Location: Warehouse District – Brooklyn
Gianna's voice crackled through the comms:
"We've got less than four minutes. This whole block is wired."
Nico gritted his teeth, cutting through the dark with a flashlight. "Where's Isabella?"
---
Earlier That Night – Romano Estate
She didn't want backup.
Isabella walked into her uncle's home alone—unarmed, but more dangerous than ever.
Domenico sat in the grand hall, scotch in hand. Calm. Too calm.
"You really came back," he murmured.
"You helped Ricci kill my father," she said.
He sighed. "I didn't kill Matteo. I just... didn't stop it."
She stepped forward. "Why?"
His answer was chilling in its simplicity.
"Because he was never meant to survive. But you—you were never supposed to rise."
He pulled a gun from the drawer.
But Isabella was faster.
One shot. Right to the shoulder.
She stared as he fell to the floor, clutching the wound.
"I'm not like you," she said coldly. "I don't kill without purpose."
She left him bleeding—alive, but ruined.
---
Location: Warehouse – T-Minus 00:58
Nico and Gianna reached the main shipping floor. Crates everywhere.
"I've found the core!" Gianna shouted. "We've got two remote triggers and a pressure plate under the main support beam."
"Classic Ricci," Nico muttered. "If we don't disarm in time—"
"I know."
---
Outside
Isabella's car screeched into the lot. She jumped out, sprinted inside.
Nico met her at the entrance, eyes wide. "Did you—?"
"He's alive," she said. "But not safe."
Gianna's voice echoed from deeper inside. "We've got thirty seconds!"
Together, Isabella and Nico raced to the control panel. She pulled the codes Allegra had given them from her pocket.
Nico began punching them in—hands shaking, breath short.
25…
24…
Click.
The countdown paused.
Then reset to 00:10.
"It's a trap."
Isabella's face hardened.
She looked to the crates. Gasoline.
"Get Gianna out. Now."
"What about—"
"Now, Nico!"
---
Outside the Warehouse
Gianna stumbled out, dragging her leg, just as the building ignited. Not an explosion—an inferno, slow and brutal.
Flames roared skyward.
For a heart-stopping moment, no one emerged.
Then—
Nico crashed through the side door, smoke-covered, coughing, dragging Isabella with him.
She was burned. Barely conscious. But alive.
---
Final Scene – Ricci Estate, That Same Hour
Costanzo stood at Ricci's window, watching the news coverage of the blaze.
"She escaped again," he spat.
Ricci barely glanced up from his drink. "Then let her run."
Costanzo turned. "Why?"
Ricci's smile was venom.
"Because when you want someone to break, you don't kill them fast. You kill everything they protect."