Chapter 46

The Enemy in My Arms

The mansion burned around them like judgment.

Smoke rolled heavily through the corridor ceilings while fire alarms screamed without pause somewhere beneath the chaos. Red emergency lights flashed across marble walls stained with blood and ash, turning the entire Moretti estate into something infernal.

Luca’s arm remained locked tightly around Valentina’s waist.

The gun pressed hard against her ribs.

Adrian stood twenty feet away with his rifle aimed directly at Luca’s head.

Perfect shot.

Impossible shot.

Nobody moved.

The silence between them felt louder than gunfire.

Luca breathed unevenly now against Valentina’s shoulder while flames crackled somewhere deeper inside the estate. Smoke blurred the far end of the hallway where shattered windows let cold rain pour sideways into the mansion.

“You hesitate too much,” Luca murmured softly toward Adrian.

Adrian’s expression remained terrifyingly still.

Not emotional.

Not visibly.

But Valentina knew him now.

The slight tension in his jaw.

The rigid control holding panic beneath the surface.

He was calculating.

Angles.

Distance.

Probability.

How to save her without killing her.

Always trying to save everyone.

That was the problem with Adrian.

Luca smiled faintly against her hair.

“He loves you enough to die badly for it,” he whispered.

Valentina’s pulse hammered violently.

Not fear.

Fury.

She slammed her heel backward hard into Luca’s knee.

The movement caught him off balance for half a second—

Enough.

Adrian fired instantly.

The shot exploded through the hallway.

Luca staggered backward as the bullet tore through his shoulder instead of his head. The gun discharged wildly into the ceiling while Valentina ripped herself free and crashed hard against the marble floor.

Then everything erupted.

Adrian sprinted forward through smoke and gunfire while Luca disappeared into the burning office wing clutching blood pouring down his arm.

More shots cracked from somewhere below.

Russian syndicate men stormed the stairwell.

FBI tactical units breached the east wing.

The estate finally collapsed fully into war.

“Valentina!”

Adrian dropped beside her instantly and grabbed her face carefully between both hands.

“Are you hurt?”

She barely had time to answer before the entire corridor shook violently.

Explosion.

Close.

Too close.

Fire burst through the office doorway behind them while ceiling beams cracked overhead.

“We need to move,” Adrian snapped.

Valentina pushed herself upright despite smoke burning her lungs.

“Luca—”

“Forget Luca.”

“No.”

Her voice came sharp through the chaos.

“He’ll escape.”

Adrian looked toward the burning office wing where fire spread rapidly beneath collapsing chandeliers.

Then toward her.

Decision.

Always impossible decisions.

Another explosion rattled the mansion violently.

The floor beneath them cracked sharply.

Adrian grabbed her wrist hard. “Move now.”

They ran through smoke-filled hallways while the Moretti estate died around them.

Bodies littered marble floors.

Flames climbed antique walls.

Gunfire echoed through collapsing rooms where empires once negotiated quietly over whiskey and blood money.

Kings die loudly.

Tonight the whole kingdom screamed.

Adrian kept one arm around Valentina while leading her through the west corridor toward the garden exit.

Smoke thickened fast.

Too fast.

The fire had reached the central staircase now.

Then suddenly—

the ceiling collapsed.

Wood and burning plaster crashed violently between them.

Valentina screamed as the blast threw her backward across the hallway.

Pain exploded through her shoulder.

Smoke swallowed everything instantly afterward.

“Adrian!”

No answer.

Panic ripped violently through her chest.

No no no—

The hallway groaned dangerously beneath spreading fire while smoke burned tears from her eyes.

“Adrian!”

A shape emerged through the smoke seconds later.

Limping.

Bleeding.

Alive.

Relief hit so hard it physically hurt.

Adrian staggered toward her through flames with blood running down one side of his forehead where debris had struck him.

“You okay?” he coughed roughly.

Valentina almost laughed.

Almost cried.

“You look terrible.”

“Consistent branding.”

Idiot.

Another section of ceiling cracked above them.

The estate was dying fast now.

Adrian grabbed her hand again and pulled her toward the garden wing.

But halfway down the corridor, Valentina stumbled sharply.

Pain shot violently through her ankle.

Wrong.

She nearly collapsed before Adrian caught her instantly.

“Can you walk?”

She tried.

Pain exploded immediately.

“No.”

Fire roared louder behind them.

The west exit remained fifty yards away through smoke and collapsing beams.

Too far.

Adrian looked toward the flames spreading rapidly across the corridor.

Then without hesitation—

he lifted her into his arms.

Valentina froze.

Not because of the movement.

Because of the look on his face.

Exhaustion.

Smoke.

Blood.

And something unbearably raw beneath all of it.

“Adrian—”

“Hold on.”

The estate groaned violently around them while he carried her through the burning corridor.

Firelight flickered across his face.

Ash drifted through the air like black snow.

Everything hurt.

Everything collapsed.

And still he held her like letting go would destroy him.

Another explosion shattered windows beside them.

Rain slammed instantly through broken glass while smoke rolled harder through the hallway.

Adrian coughed sharply but kept moving.

Step after step.

Blood trailing behind him across marble.

Valentina wrapped one arm tightly around his neck while panic and emotion tangled violently inside her chest.

“You’re hurt.”

“So are you.”

“You’re bleeding again.”

“That’s becoming repetitive.”

She almost laughed despite everything.

God.

How was he still doing this?

How was he still carrying her after all the lies and gunfire and broken things between them?

The garden exit finally appeared through smoke ahead.

Moonlight.

Rain.

Freedom.

Almost.

Then gunfire cracked behind them.

Adrian twisted instantly, shielding her body with his own as bullets tore through the hallway wall beside them.

Pain flashed sharply across his expression.

Wrong.

Valentina’s stomach dropped instantly.

“Adrian.”

He kept moving.

Didn’t answer.

Didn’t slow down.

Another shot hit somewhere near his shoulder.

Still he carried her.

Still he refused to stop.

The garden doors burst open beneath his weight and cold rain crashed over both of them instantly.

The Moretti estate burned behind them against the night sky like a funeral pyre for kings.

Adrian finally staggered near the fountain courtyard and lowered her carefully beside the stone railing.

Only then did his knees nearly give out.

Valentina grabbed him immediately.

“Hey.”

His breathing sounded rough now.

Too rough.

Rain washed blood slowly down his neck while flames reflected violently across wet marble and shattered windows behind them.

“You got shot.”

“Occupational hazard.”

“Stop joking.”

The words broke apart halfway through because fear had finally reached her throat completely.

Adrian leaned heavily against the fountain edge while rain poured over both of them beneath the burning mansion skyline.

For one terrible second neither spoke.

Then finally he looked at her.

Really looked at her.

And quietly said:

“I came back for you.”

The confession shattered something open inside her chest.

Because suddenly every lie, every betrayal, every impossible choice narrowed into one devastating truth.

He always came back for her.

Valentina grabbed his face hard enough to force him to focus.

“You don’t get to die tonight,” she whispered shakily.

A faint exhausted smile touched his mouth.

“Bossy.”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

Rain hammered around them while the estate collapsed in flames behind the garden walls.

Adrian’s hand lifted slowly toward her face.

Warm despite blood and stormwater.

“The enemy in my arms,” he murmured softly.

Valentina’s eyes burned instantly.

“Still dramatic.”

“Only with you.”

Then somewhere inside the burning mansion—

a final explosion shook the night hard enough to rattle the earth beneath them.