His Mafia Throne

Chapter 10

Max

Pain doesn’t scare me. I’ve been shot three times before. I’ve felt broken ribs, cut fingers, blades lodged between vertebrae. But nothing compares to the pain you feel when a woman kneels beside you, hands stained with your blood, and her voice shakes—not for herself, but for you.

Aurora was there. On her knees. Pressing a soaked cloth to my wound, her eyes filled with something I hadn’t seen before: panic. Not fear. Panic for me.

No one had ever panicked for me. Everyone thought I was untouchable. Cold. Calculated. A monster with steel eyes. But her gaze… she looked at me like I was human.

“Still with me?” she asked softly.

“You’re not getting rid of me that easy,” I mumbled, forcing a weak smile.

I was lying. My chest felt like it was on fire from the inside. Bullets do more than rip flesh. They steal air, focus, strength. And worst of all—they steal clarity.

But I couldn’t afford to fall. Not in front of her. Not when the people who came after me might come back.

---

Gianni. That bastard. The last person who should’ve known where I was. And yet, he showed up. Calm. Neutral. With that bored tone he always used when blood was about to be spilled.

“They’re coming.” That’s all he had to say.

I already knew who “they” were. I knew what I had done. I’d played with fire. And now my empire was a house of cards ready to collapse.

Aurora packed in silence. I watched her every move. Efficient. Focused. But her eyes… they gave her away. She was furious. And hurt. And that hurt me more than the wound in my chest.

“We’re leaving. Now. Safehouse in the port,” I said, dragging myself to my feet.

I nearly collapsed. My body was shutting down. But the fire inside me wasn’t.

---

The drive to the port was hell.

I was lying in the back seat, head against the cold glass. I could hear her breathing, heavy and uneven. She drove carefully, avoiding bumps, trying to spare me the pain. She drove like a soldier. Like one of mine.

“She's not the little girl anymore,” I thought.

I remembered carrying her years ago, stubborn, tiny, with those big eyes that used to look up at me like I was an unsolvable mystery.

Now… she was a woman. Stronger than half the men I ever trained.

She parked behind warehouse 17. No one knew about the safehouse there. Not even my closest circle.

She helped me inside, each step sending a dagger through my ribs. We reached a room with thick walls, no windows, a reinforced door, and a heavy steel table. Originally built for interrogations. Now it would be our shelter.

Aurora eased me into a chair. She didn’t speak. But I felt her watching me. Always watching. And in her eyes… I saw everything. Fear. Love. War.

“I’m sorry you had to see this side of me,” I said, eyes fixed on the floor.

“I’m not,” she answered. “I’m not a little girl anymore, Max.”

Her voice hit harder than any bullet. No, she wasn’t a child. She was the woman who saved my life. Who pulled me back from the edge with nothing but bare hands and fire in her soul.

---

I pulled out the encrypted phone. Dialed one number.

“This is Max. I’ve been betrayed. Gather them. Silence. Fire.”

I hung up.

Then I stood. Trembling. Dizzy. But alive.

Aurora stood across the room, arms crossed, watching me like I was both the man she loved and the storm about to break loose.

“What’s next?” she asked.

I smiled. Not cruel. Not cold. Just like a man reborn through fire.

“Next... comes hell, baby.”

Because they shot me. They tried to bury me.

But they forgot one thing:

I’m still alive.

And now… I’m coming for them.