DANGEROUS DEVOTION ( MAFIA ROMANCE).

CHAPTER TWELVE

LUCA

Plans were drawn. Leads were followed. By dusk I had a thread—an account, a courier, a name—that led back toward Elena’s circle. It was enough to begin with: enough to pull at and see what would come loose. I didn’t need the whole carcass to start the hunt; a single twitch could reveal the whole network.

We moved at night. The men I chose to go with me were the ones who never flinched, who understood that the subtle wars required patience as much as fury.

As we drove, I thought of the warehouse—a symbol, a wound. I thought of the flames licking at the arms and ammunition and the way smoke can erase a man’s work in an hour. I thought of Elena and how she always favored cruelty disguised as elegance. Her needle had drawn blood tonight. I would sew it back and make the cut deep.The convoy carved through the city like a blade. My men rode silent, eyes sharp, weapons ready. The Deluca mansion glowed at the end of the street, a beacon of arrogance and rot. They thought fire could break me. They thought striking my warehouse would go unanswered.

They had forgotten who I am.

Gunfire cracked the moment we breached the gates. My men fanned out, shadows with steel, cutting through guards like they were nothing more than obstacles in the dark. Matteo was at my side, precise and merciless, his gun barking thunder into the night.

And Iris—my dolcezza bambina—was pressed against me, shielded by my arm as we moved through the chaos. She shouldn’t have been there, but I couldn’t let her out of my sight. Not after the terror of losing her for those minutes at the trattoria.

Not after I’d realized what it would do to me if she were gone.

We stormed the mansion. Blood painted marble, bodies fell, and by the time I reached the grand hall, the Deluca name was nothing but smoke and trembling voices.

And Elena—

She stood at the top of the stairs, venom in her eyes even as fear trembled at the edges. I climbed to her, unhurried, my steps echoing like a death toll.

When I reached her, I didn’t speak. I wrapped my hand around her throat and slammed her against the wall. Her nails dug into my wrist, but I didn’t loosen my grip. The weight of her body dangled from my hand as she choked for air, her perfect mask cracking into panic.

“I warned you,” I hissed, my voice low and lethal. “Touch what’s mine, and I will end you.”

Iris gasped behind me, but I didn’t look at her. My vision tunneled, focused on the woman I’d gladly snap in half.

She came—between—us. If it wasn’t for her…I would’ve gotten you back. If I could just—put her back where she belongs…elena choked out

Then a voice broke through the storm.

“Please!”

Don DeLuca himself stumbled into the hall, his face pale, his hands raised. The once-proud patriarch of one of the oldest families in Italy now looked like nothing more than a desperate old man.

“She is my daughter,” he begged. “Take my money, my men, my routes—anything. But spare her life. I’ll make it worth your while.”

Elena’s eyes widened, betrayal flickering in them as her father bartered her existence away.

I tightened my grip until her face turned red, savoring the panic in her eyes. “Your daughter nearly cost me everything,” I snarled. “Do you understand what that means?”

DeLuca swallowed hard. “I’ll give you what you want. Power. Shipping lanes. Connections across Europe. All of it, in exchange for her life.”

The offer was heavy, dangerous, tempting.

And it was one I couldn’t refuse.

Slowly, I loosened my hold. Elena crumpled to the ground, gasping, her throat mottled with bruises. I crouched in front of her, my voice cold enough to freeze the blood in her veins.

“Look at me, Elena. If you breathe in Iris’s direction, if you so much as whisper her name, I won’t stop at you. I’ll make sure your entire bloodline vanishes from this world. Do you understand?”

She nodded, trembling, unable to speak.

I stood, my hand finding Iris’s as I turned. She was pale, her eyes wide with terror—not just of the Delucas, but of me.

Good. She needed to see what I was.

I pulled her close, pressing her against my side as we walked out, past the bodies, past the men who lowered their eyes in silence.

Behind us, the Deluca mansion reeked of smoke, fear, and promises of war.

And at my side, Iris trembled like a bird caught in a storm, clinging to the only man who could both destroy her and keep her alive.

The drive back was quick I wanted to get home quickly because I didn't like how silent Iris is.The first thing I did was take a shower to wash off all the blood and Iris did the same.I found her sitting by the window in our room, the lamplight soft and domestic on her face, she looked smaller than I’d imagined. She looked human, and fragile, and unbearably real. I crossed the space in two strides and gathered her to me, resting a hand on the small of her back. She startled, then melted.

Her hand found my face and traced it, as if mapping the lines that marked me. For a mad second I thought she might kiss me, and the thought almost made me careless. Instead she leaned in and pressed her mouth to my jaw, a small, private benediction.

We sat like that for a moment, two pieces of different worlds fused awkwardly together,

I did not let her leave my sight that night. Not for a phone call, not for a walk, not for the comfort of a cigarette on the balcony. She was anchored to me; I to her. In a life where I had given up almost everything for the sake of command, Iris had become the one thing I refused to lose.

When the house settled to the low rumble of late-night guards and quiet engines, I stood and pulled her to her feet. I pressed my lips to her mouth—soft, claiming—and let the small kiss speak what this night means - for her, I would burn the sky.

And to Elena, in my mind as sharp as any blade my men carried: touch her and watch everything you have turn to ash.