The scream wouldn’t stop echoing in his ears.
Adrian paced the room like a predator, muscles locked tight, blood howling beneath his skin. Valentina’s scream. Cut short. Real. Someone had taken her.
He smashed his fist into the wall.
“She trusted you,” his mind spat. “And you let her go.”
Matteo burst through the door, eyes wide. “Boss, what happened?”
“She’s been taken.”
“Taken? When? By who?”
Adrian grabbed the rose-stained note from the nightstand and threw it at him. “This was left at the gate. The scream came from her phone. It was sent to me.”
Matteo read the note, face paling. “This—this is a message. A warning.”
“No,” Adrian growled. “It’s war.”
---
Fifteen minutes later, the war room buzzed.
Adrian stood at the head of the table, eyes burning with rage. Every capo, eve
