Chapter 8 - The Underworld War
That night, Lorenzo did not wait for the enemy to come to him.
He assembled the entire strike force of the Rossi family—fifty heavily armed men in black tactical gear. But this wasn't a standard mob war; this was personal.
In a abandoned warehouse near the docks of Brooklyn, Marcus Vance sat drinking cheap whiskey, waiting for his contact to deliver details on how to kidnap Hunter back from the Rossi estate.
The heavy steel doors of the warehouse were suddenly blasted off their hinges by breaching charges.
Smoke and stun grenades filled the room. Marcus’s thugs were neutralized within seconds by synchronized, suppressed gunfire. Marcus scrambled for his gun, but before he could raise it, a heavy combat boot slammed onto his hand, crushing his fingers with a sickening crunch.
Marcus screamed, looking up into the terrifying face of Lorenzo Rossi.
"Marcus Vance," Lorenzo said, his voice sounding like gravel grinding together. He leaned down, placing the cold barrel of his hand-forged pistol against Marcus’s forehead. "You laid hands on the woman who feeds my son. The woman I love."
Marcus choked on his own blood, his eyes wide with pure terror. "She's... she's my wife! She belongs to me!"
"She belongs to no one," Lorenzo roared. "She is the queen of the Rossi empire. And you are a ghost."
Lorenzo pulled the trigger without a second thought.
By midnight, the Philadelphia faction that had harbored Marcus was completely erased. Lorenzo returned to the Long Island mansion, stepping into the nursery where Hunter was quietly rocking Leo to sleep.
He stood in the doorway, wiping a speck of blood from his cheek. Hunter looked up at him, reading the finality in his eyes.
"Is it over?" she whispered.
"It's over," Lorenzo replied softly, walking over to kneel beside her chair. "Your past can never hurt you again, Hunter. You are safe. You are free."
Hunter looked down at Lorenzo—this terrifying man who had destroyed an entire criminal syndicate just to give her peace. She reached out and gently ran her fingers through his dark hair.
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"I don't want to be free if it means leaving you, Lorenzo," she admitted, her voice filled with pure sincerity. "I love you. I love Leo. You are my home now."
Lorenzo raised his head, his eyes shining with rare tears. "Then stay," he begged softly. "Be my wife. Be Leo's mother. Rule this empire with me."
