Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Dominic

T he shrill ring of my phone sliced through the silence, its vibration a sinister harbinger on the mahogany desk. My hand shot out to seize it, fingers closing around the cool metal with a grip forged in fury and dread. Lex's name illuminated the screen, pulsing like a beacon—a cruel trick that fueled the storm brewing in my chest.

"Speak," I commanded as I brought the phone to my ear.

"Ah, the esteemed Dominic Gambino graces me with his attention," Nikolai sneered from the other side, his words laced with frost.

"Where is she?" My demand was terse, heart hammering, each beat echoing Alexa's name.

"Your men? They put up a good fight," Nikolai continued, ignoring the question, his voice a serpent slithering through the line. "But ultimately, they were nothing but pawns swept off the board."

My knuckles turned white as I gripped the phone, the image of my loyal soldiers—men who had sworn allegiance to me—being cut down by this monster coiled in my mind with venomous clarity.

"And Alexa?" I pressed, my throat tight with barely restrained violence.

"Your lovely bride is with me. Isn't that touching? She still calls for you… even now," Nikolai drawled, a cruel mockery of concern tainting his words.

The darkness within me swelled, a tide of rage and fear that threatened to drown me. Yet beneath it all, there lay a cold, hard resolve. Alexa, the light in my shadowed world, was in the hands of a madman. And I would move heaven and earth to bring her back into my arms.

The silence that followed Nikolai's words was dense, a suffocating void where my rapid thoughts echoed hollowly. Each second stretched, taut and brittle as the realization clawed into me—Alexa, my Alexa, was staring down the barrel of mortality. Her light, the very essence that had softened the edges of my hardened world, flickered in the gusts of a tempest orchestrated by this madman.

"Let's make this interesting, Dominic," Nikolai's voice slithered back into the conversation, a confident smirk audible in each syllable. "You want to save your precious wife? Then let's see how much she means to you."

My muscles tensed, coiled springs waiting for release. The shadow of a decision loomed over me, dark wings unfurling with dreadful anticipation.

"Come to me alone," Nikolai taunted, the words dripping with venomous pleasure. "Surrender yourself, and perhaps I'll consider letting her go. After all, isn't that what love is? Sacrifice?"

The notion, vile and twisted, hung in the air like smoke from a snuffed candle. My breath came out in controlled bursts, my mind a fortress against the encroaching dread. The image of Alexa, her bright-blue eyes often so full of hope, now wide with fear, seared itself into my psyche.

"Because of your marriage," Nikolai continued, his voice a razor slicing through my defenses. "This union you forged without heed for consequence. It has led us here, to this delicious moment."

I could almost picture the self-satisfied leer on Nikolai's face, a predator toying with its prey. But I was no ordinary prey; I was a force of nature cloaked in human flesh, a tempest that had learned to walk in a man's shoes.

"Think carefully, Gambino," Nikolai purred. "Her blood will be on your hands."

A shiver, unbidden yet defiant, ran down my spine. Every fiber of my being rebelled against yielding to Nikolai's demands, but the stakes were higher than pride or power—they were life and death, bound in the fragile form of the woman who'd unwittingly become my everything.

"Time is ticking," Nikolai crooned, the finality in his tone a macabre countdown.

"Understand this, Nikolai." My reply was ironclad, my resolve an impenetrable shield. "You won't win this game."

The call ended with a click, severing the last thread of connection. Darkness enveloped me, a familiar cold embrace. Yet within it a flame ignited, fueled by an unwavering determination. For Alexa, I would walk through fire and emerge unscathed, or I would lay waste to anyone who dared harm a single golden strand of her hair.

My hand trembled imperceptibly as I lowered the phone, the ghost of Nikolai's threats still clawing at my ears. My heart, a drumbeat of war and longing, hammered against the walls of my chest. The dimly lit room seemed to contract around me, the shadows stretching out like specters of doubt, whispering of the peril Alexa faced.

The air was thick with unspoken dread; even the robust scent of aged leather from the armchair couldn't mask the bitter tang of fear. I was caught in the merciless grip of an impossible choice: the woman who brought light into my world or the mantle of power that had been my birthright—a legacy soaked in blood and shrouded in darkness .

My emotions, once bridled by necessity and discipline, now bucked wildly. Love for Alexa surged, a tidal wave crashing against the stoic cliffs of duty. Each thought of her—her soft smile, the gentle cadence of her voice, the way her eyes sparkled with undiluted compassion—was a blade twisting deeper into my resolve. But the love that bound me to her was more than a mere emotion; it was a force that demanded action, a commandment etched into my very soul.

The phone vibrated again, its shrill tone slicing through the heavy silence. Nikolai's voice slithered through the speaker, venomous and vile, dripping with the promise of violence. "Time's running out, Gambino. What's your play?"

My jaw clenched, a visible sign of the storm raging within. With each word Nikolai uttered, threatening Alexa's life, I felt the iron of my will harden. There was no room for hesitation, no space for second-guessing. In the cruel game we played, only swift, decisive moves could counteract the hand of fate.

"Listen well," I breathed into the phone, voice low and dangerous, "because I will say this only once." The darkness around me seemed to lean in closer, eager to witness the unfolding drama. "You may think you have the upper hand, but so much as a scratch on Alexa, and I will bring such fury upon you that you'll beg for the kind of death you gave my men."

Nikolai's laughter crackled through the connection, a sound devoid of any human warmth. But it was the silence that followed—the quiet before the storm—that galvanized me into motion. I would not let this man, this monster, dictate the terms of Alexa's life. She was the beacon in my night, the one pure thing in a world tainted by my family's sins.

My mind, once a whirlwind of emotion, now settled into the eye of the storm, clear and focused. I didn't need to see the faces of my loyal men to know they were ready, their own resolve a reflection of mine. They understood what was at stake; they too would lay down their lives for the innocence Alexa represented.

"Get the car ready. We are going to Vincent's now!" I commanded, my words cutting through the tension like a knife. "We're moving out."

This was all because of the horrible things my father had done to Nikolai's business and family over the years. He finally saw a way to get revenge and Alexa was his best shot. If I showed up alone, he would kill me. That would end the bloodline of Gambino's and leave room for his family to finally take over our operation.

I burst into the front door of my father's and marched right into his study, slamming my fist against the desk.

"Alexa has been taken," I growled, my voice a low rumble of barely contained fury. The words sliced through the air, laden with accusation.

"So you've said," he replied, his tone dismissive, as if discussing a minor business transaction gone awry.

I leaned forward until my face was inches from my father's, the muscles in my jaw ticking. "Because of this life, because of what we are!"

"Control yourself, Dominic," he advised, finally lifting his eyes to meet mine. "Emotions are a liability."

"Liability?" Incensed, I spat the word out like venom. "She is not a commodity. She's everything to me!"

"Then you should have kept her closer," he retorted, unfazed by the intensity of my words, my voice.

The sound of heavy boots pounding against the marble floor echoed through the hallway, growing louder with each passing second. I straightened as the door burst open, revealing my men—faces set in grim determination, eyes alert and assessing.

"Boss, we're here," the lead man, Marco, announced, his hand resting on the gun holstered at his hip.

I cast a final, piercing glance at him. "This ends tonight," I vowed, the weight of my resolve settling around me like a cloak. With that, I turned on my heel and strode out of the study, leaving behind the world I knew for the uncertain future that awaited me .

I went out to the living area to address the men.

My jaw clenched as I surveyed the room, my men gathered around like a fortress of solemn faces and sturdy frames.

"Nikolai won't stop until he gets what he wants. And what he wants is me."

The men shifted, a silent rustle of fabric and leather, but not one of them spoke. They waited, statuesque, for their orders, their loyalty an unbreakable chain that bound them.

"Tonight, I'm going to give myself up to him," I continued, eyes fierce with a resolve that had been forged in the fires of my tumultuous life. My hands, normally steady as stone, trembled imperceptibly at my sides. "It's the only way to ensure Alexa's safety."

A collective breath was drawn in the room, a tide of tension rising high against the walls of the mansion. Yet amid the undercurrent of shock, there was no dissent, no murmur of doubt.

"Boss, there has to be another way," Marco finally broke the silence, his voice rough like gravel, yet tinged with an unmistakable edge of respect.

"There isn't." My reply left no space for argument. "This is my choice—and my command. You are to protect Alexa. Keep her safe, keep her hidden, and let no harm come to her."

My gaze swept over them, each man meeting my stare with a nod, a silent pledge to uphold my final wish. It was a testament to the brotherhood we shared, a bond that went beyond blood.

"Everything you've trained for, all the loyalty you've shown—it's for this moment," I said, my tone imbued with the gravity of the situation. "I trust you with her life… with the future I can't be a part of."

"You have our word, Dom," another man, Luca, stepped forward, his voice firm. "We'll guard her with our own lives if we must."

"Good." My lips pressed into a thin line, a mix of gratitude and sorrow. I turned away, hiding the glimmer of vulnerability that threatened to surface. This was it—the moment where I embraced my fate, where I laid down the mantle of protector and passed it on to the men who'd follow my lead into hell itself.

"Then it's settled," I declared, my back to them now, facing the darkness outside the window that mirrored the path I was about to walk. "Keep her safe. That's an order."

"Until the end, boss," came the unified response, a chorus of devotion that filled the room with its intensity.

"Until the end."