My fingers wrapped around her throat, tightening before my mind could register what I was doing. Rage thundered through me so violently it stole my breath, drowned out reason, drowned out fear.
The small black bottle slipped from Nina’s grasp and hit the floor with a hollow clink. The cap rolled once.
Then—
The smell detonated.
Gasoline.
Sharp and vicious, tearing through the air like a blade. It burned my nostrils, clawed down my throat, spread across the room in an instant like something alive and hungry.
We crashed into each other—hands shoving, nails tearing, bodies slamming into furniture. She kicked wildly, heel striking metal. Maybe a lighter. Maybe stone against steel.
Whatever it was, it was enough.
The fire didn’t pause.
Flames erupted violently, racing up the curtains, leaping along the walls as if they’d been waiting for an excuse. Heat slammed into my skin. Smoke poured in thick and black, devouring the room.
My body failed me.
Still weak. Still drained.
My lungs seized. I dropped hard to the floor, coughing so violently it felt like my ribs would split open. The world spun—fire, shadow, choking darkness folding in on itself.
The last thing I saw before everything blurred was the ceiling igniting, flames crawling across it like something sentient.
“Avery!”
A voice tore through the smoke.
“Don, it’s not safe!” someone shouted. “The soldiers are coming—you can’t go in there!”
“Get out of my way!” Zachary roared. “She’s still inside!”
I tried to open my eyes.
Was it real? Or just my mind breaking under smoke and terror? Had he really said my name? Had he actually come for me?
“Z-Zachary…” Nina sobbed weakly. “I’m here too. Please. Save me. Save our child.”
For one treacherous heartbeat, hope flared.
Stupid. Fragile. Deadly.
I wanted to believe—just for a second—that he’d run into fire for me. That I still mattered enough to be chosen.
Then the truth crashed down hard.
He didn’t come because of me.
He came because eyes were watching. Because word would spread through the famiglia. Because the press would feast on it. Because a Don couldn’t afford to look like a coward who abandoned women to flames.
And the moment Nina called out?
There was no hesitation.
He lifted her like she weighed nothing, shielding her from smoke and heat, carrying her out as if she were priceless—
While I lay choking on the floor, darkness closing in.
Time fractured.
Minutes—or longer—passed in a haze.