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Chapter 22 – The Beast's War
Rafael D'Amico
The first thing I noticed was the silence.
Too quiet.
No phone call. No text. Not even a sarcastic sticky note on the espresso machine.
She always left something.
Even when she hated me — especially when she hated me — Valentina made sure I remembered she was here.
This morning? Nothing.
That's when the dread started to crawl up my spine.
By noon, dread turned into certainty.
By 12:17 p.m., I knew:
She was gone.
And something inside me… snapped.
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"Find her," I growled, storming into the war room.
Cruz, my most loyal enforcer, glanced up from the monitors. "You sure she didn't just take space, boss? She's got a temper."
"So do I," I said flatly. "And if anyone had touched you, I'd already have five corpses in a river."
He nodded. "We'll pull traffic cams, trace her burner, check the safehouse logs—"
"Don't check," I interrupted, eyes blazing. "Burn through them. I want results, not reports."
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It didn't take long.
The note was delivered with a red ribbon.
Because of course Luca had a flair for the dramatic.
"You took everything from me, brother. So I'm taking her."
—L
No threats.
No demands.
Just war.
I crushed the paper in my fist and whispered something I hadn't said in years.
"May God have mercy on you, Luca."
Because I wouldn't.
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The next 48 hours were a blur of bullets and blood.
My men spread across the city like wildfire. Safehouses were raided. Allies bribed. Enemies tortured. My lawyers worked overtime hiding the bodies — while my heart beat like a war drum.
She was out there.
Scared or angry.
Bleeding or worse.
And it was my fault.
Not because I didn't protect her.
But because I made the mistake of loving her too late.
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By the third day, we got a location.
An abandoned train depot on the outskirts of Naples.
Cruz handed me the file. "It's a trap."
"I know."
He raised an eyebrow. "Still going?"
I looked him dead in the eye.
"She's my wife."
And no one takes what's mine and lives.
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I didn't bring an army.
Just two men.
My most lethal.
We didn't sneak in. We didn't whisper.
We kicked the damn door down.
Gunfire erupted immediately — Luca's men were waiting, just like we knew they'd be. But it didn't matter.
I was a hurricane in human form.
Two headshots. One knife to the throat. A bullet to the knee of a man who begged too late.
I carved my way through them like death on a deadline.
Then I saw her.
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She was chained to a chair.
Face bloodied. Lip cracked.
But eyes?
Blazing.
The moment she saw me, she didn't cry. Didn't gasp.
She smirked.
"Took you long enough, Beast."
God, I loved her.
I took out the last two guards with barely a breath and ran to her.
Her voice shook. "You came."
I pulled her into my arms, chains and all. "Of course I did."
Then I kissed her like the world was on fire.
Because it was.
And I'd burn every last piece of it… for her.