THE SECRETARY WHO SIGNED MY DEATH WARRANT

The man at the door lifted his gun and smiled like this was a reunion long overdue, the kind where only one of us would walk away breathing.

I recognized him instantly, Matteo Russo, my cousin by blood and my enemy by betrayal, the man who sold out the Moretti syndicate in Milan and vanished before I could put a bullet in his skull. Seeing him here meant one thing, this wasn't just a hit, it was a takeover.

Gunfire ripped through the office again and I rolled, dragging Ava with me across shattered glass as bullets chewed through mahogany and steel. She screamed when something sliced her arm and the sound cut deeper than the chaos.

I was actually protecting the woman who almost got me killed, while trying not to kill her myself. I pressed my hand over her wound, blood slick and hot against my palm. "Stay down," I ordered, my voice iron even as rage boiled inside me.

"I didn't want this," she sobbed, eyes wild as smoke filled the room. "Lucien please believe me." Another explosion rocked the floor and the sprinklers burst to life, rain mixing with blood, turning the office into a war zone. My men were already responding, I could hear boots pounding in the hallway, but Matteo had timed this perfectly.

He always did!

"Come out, cousin," Matteo called, his voice carrying through the smoke, "Let's end this like family."

Family! The word tasted like poison.

I pulled my gun from my ankle holster and fired twice through the desk, the recoil steadying my pulse. Screams answered, then silence, then laughter.

"You still shoot like a devil," Matteo said. "Shame you won't live long enough to teach your children."

Ava stiffened beneath, the secret that had been circling us since Milan, the one neither of us had dared to name.

I glanced down at her, my chest tightening when I saw the way her hand instinctively covered her stomach. The memory slammed into place, the night she left, the tears, the way she whispered goodbye like it was forever.

"You're pregnant," I said quietly

Her breath hitched and her eyes filled again, confirming everything. "Yes," she whispered "I was." The word shattered me.

Was....

"What do you mean was," I demanded

Her lips trembled, "They took him, Lucien. When I refused to sign for you the first time, they made me choose."

Rage unlike anything I had ever known tore through me, a violent need to burn the world down inch by inch. Matteo didn't just want my empire, he wanted my bloodline erased.

Revenge versus survival!

A flash bang detonated near the door and I moved fast, hauling Ava up and pushing her toward the emergency stairwell hidden behind the bookshelf. I hit the switch and the shelf slid open just as Matteo's men rushed in.

"Run! I told her "Don't stop for anything."

She shook her head, gripping my shirt with shaking fingers. "I'm not leaving you again."

Before I could respond, Matteo stepped into the room, gun raised, his gaze locking on Ava with interest that made my skin crawl.

"So that's her," he drawled "The famous secretary." His eyes dropped to her bloodied arm, then to her face. "You signed beautifully, sweetheart. Very clean

She flinched and something ugly twisted inside me. I stepped in front of her, gun aimed at his heart. "You touch her and I'll make sure there's nothing left to bury."

Matteo laughed, slow and amused. "Still possessive, Lucien! That's your weakness."

He gestured and two men dragged in my head of security, blood pouring from his mouth as they dropped him to his knees.

"Let them go," Matteo said "Walk away from New York and sign over the company tonight Or your people will die one by one."

I glanced at Ava, her face pale but her spine straight, that same strength that had always drawn me to her. Fate was cruel, but it was consistent.

"I'll never give you my empire," I said

Matteo shrugged and pulled the trigger.

The shot echoed and my man collapsed, lifeless. Something inside me snapped

I fired, hitting Matteo in the shoulder as my men stormed in from the hall. The room erupted again, screams and gunfire blending into chaos. I grabbed Ava and ran, the stairwell door slamming behind us as we descended into darkness.

We didn't stop until we reached the underground garage, my car waiting like a promise of escape. I shoved her into the passenger seat and peeled out just as bullets shattered the rear window.

Sirens wailed behind us, but not police, not yet, these were Matteo's people tightening the net.

Ava clutched her arm, her breathing shallow, They won't stop, she said. They own half the judges, the banks, the streets.

I glanced at her, jaw tight. "Then we disappear" Her head snapped toward me "You can't just vanish"

"I can," I said, I've done it before. She shook her head, tears spilling over. "They still found you." The city blurred past us, neon lights reflecting in the windshield like fractured futures. I took a hard turn into an abandoned tunnel, killing the headlights as we rolled to a stop.

Silence fell heavy between us.

I turned to her, my voice low and dangerous. "You're staying with me, every second, until this ends."

She met my gaze, something fierce igniting beneath the fear. "Then you need to know the truth." My stomach dropped.

"What truth? I asked, She swallowed "The contract you signed wasn't just for you."

My blood ran cold, "Explain."

Her voice broke as she spoke the words that shattered everything I thought I understood.

"It was a double hit, Lucien. You and the child I was carrying And Matteo just accelerated the timeline."

Before I could respond, my phone buzzed again. Another encrypted message

SECOND PHASE INITIATED, SAFE HOUSE COMPROMISED.

I looked up just as headlights flooded the tunnel from both ends, engines roaring, trapping us in a steel cage.

Ava grabbed my hand, her grip tight with terror and trust.

"They're here," she whispered.

I reached for my gun, knowing there was no escape this time. And then a shadow stepped out of the car ahead of us, a woman's silhouette, familiar and impossible.

My mother

Alive And pointing a gun straight at Ava.