me live with this. I can’t—

The thought splinters in my chest like glass.

“Fuck!” I hear Luca shout from beyond the door.

Oh, god.

I race out the door, yanking it open so hard that it slams against the opposite wall. Luca is on his feet, his chair toppled behind him when I finally get to the living room again. His phone is clutched tight in his hand, his eyes glued to the screen in front of him as he mutters rapid Italian under his breath.

“What happened?” My voice comes out sharper than I expect, almost unrecognizable.

He doesn’t answer, his fingers flying over the keyboard.

“Luca. What happened?” I demand again, stepping closer.

Luca’s head snaps up, his eyes wild with something I can’t quite read, fear? Anger? “Go back to your room, Aurora.”

I don’t. I can’t. My legs keep moving like they’re operating on their own, my vision tunneling on the device in his hand.

“Is he…” My throat closes up around the words. “Is Dominic—”

“Not now.” His voice is steel.

That isn’t enough to stop the images from flooding my mind. Dominic lying on the cold asphalt, blood pooling beneath him. Romero’s shouts. Marco’s gun blazing in all directions as he tries to shoot through the ambush.

All because of me.

Because I set him up.

Because I tried to undo it all too late.

When the door opens an hour later, I spring to my feet instinctively, relief hitting me like a punch to the gut, so hard it nearly folds me in half, until I see who’s standing there.

Romero and Marco.

No Dominic.

My blood turns to ice.

No.

No, no, no.

The room seems to tilt around me. I hear my own heartbeat pounding in my ears, drowning out everything else. He didn’t… they got him. Alek was actually successful in taking him down, just like he promised he would be.

Tears burn the corners of my eyes.

“Come,” Romero says curtly.

I don’t move. I’m frozen in place, my legs no longer listening to what my brain is telling them to do.

“Now.” He spits out at me

The weight in his tone leaves no room for argument. I swallow hard and force my legs to move. Each step feels like it’s carrying me closer to my own execution. The hallway blurs, the elevator ride is suffocating.

My feet move on autopilot. Romero doesn’t say a word, but his presence fills the space around us like a raging storm.

By the time we step out into the parking garage, my palms are slick with sweat, my nails biting crescents into my palms where I’ve curled my hands into fists.

A dark grey SUV idles in one of the parking spots, facing towards the building.

Dominic is in the driver’s seat, one hand on the wheel, the other resting loosely against the door. His profile is sharp, cold, utterly unreadable in the pale light.

My knees nearly give out.

He’s alive.

He survived.

A shaky breath rattles out of me as I move toward the car. The relief curdling in my stomach is short-lived. He doesn’t look at me when I open the door and climb in. Not a word, not even a glance as I shut it behind me and buckle in.

It’s like I’m not even here.

I risk a glance at him. There are no marks marring his handsome face, No blood on his shirt or pants, no bandages or visible wounds at all. Whatever happened after our call dropped, he made it out unscathed.

Physically, at least.

Without a word, he drives. Away from the hotel, away from the tourist traps and crowded streets I’ve gotten used to seeing outside the living room windows. The city gives way to open road and looming trees, the kind of place no one would hear a scream if I was left out here to die.

I grip my knees, my nails digging crescent moons into my skin.

The car slows when we reach an abandoned lot far out from the city. He pulls into the back part of it and faces the front of the car away from the road before killing the engine, and finally turns his head.

His eyes are black in the low light.

“Why?”

Just one word is all that is uttered out of his mouth but it lands like a gunshot.He doesn’t need to elaborate because I know exactly what he’s asking.

Why did I warn him?

Why did I betray Alek in the first place?

Why did I almost let him die and then go back and change my mind about it?

My throat feels raw, but I force myself to speak. “I… couldn’t.”

“You couldn’t what?” His voice is low, dangerously calm.

I breathe out slowly. “I couldn’t let you die.”

“Why?” he presses. “After everything… Why?”

“Because I—” The word catches in my throat.

Because I still love you.