Mine by blood and bullet

Chapter 9: Enemies Circle

The attack on the Eclipse Tower lasted forty-three brutal minutes.

When Enzo finally returned to the penthouse, he was covered in blood that wasn’t his. His eyes were wild with adrenaline and rage as he stormed through the door. Rori had waited in the safe room exactly as ordered, heart pounding with every distant gunshot.

The moment the reinforced door opened, Enzo pulled her into his arms, crushing her against his chest without a word. His large hand cradled the back of her head, fingers threading through her hair.

“You’re safe,” he rasped, voice hoarse. “They didn’t get anywhere near this floor.”

Rori clutched his blood-stained shirt, breathing in the scent of gunpowder and violence. “What happened?”

“Kane’s men. Testing our defenses.” Enzo pulled back just enough to look at her, his dark eyes scanning her face for any sign of fear or injury. “They won’t try that again anytime soon.”

But something in his expression told her the real danger had only just begun.

The Next Morning at Victor Kane’s Penthouse (East Side Docks).

Victor Kane stood at the window of his own luxurious but colder fortress overlooking the industrial docks. At thirty-four, he was tall and lean, with sharp features, icy blue eyes, and a reputation for enjoying pain — both giving and receiving.

One of his surviving men knelt before him, bruised and bleeding.

“Speak,” Victor ordered calmly.

“We confirmed it, boss. Enzo Rossi has a woman. He’s keeping her in the Eclipse Tower. Not just any woman… he’s obsessed. Killed one of our scouts last night like a man possessed. They call her his weakness.”

Victor’s lips curved into a slow, cruel smile. He swirled the whiskey in his glass, watching the morning light catch the amber liquid.

“Enzo ‘The Reaper’ Rossi… with a woman.” He chuckled darkly. “The untouchable bastard finally has a heart I can rip out.”

He turned to his right-hand man. “Find out everything about her. Name. Background. How he got her. I want photos. I want her routines. And when the time is right… I want her taken.”

Victor raised his glass in a mock toast toward the distant skyline where the Eclipse Tower stood like a middle finger from the Rossi empire.

“Welcome to the war, little princess. Let’s see how long the Reaper lasts when I start carving pieces off the thing he loves most.”

Back at the Penthouse,Enzo hadn’t left Rori’s side since returning from the fight. He sat on the large sectional couch with her tucked against his uninjured side, his bandaged shoulder stiff but ignored. Luca had just delivered a thick file and left them alone again.

“They know about you,” Enzo said grimly, flipping open the folder. Inside were grainy photos — clearly taken from a distance — of Rori standing near the windows days earlier. “One of Kane’s scouts must have gotten lucky before we eliminated the team last night.”

Rori’s stomach dropped as she stared at the photos. “How?”

“Doesn’t matter how.” Enzo’s voice was ice-cold. “What matters is that Victor Kane now knows I have something worth taking. And he will try.”

He closed the file and turned to face her fully, cupping her face with both hands. His touch was gentle, but his eyes burned with lethal promise.

“I need you to understand something, Aurora. Kane is not like the others I’ve dealt with. He doesn’t just kill. He destroys. He will come after you to break me. He will try to make me watch while he hurts you.”

Rori’s breath shook. “Then let me go. If I’m the weakness—”

“Never,” Enzo growled, the word fierce and immediate. “You leaving is not an option. Not now. Not ever. You are safest with me. I will triple security. You will not leave this penthouse for any reason. Luca will be with you constantly when I’m not here.”

He rested his forehead against hers again, the same intense connection from the night before surging between them.

“You’re mine to protect,” he whispered. “Every breath you take, every step you make — it’s under my watch now. I will turn this city into a graveyard before I let Kane touch one hair on your head.”

Rori closed her eyes, overwhelmed by the weight of his obsession. “This is escalating because of me.”

“No,” Enzo said firmly. “This war was coming long before you. You’ve just become the reason I will win it.”

He pulled back slightly and reached into his pocket, taking out a sleek black phone. “This is for you. It’s heavily monitored. You can call Isabella once — a short, scripted call to tell her you’re safe and staying with someone new. Nothing more. I’ll be listening.”

Rori took the phone with trembling fingers. It felt like a small victory in the middle of everything.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Enzo’s expression softened by a fraction. “I’m not a monster all the time, little storm. Not with you.”

For the rest of the day, the penthouse became a war room. Enzo coordinated with Marco and his captains via video calls while Rori stayed close, listening to the cold, calculated way he planned retaliation. Every order he gave was laced with her name — extra guards on the tower, hit squads targeting Kane’s known associates, new security protocols.

By evening, exhaustion had settled deep into Rori’s bones. She sat curled up on the window seat watching the rain fall again when Enzo approached and draped a soft cashmere blanket over her shoulders.

“He won’t get to you,” he vowed quietly, sitting beside her. “I’ve already increased the bounty on anyone who even speaks your name outside this building. The entire Rossi network is on alert.”

Rori leaned her head against his uninjured shoulder, surprising them both with the casual intimacy. “I’m scared, Enzo.”

“I know.” His arm came around her, holding her close. “But fear is good. It keeps you careful. And I will carry the rest of it for both of us.”

They stayed like that as night fell over New Haven — the Reaper and the woman who had become both his greatest weakness and his strongest motivation.

Somewhere across the city, Victor Kane was already plotting.

The enemies had officially entered the circle.

And the war for Rori had truly begun.