Raven’s breath was steady as she moved through the cold, sterile halls of Marcello Drakov’s heavily guarded mansion. She had planned every step, memorized every security detail, and over the past weeks, one by one, she had eliminated every obstacle standing between her and the man who had destroyed her life.
The guards she had encountered had fallen swiftly, their training no match for her precision and ruthlessness. It felt almost mechanical at this point—slipping in and out of the shadows, her blade finding its mark with cold efficiency. Each time, her mission came closer to completion. Every step forward brought her closer to Marcello.
And yet, with every life she took, the weight of Luca’s presence lingered in her mind. She had promised him she would finish this, but she hadn’t promised what would come after. She wasn’t sure what would be left of her once it was done.
Now, as she stood in front of the last door separating her from Marcello’s private quarters, she paused. Her hand hovered over the handle, heart racing not from fear, but from the thought of what lay on the other side.
Could she truly go through with this? Could she kill the man whose blood also ran through Luca’s veins?
Raven’s breath hitched as she stepped through the final door, her eyes locking onto Marcello Drakov seated by the fireplace. The flickering flames cast shadows across his cruel face, the face that had haunted her every waking moment. This was it—the man who had taken her parents from her, who had turned her into a weapon forged by grief and vengeance.
He looked up, his mouth twisting into a smirk. “So, you’ve finally come to kill me.”
Her fingers tightened around the hilt of her knife. The weight of every battle, every loss, every life she’d taken to get here bore down on her, but none of it mattered as much as this. She had dreamed of this moment, planned it for years. It should have been so simple. Yet her feet felt heavy, rooted in place.
“I could kill you now,” she said coldly, taking a step forward. “End all of this.”
Marcello tilted his head, amusement flickering in his eyes. “But you won’t,” he sneered. “You hesitate because you’re weak. Just like your parents.”
Her heart pounded in her chest. The knife in her hand trembled as her mind swirled with images of the blood, the pain, and the years of loneliness. But then, Luca’s face surfaced in her thoughts—his voice, his touch, the life they could have beyond this moment.
She had vowed to kill Marcello, but in this instant, staring into the eyes of her enemy, something shifted. Could she truly do it? Could she kill Luca’s father, the man who had made him, even if that man was a monster?
Her breath caught in her throat, and slowly, Raven lowered the blade.
Marcello’s smirk widened. “You can’t do it, can you?” he taunted, rising from his chair. “You’re nothing without your hatred. You’re nothing without revenge.”
Raven’s hands shook, doubt clawing at her. Was he right? Was she just a hollow vessel driven by vengeance? Her mind screamed at her to finish it, to end him, but her heart ached for something more.
With trembling hands, she turned to leave. She could not do it, not like this. Not while Luca waited, their future teetering on the edge of ruin.
But then she heard the sharp scrape of metal.
Marcello lunged at her, a knife flashing in the firelight. The world seemed to slow, the weight of her hesitation crushing her as she spun too late. His blade sliced through the air, and for one agonizing heartbeat, Raven knew she would die.
A deafening gunshot shattered the silence.
Marcello staggered, his eyes wide with shock, as a bloom of crimson spread across his chest. The knife slipped from his hand, clattering to the floor. He stumbled backward, clutching at the wound, and his gaze darted past Raven—to Luca, standing in the doorway with a smoking gun in his hand.
“Luca…” Marcello gasped, his voice broken and full of disbelief. “You… you killed me.”
Luca’s face was pale, but his hands were steady. “You were never the father I needed,” he said, his voice tight with anger, sorrow, and finality. “You made me into this.”
Marcello’s face contorted with a mixture of rage and disappointment. “You… ,” he rasped, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. “You were supposed to carry my legacy.”
Luca’s eyes hardened as he watched the man who had once ruled his life fall apart before him. “I’ll never be like you.”
With one last, strangled breath, Marcello crumpled to the floor, his eyes wide with disbelief as life left his body. The man who had terrorized them both for so long was gone.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Raven stood frozen, her heart pounding in her chest as her gaze shifted from Marcello’s lifeless body to Luca. She had come to kill his father, but in the end, Luca had been the one to pull the trigger.
He met her eyes, his expression unreadable. “I couldn’t let him take you from me,” he said softly.
Raven felt her heart break open, not from grief, but from the overwhelming weight of what had just happened. She hadn’t wanted Luca to carry the burden of killing his father. Yet, here they were—Marcello dead at his feet, and Luca standing before her, having chosen her over his own blood.
She stepped closer, her throat tight with emotion. “I hesitated,” she whispered, her voice shaking. “Because I didn’t want to lose you.”
Luca’s eyes softened, and he reached out, cupping her face in his hands. “You didn’t lose me,” he murmured, his forehead resting against hers. “I’m here. We’re both free now.”
The warmth of his touch grounded her, pulling her back from the edge of the abyss she had been staring into for so long. She had spent years chasing revenge, but now, standing here in the aftermath, she realized that love—real, true love—was what had saved her.
Marcello had died with disappointment in his eyes, but Luca looked at her with something far more powerful. He looked at her with love.
Raven’s eyes brimmed with unshed tears, but she smiled—a real, unguarded smile—for the first time in years. “We’re free,” she whispered, the words tasting like redemption.
Luca smiled back, pulling her into his arms, and together, they stood in the wreckage of the past, ready to step into a future that was finally their own.
The journey had been brutal, filled with blood and pain, but in the end, they had found something worth living for. Something worth fighting for.
Each other.
The End.