Bring Her to Me!” He Ordered—The Mafia Boss Broke Down

"Don't move!" Leo screamed, his voice pitching into hysteria. He was shaking, his eyes wide and wild as he looked at the three bodies scattered across the concrete floor. "Don't you fucking move, Vale! I'll do it! I swear to God I'll pull this trigger!"

Nora gasped for air, Leo's heavy arm choking her throat. Her eyes were fixed entirely on Adrian.

Adrian did not advance. He stood five feet away, chest heaving slightly, his dark eyes fixed entirely on Leo’s trembling hand.

"Look at you, Leo," Adrian whispered, his voice deadly quiet. "You're shaking."

"Shut up!"

"Your finger is spasming on that trigger because you know you're already dead," Adrian said, taking half a step to the left, forcing Leo to shift his balance. "You know Daniel is coming up the back stairs. You know your men on the docks are at the bottom of the bay. And you know that if that gun goes off, there isn't a surgeon on earth who will be able to piece you back together."

"I'll take her with me!" Leo shrieked. "I swear I'll take her—"

"Nora," Adrian said softly, cutting through Leo’s panic.

Nora looked into Adrian's eyes. In that split second, she understood everything. She remembered the way he moved, the absolute, unwavering authority in his voice. She saw the signal in the slight tilt of his head.

*Now.*

With all the strength left in her battered body, Nora threw her head backward.

The back of her skull struck Leo square in his broken nose.

Cartilage crunched sickeningly. Leo let out a shriek of agony, his head snapping back, his arm loosening from her throat for a single fraction of a second.

Adrian closed the distance like a thunderbolt.

His left hand seized the slide of the Glock, jamming the mechanism so it couldn't cycle, while his right forearm hammered into Leo’s jaw. The force of the strike spun Leo around, tearing the weapon from his grip.

Adrian shoved Nora’s chair safely aside, then grabbed Leo by the throat with both hands, lifting the heavier man off his feet and slamming him violently against the corrugated steel wall.

*BAM.*

Leo gasped, choking, his heels drumming helplessly against the iron panels. Blood poured freely from his nose down his chin.

"Adrian... please..." Leo wheezed, his eyes bulging as Adrian’s fingers closed around his windpipe like hydraulic clamps. "Please... Vale..."

Adrian stared into the eyes of the man who had laid hands on Nora. The cold, corporate titan was gone. The polished exterior had burned away to ash. Only the demon remained.

"You touched her," Adrian whispered, his voice vibrating with a hatred so pure it terrified even the dying man in his grip. "You struck her face. You made her bleed."

Adrian drew back a fist, ready to crush Leo’s skull into the metal plating.

"Adrian!"

A voice, small, cracked, and trembling with agony, cut through the red haze blinding his vision.

Adrian froze.

He turned his head.

Nora was leaning sideways in the chair, her breath ragged, her hazel eyes pleading with him through her tears.

"Adrian... stop," she wept softly. "Please. Look at me. Don't... don't become what they want you to be."

Adrian stood motionless for three agonizing seconds. The muscle in his jaw twitched. Slowly, very slowly, his fingers uncoiled from Leo Cassian's throat.

Leo slumped to the wet floor, hacking and spitting blood, curled into a fetal ball.

Heavy boots pounded up the metal stairs.

Daniel Cross, followed by four tactical operators, burst into the room, their weapons raised.

"Clear!" Daniel yelled, scanning the room before lowering his rifle. He took in the bodies, the blood, and the shivering figure tied to the chair. "Boss... we secured the building. Dawson's family is safe in Greenpoint."

Adrian didn't look at Daniel. He didn't look at Leo.

He stood in the center of the slaughterhouse, his shoulders heaving, staring at Nora.

"Bring her to me," Adrian ordered.

The command was raw, torn from the center of his chest.

Daniel immediately pulled a tactical blade from his vest and stepped toward the chair, swiftly slicing through the thick hemp ropes binding Nora’s wrists and ankles.

The moment the coarse fibers fell away, Nora’s legs gave out beneath her. The hours of cold, fear, and brutality caught up with her all at once, and she collapsed toward the concrete.

Adrian was there before she could touch the floor.

He caught her in his arms, pulling her small, trembling frame tightly against his chest.

And right there—in front of his head of security, in front of his soldiers, in the middle of a blood-soaked warehouse smelling of cordite and copper—the untouchable, ruthless mafia boss broke down.

Adrian sank to his knees on the filthy floor, wrapping both arms around Nora Mitchell as if she were the only real thing in a crumbling universe.

A ragged, choking sob tore from his throat.

"I have you," he wept into her tangled hair, his entire body trembling violently. "I have you, baby. I'm sorry. God forgive me, Nora, I'm so sorry..."

His hands, stained with the blood of three men, shook uncontrollably as he cupped her face. He inspected every inch of her—the swollen purple bruise on her cheek, the dried blood on her split lip, the rope burns raw and weeping on her delicate wrists.

Every mark felt like a brand burned directly into his own heart.

He pressed his forehead against hers, his tears mingling with the grime and blood on her skin.

Nora lifted her bruised hands, burying her fingers into the back of his soaked dark hair. She didn't flinch from the blood on his hands. She didn't pull away from the monster of the New York docks.

"You came," she whispered against his neck, shivering violently against the warmth of his chest. "I knew you’d come."

Adrian pulled his long wool overcoat—which Daniel had hastily handed down—and wrapped it completely around her small frame, tucking her shivering face into his neck. He stood up smoothly, lifting her into his arms as easily as if she were made of glass.

He looked at Daniel.

"Take Leo Cassian to the cellar in Queens," Adrian said, his voice returning to a terrifying, absolute calm. "Tell Victor his son is breathing only because Nora asked for mercy. If I ever hear the name Cassian spoken in this city again, I will erase their entire bloodline from the history of New York."

Daniel nodded grimly. "Consider it done, Boss."