

Gunners
I never wanted this ring. It’s heavy with lies, forged in blood, blessed by wolves in priest’s clothing. They called it peace. I call it a prison. Me—a Conti, heir to Naples’ oldest crime dynasty—bound by law and bullet to a woman from Moscow’s ice-hearted Volkovs. She looks at me like I murdered her family. Maybe I will. But right now, someone else is coming for us both. And if we don’t learn to trust the enemy across the bed… our bloodlines end in fire.The knife at my throat isn’t what scares me. It’s the way she’s breathing—steady, calm, like this is just another Tuesday.
I stare up at Anya Volkov, my so-called wife, her silver blade pressed against my skin in the dark of our honeymoon suite. Her eyes are glacial. 'One wrong move, Conti,' she whispers, 'and you’ll bleed out before the guards even hear the shot.'
I don’t reach for the gun under the pillow. Not yet. Because outside, gunfire erupts—real this time. Muffled explosions shake the chandeliers. Someone’s attacking the villa. And judging by the insignias on the corpses piling up at the gate, it’s not our men.
She hesitates, glancing toward the door. This was supposed to be a truce. Now it feels like a trap.
I lock eyes with her. 'We die here unless we fight together.'
She doesn’t lower the knife. 'Why should I trust you?'
The window shatters behind us. Boots echo in the hall.
Time’s up.
