Three men poured through the doorway, weapons raised. Nadia moved on instinct, dropping low as bullets tore through the space where her head had been. She rolled behind the bed, using it as cover.
Roman fired twice. Two bodies dropped.
The third man charged him. They collided in a tangle of fists and fury. Nadia watched Roman fight, efficient and brutal, every movement calculated to incapacitate. He was not just powerful. He was trained.
Like her.
Alessandro pulled his own weapon, covering the doorway as more footsteps approached. "There are too many. We need to move."
"The safe room," Nadia insisted, rising from cover.
"Will become our tomb if they know about it," Roman grunted, driving his elbow into his opponent's temple. The man crumpled. "Alessandro, how many exits does this estate have?"
"Four. But they will have them covered."
"Then we make a fifth." Roman grabbed the dead attacker's rifle, checked the ammunition, and tossed it to Nadia. "Can you use that?"
She caught it one-handed, checked the chamber, and flicked off the safety. "Try me."
Something flickered in Roman's eyes. Approval. Maybe even desire.
"The east wall backs onto the neighbor's property," Alessandro said quickly. "There is a weak point where the old foundation cracked. We can break through."
"Lead the way."
They moved as a unit through the hallway. Bodies littered the floor, some Alessandro's guards, others the attackers. Nadia's stomach churned, but she pushed the feeling down. She had seen death before. She would see it again tonight.
A figure appeared at the end of the hall. Nadia raised the rifle, but Alessandro caught the barrel. "Wait. That is mine."
The man was indeed one of Alessandro's security team, bloodied but alive. "Sir, they have the front barricaded. At least fifteen men, maybe more. They are wearing Kamali's colors."
"He is not even hiding it," Roman said darkly. "Bold."
"Or desperate," Nadia added. "The woman who died, she said he has been watching me for fifteen years. Why move now? Why tonight?"
Roman glanced at her. "Because I found you first."
The words sent a chill down her spine. "What does that mean?"
"It means whatever bond exists between us, Kamali felt it too. Every supernatural creature within a mile radius would have felt that kind of connection ignite." Roman started moving again, faster now. "He knows I will not let you go. He has to act now, before I claim you fully."
"Claim me?" Nadia's voice rose. "I am not property."
"No, you are a weapon." Roman looked back at her, his expression hard. "A Ferragamo heir, trained and vengeful, bonded to a DeLuca. You are either the key to uniting our families or destroying them both. Kamali cannot allow either option."
They reached the east wall. Alessandro's guard produced a small explosive charge from his tactical vest. "This will bring the wall down, but it will also alert everyone to our position."
"Do it," Roman ordered. "We fight our way out if we have to."
The guard set the charge. "Thirty seconds."
Nadia checked her rifle again, counting rounds. Twelve left. Not enough if they were truly outnumbered fifteen to one. She glanced at Roman, found him already watching her.
"When we get out of here," he said quietly, "you and I are going to have a very long conversation."
"If we get out of here."
"We will." He said it with such certainty that Nadia almost believed him. "I did not wait twenty-six years to find my mate just to lose her the same night."
"Ten seconds," the guard warned.
They all turned away, covering their heads. The explosion rocked the foundation. Dust and debris filled the air. When it cleared, a jagged hole gaped in the wall, large enough to climb through.
"Move!" Roman went first, gun raised, scanning the neighboring property. "Clear."
Alessandro's guard followed, then Alessandro himself. Nadia was halfway through when hands grabbed her from behind.
She twisted, bringing the rifle butt up hard. It connected with someone's face. Bone crunched. But more hands grabbed her, dragging her back into the estate.
"Roman!" Her scream cut through the night.
He spun, horror flashing across his face. "Nadia!"
She fought like a wild animal, kicking, biting, clawing. But there were too many. Five men, all bigger, all stronger. They hauled her backward through the debris.
Roman charged back through the hole. Alessandro tried to stop him, but Roman shoved him aside with supernatural strength. "Get to the cars. Call my father. Tell him what is happening."
"You will die," Alessandro shouted.
"Then I die."
Roman disappeared back into the estate. Nadia heard gunfire, screams, the sound of bodies hitting the floor. But the men dragging her did not slow. They pulled her through the house, past the carnage, toward the front entrance where black SUVs waited.
A figure stood silhouetted in the doorway.
Even fifteen years later, even in shadow, Nadia knew him.
Leo Kamali.
The stitch scar on his forehead caught the light as he stepped forward. Older now, grayer, but those cold eyes were exactly as she remembered.
"Little Nadia Ferragamo," he said softly. "You have grown."
Rage exploded in her chest. Nadia lunged, but the men holding her jerked her back. "You murdered my family!"
"Your family was already dying." Kamali moved closer, studying her face. "Your father was weak. Sentimental. He let his heart make decisions that should have been made with his head. I simply accelerated the inevitable."
"Liar."
"Am I?" Kamali's smile was cold. "Ask Alessandro why he was not at the estate that night. Ask him why he was conveniently out of town when the attack happened. Ask him who gave me the security codes."
The words hit like bullets. "No."
"Yes." Kamali reached out, touching her cheek. Nadia jerked away, but he caught her chin, forcing her to look at him. "Alessandro Vitale traded your father's life for his own. And he has spent fifteen years raising you as the perfect weapon to use against me. Did you really think he saved you out of loyalty?"
"Stop talking." But her voice shook.
"The DeLuca boy is coming for you," Kamali continued. "I can hear him tearing through my men. He will reach you in less than a minute. So I will make this simple." He released her chin and pulled a gun, pressing it against her temple. "You can come with me willingly and live. Or you can refuse, and I kill everyone in this estate. Including your precious mate."
"He is not…."
"Do not insult my intelligence. The bond is written all over you." Kamali's finger tightened on the trigger. "Choose. Now."
Footsteps thundered closer. Roman's voice roared her name.
Nadia looked at the gun. At Kamali's scarred face. At the door where Roman would appear any second.
She thought of her family. Of Theodore's dying words. Of fifteen years spent planning revenge.
And she thought of Roman's words. I protect what is mine.
She made her choice.
"I will go with you," she said quietly. "But only if you let everyone else walk away. Including Roman."
Kamali studied her face. "You would sacrifice yourself for him? A DeLuca?"
"I would sacrifice myself to keep you from adding more names to your list of victims."
"How noble." Kamali lowered the gun. "Very well. But know this, little Ferragamo. When you walk out that door with me, you declare war. On Alessandro. On the DeLucas. On everyone who thought you were their ally. There will be no going back."
"There was never going back," Nadia said. "Not from the moment you put that bullet in my brother."
Kamali's smile widened. "Good. I was hoping you would say that."
He grabbed her arm, dragging her toward the SUVs. The men released her, following their boss. Nadia did not resist. She let herself be pulled out into the night, away from Alessandro's burning estate.
The door behind them exploded open.
Roman stood in the doorway, covered in blood, gun raised. His eyes found Nadia, and the anguish in them nearly broke her resolve.
"Let her go, Kamali," Roman's voice was barely human. "Or I will paint this driveway with your blood."
"You could try." Kamali opened the SUV door, shoving Nadia inside. "But by the time you reach me, my men will have put twenty bullets in your chest. Is she worth dying for, DeLuca? A woman you met tonight?"
Roman's gun did not waver. "Yes."
The single word hung in the air.
Kamali laughed. "Then you are as foolish as her father." He climbed into the SUV beside Nadia. "Tell your father that the old alliances are dead. Tell him that the Ferragamo debt is being called. And tell him that if he wants his son's mate back, he knows where to find me."
The SUV door slammed shut. The engine roared to life.
Through the window, Nadia watched Roman lower his gun, defeat and fury warring across his face. She pressed her palm against the glass, a silent apology.
Then the SUV lurched forward, tires squealing.
As they sped away from the estate, Kamali turned to her. "You made the wrong choice, little one."
"Did I?" Nadia met his eyes, and for the first time that night, she let him see the cold rage she had been hiding for fifteen years. "You wanted me close? Congratulations. Now let us see who survives it."
Kamali's smile faltered.
And Nadia knew, with absolute certainty, that she had just stepped onto a battlefield far more dangerous than any she had imagined.
The real game was only beginning.