GILDED CAGES AND BLOODY HANDS

Chaos erupted. Alessandro moved with lethal precision. Despite his wound, he was a ghost in the smoke, taking down three men in the blink of an eye.

I sprinted toward Leah and Camila, drawing the tactical knife. A guard stumbled blindly toward me, swinging his rifle. I ducked, slicing the heavy zip-ties on Leah's wrists, then tossed the knife to her.

“Cut Camila!” I yelled.

Leah caught the blade, slicing Camila free just as the smoke began to clear.

Carmine, coughing and enraged, realized he had been flanked. He pulled a heavy revolver and aimed it directly at Alessandro’s back.

“Alessandro!” I screamed.

My husband spun, but he wasn’t fast enough. Carmine fired. The bullet caught Alessandro in the shoulder, spinning him backward. Carmine stepped forward to finish him off.

I didn't think. I sprinted at the old man, grabbing a heavy iron wrench from a nearby workbench. As Carmine pulled the trigger again, I swung the wrench with everything I had, shattering his kneecap.

Carmine howled, collapsing to the floor, his gun skittering away into the darkness.

I stood over him, my chest heaving, the heavy wrench still gripped in my shaking hands.

Alessandro pushed himself up from the ground, his arm hanging limp, blood pouring from his shoulder. He walked over to Carmine, picking up the fallen revolver.

“You broke the family, Carmine,” Alessandro said, his voice utterly devoid of emotion. “You sold out your blood.”

“I did it for power!” Carmine spat, clutching his ruined knee. “Something you lost the moment you married this weak jeweler’s daughter!”