Mine by blood and bullet

Chapter 6: Cracks In The Armor

The penthouse felt unusually quiet after Enzo left to handle Benny. Rori spent the evening alternating between pacing the living room and staring out at the glittering city below, the ruby necklace heavy against her collarbone. Every time the elevator made the slightest sound, her heart jumped.

She hated that she was waiting for him.

She hated even more that part of her was worried.

By the time the clock struck past midnight, Rori had changed into soft black lounge pants and one of Enzo’s large shirts. The fabric smelled like him — sandalwood and danger — and she told herself she only wore it because it was comfortable.

The elevator finally chimed.

Rori stood up quickly from the window seat, then forced herself to sit back down, pretending to read. When the doors opened, her stomach dropped.

Enzo stepped out, moving slower than usual. His suit jacket was missing, and his white shirt was torn at the shoulder with a dark red stain spreading across the fabric. Blood. Fresh blood. His left arm hung slightly limp, and there was a cut above his eyebrow that was still bleeding.

“Enzo…” Rori breathed, the book slipping from her fingers.

He looked at her, his dark eyes tired but still sharp. “It’s nothing serious.”

“You’re bleeding,” she said, already moving toward him. “A lot.”

He tried to wave her off, but winced. “Just a graze from a meeting that went south. One of Kane’s men got lucky.”

Rori didn’t hesitate. She grabbed his uninjured arm and guided him toward the large couch. “Sit. I’ll get the first aid kit.”

Enzo raised an eyebrow but obeyed, lowering himself onto the leather with a barely concealed groan. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I know,” she replied softly, disappearing into the bathroom and returning with the fully stocked medical kit. “But I’m doing it anyway.”

She knelt in front of him on the floor, carefully unbuttoning his ruined shirt. Her fingers trembled slightly as she revealed the wound — a deep graze along his shoulder that was still oozing blood. Another smaller cut marred his side. The sight of his bare, muscled torso covered in old scars and fresh injuries made her chest tighten.

Rori’s POV :

He’s always so strong. Untouchable. Seeing him like this… it makes him human. And that’s more dangerous than the monster.

Enzo watched her intently as she cleaned the wound with antiseptic. His jaw clenched, but he didn’t flinch. “Most people would be happy to see me bleed,” he said quietly.

“I’m not most people.” She pressed gauze against the graze, applying pressure. “And you got hurt because of me. Because of what you did today.”

“Not because of you,” he corrected, his voice rough. “For you.”

Their eyes met. The air between them grew thick with unspoken tension.

Rori worked in silence for a few minutes, cleaning and bandaging with surprising steadiness. When she finished wrapping his shoulder, she moved to the cut on his forehead, standing between his spread legs to reach it properly.

“You have so many scars,” she whispered, gently dabbing at the fresh one.

“Occupational hazard,” he murmured. His good hand came up to rest lightly on her hip — not pulling, just resting there. The touch was grounding. “This life doesn’t leave room for softness.”

Rori paused, looking down at him. “Then why do you let me see this side of you?”

Enzo was quiet for a long moment. His thumb brushed once across her hip in a rare, unconscious gesture.

“Because you’re already inside,” he admitted, voice low and raw. “You’ve cracked the armor I’ve spent years building, Aurora. I don’t know whether to lock you away tighter… or pull you in deeper.”

Her breath caught. She finished bandaging his forehead but didn’t step back. Instead, she let her fingers linger on his jaw for a moment, tracing the sharp line there.

Enzo’s POV :

She had no idea what she was doing to him. Kneeling between his legs, tending to his wounds with gentle hands while wearing his shirt. It was the most intimate thing anyone had ever done for him. The obsession that had started as possession was evolving into something far more dangerous — something that felt like need.

“Don’t get too close, little storm,” he warned, even as he guided her to sit beside him on the couch, careful of his injured shoulder. “I’m not a good man. I never will be. The things I’ve done… the things I’ll still do for you…”

Rori sat close, her hands resting lightly on his arm. “I know what you are, Enzo. I’ve seen it. I’ve felt it.” She touched the fresh bandage gently. “But I also see this. The man who protects me so fiercely he comes home bleeding.”

Enzo exhaled slowly and leaned his head back against the couch, closing his eyes for a moment. The vulnerability in that simple action hit her harder than any kiss could have.

“I watched my father die when I was fifteen,” he said suddenly, voice quiet. “Shot in the head during a meeting with the Kanes. Marco and I had to drag his body out while bullets flew around us. That night, I promised myself I would never have a weakness. Never let anyone get close enough to destroy me.”

He opened his eyes and looked at her. “And then your father handed you to me like a gift. And everything changed.”

Rori stayed silent, listening. For the first time, she saw the weight he carried — the years of violence, loss, and constant vigilance.

“You make me want things I shouldn’t,” he continued. “Peace. A future that isn’t just blood and bullets. But wanting those things makes me dangerous… because I will destroy anything that tries to take you away from me.”

Rori reached out and carefully adjusted the bandage on his shoulder, her touch lingering. “Maybe you don’t have to destroy everything,” she whispered. “Maybe you can let me stay… without keeping me in a cage forever.”

Enzo’s dark eyes softened almost imperceptibly. He covered her hand with his own, holding it against his chest where his heart beat strong and steady.

“Be careful what you ask for, Aurora,” he said, voice low. “Because if you keep cracking my armor like this… I might never let you go.”

She didn’t pull her hand away. Instead, she stayed there beside him on the couch, the silence between them no longer purely tense, but weighted with something new — understanding.

For the first time since she had been taken, Rori fell asleep leaning against his uninjured side — wrapped in the Reaper’s quiet warmth, listening to the steady beat of his heart.

The golden cage was starting to feel less like a prison.

And more like the beginning of something dangerously real.