Chapter 87: A gasp for breath of life
Alessia’s scream echoed through the grasses like a requiem for the damned.
She clutched Luca’s face in her trembling hands, his skin burning cold beneath her touch, his pulse faint and flickering like the last ember of a dying fire.
"No, no, no..." her sobs broke the silence. "Stay with me, Luca. Please, stay."
Blood seeped between her fingers as she pressed her palms desperately against his chest wound.
The crimson warmth stained her gown, her skin, her soul. Each second dragged with cruel finality, every breath he took sounded like it could be his last.
Luca’s eyes fluttered open, shards of molten brown meeting hers, glazed with pain yet still carrying that unyielding love.
His lips moved faintly, voice barely a whisper.
"Alessia... My amore... don’t... cry." he said to her.
"Don’t you dare tell me not to cry... " she snapped through the flood of tears, her voice cracking, breaking. "You promised me forever, Luca! You swore... you swore I wouldn’t lose you. Not like this."
A weak smirk ghosted his lips, blood streaking the corner of his mouth. "I... don’t break promises.. . Not to you."
She shook her head, clutching him harder. "Then fight, Luca.... Fight like the devil they say you are. Don’t you leave m, don’t you leave me... "
Her scream rose, trembling the air, a desperate plea that clawed against the heavens.
She watched luca lay on the cold grass, laying
helpless and lifeless.
His shirt torn open and soaked through with dark, spreading blood.
Each breath he dragged into his chest was a war against death itself, shallow and ragged, rattling as if the air burned him from the inside.
His once powerful body, the body that had commanded fear and loyalty in equal measure shook beneath the weight of his wounds.
Alessia dropped to her knees beside him, her trembling hands instantly painted crimson as she pressed desperately against the wound. Tears cascaded down her face, falling onto his blood-smeared skin like shattered pearls.
"Luca... no, no, don’t you dare leave me," she choked, her sobs breaking through her words. Her voice was frantic, torn between begging and praying, as if she could anchor him to life by sheer will.
His eyes, clouded with pain but still carrying that dangerous fire, shifted to hers. With what strength remained in him, he lifted a trembling hand, his blood-stained fingers threading weakly into her hair.
He tugged her closer until their foreheads almost touched.
"Alessia..." His voice was hoarse, barely more than a whisper, but it carried the weight of command and love all at once. "Be strong... for me. For our unborn child."
Her sobs deepened, her body shaking against his as she clutched him tighter. "Don’t say that. Don’t speak like it’s the end, because I can’t survive it. I can’t raise our child without you. I can’t breathe without you, Luca."
A shadow of a smile ghosted his lips, fragile but defiant against death. "You’re stronger than you think. Promise me... promise you won’t let them break you. Promise me you will protect what’s ours."
"I promise but don’t go," she whispered brokenly, her tears soaking into his hair as her lips brushed his temple. "But you’re not leaving me. I will drag you back from the gates of hell myself."
The sound of rushing footsteps echoed in the hall, the heavy boots of guards closing in.
Moments later, they invaded the scene , and men poured inside the garden, their eyes widening at the sight of their boss drenched in blood,
"Damn the gun shot was for actually our boss", fredo said in annoyance.
"He told us he needed private moment with his woman, who ever did this won’t go Scott free"....
His wife clinging to him with desperate ferocity.
"Please call the doctor now" one of the guards barked, though the urgency in his voice betrayed his fear.
Alessia refused to let go, her body shielding Luca’s as though she could protect him from even death itself. "Hurry up", she screamed at them, her voice shaking the walls. "If he dies, you will all answer to me. "
The guards moved frantically, clearing space as the family doctor rushed in with his medical bag.
But in that suspended heartbeat, before help descended, Luca’s weak grip tightened in her hair once more, forcing her to meet his gaze.
"I will fight," he rasped, a drop of blood sliding from the corner of his mouth. "But only because you are here. Don’t let go of me, Alessia... not now."
Her tears spilled faster, her lips trembling as she pressed a frantic kiss against his bloodied knuckles. "Never. I would never let go."
And as the doctor knelt beside them, Alessia’s trembling body stayed moulded to his, as though her love alone could keep his soul tethered to this world.
The floor was slick with red, every second bleeding away more of him.
"Marcello?" one of them dared to ask, scanning the destruction of the place.
Alessia’s eyes hardened through her tears. "Gone."
Gone like a ghost, leaving only devastation behind.
But she couldn’t think of him now. She could only see Luca, slipping through her grasp like sand between her fingers.
The doctor arrived in a frenzy, a case clattering onto the marble floor.
His hands were steady though, already pulling gauze, sutures, syringes. "We must move him, immediately. The bullet has grazed the lung. He’s losing too much blood. "
"Then save him here" Alessia snapped. Her fingers clutched Luca tighter. "He won’t survive the move. Save him now"
The doctor hesitated only for a second at the fire in her eyes before obeying. Assistants rushed in, the hall transforming into an operating ground, sterile lights flooding the space.
Alessia refused to move, even as the doctor worked, her hand locked in Luca’s like an anchor, whispering his name like a prayer with every beat of her heart.
And then.....
Luca’s grip slackened.
Her chest seized. "No... Luca... Luca, no. "
The doctor’s voice was grave. "He’s crashing."
"No.... You save him, You save him, do you hear me?. " Alessia screamed, shaking, clutching his face. "i wish it was night let me try to save him with my powers she said within herself.
Luca Morano does not die, Not like this, Not while I still breathe... Her tears poured like rivers, falling onto his lips, his cheeks.
And in that instant, when she pressed her forehead to his, she felt it, a spark. A warmth flickering in the darkness.
Luca’s heart stuttered, then fought, pounding again under her hand.
The doctor gasped. "His pulse... it’s strengthening."
Alessia’s sob cracked into a broken laugh of relief, her lips brushing his temple. "That’s it, my Champ. Stay with me. Fight for me."
Minutes stretched like eternity, but finally, the doctor pulled away, sweat dripping down his brow. "The bleeding is controlled. And he’s stable for now."
Alessia collapsed against Luca’s arm, shaking, holding him as if she would never let go.
Stable, not safe and not healed But alive.
Her world hadn’t ended. Not yet and that’s all that matters....
******
Across the seas in garam
Donato stood in the moonlit courtyard of the hospital, after been discharged and waiting for Jackson and his family. The people who went out of their way to save him, his hand gripping the cursed map he had been using to trace the black book, and the journey almost sent him to a journey of no return.
But his gaze wasn’t on the map, it was on Princess Elowen, who stood with her arms crossed, eyes burning with fury.
"You’re a fool," she spat, her voice trembling with both anger and fear. "You have just been given your life back, and you are already ready to throw it away for that cursed book?"
Donato’s jaw tightened. "You don’t understand, Elowen. That book holds answer... answers about my family, about my fate. If I don’t claim it, the world we both know may burn."
Her voice cracked. "And what about me? What about us? What about your son and his own mother? Am I supposed to stand by while you chase death again and again?"
Donato’s eyes softened, but his voice was firm. "If I stop now, everything I have lost... every drop of blood... would mean nothing. I can’t stop."
Silence fell heavy between them, their breaths fogging in the night air.
Elowen’s heart ached, but she whispered anyway: "Then I will follow you. Even if it means walking into the abyss."
Donato looked at her, torn, his soul fractured between desire and duty.
And before he could answer....
The shadows shifted.
From the palace gates, a figure approached. Cloaked, silent, face hidden.
Elowen stiffened. Donato’s hand flew to his weapon.
The figure stepped into the light...
And Donato’s breath stopped.
"It was Enzo."
His brother’s traitor stood there, eyes glinting with something dangerous.
"You weren’t expecting me, were you?" Enzo smirked. "But fate always has a way of bringing family back together."
Donato’s grip tightened on his blade. "You have no right to speak of family."
But Enzo only smiled wider. "On the contrary, brother. Tonight, family is exactly what we will be speaking of."
"You tried to kill him you evil man.... I guess I will have you for myself to deal with "... Princess elowen said under her breath.
*****
Hours later, Luca lay in his bed, pale, unconscious, machines humming quietly beside him.
Alessia sat vigil, her fingers brushing his hair back, whispering broken promises into the silence.
She had nearly lost him tonight. The thought gnawed at her, hollowing her out.
And then her phone buzzed.
Her hand shook as she lifted it, dreading news of more blood, more loss.
But when she saw the message, her blood froze.
Unknown Number: "Your husband won’t be the only Morano to bleed. Look to your past, Alessia. The girl you chased still breathes."
Her heart slammed against her ribs. Her vision blurred.
The phone slipped from her hand, clattering to the floor.
"No..." she whispered, her voice strangled.
Because she knew exactly who it meant.
Bianca
one of his lover back then.
The lady who tried to trap him with a pregnancy? Why is she back after she vowed never to return into their lives again.
If she succeed her mission this time around
Her world, already fractured, would shatter beyond repair, she would never let her have her ways this time around.
Alessia staggered back, her eyes darting to Luca’s still form on the bed.
The man she loved more than life itself lay fighting for his last breath. And now... another woman from his past had risen from the dark and trying to come into picture for the second time.
Her lips trembled, her hands cold as ice.
"Dear God... what have you done?" she whispered to the shadows.
Because if Bianca truly comes back then she isn’t ready to let go, then everything, her love, her marriage, her loyalty would be thrown into a war that even the devil himself could not escape.
Bianca will always compete to have her man.
And somewhere beyond the walls of the Morano estate, a figure watched from the darkness.
Alive, Breathing and waiting.
It was Bianca, on a black dress, a big black hat on her red and a bright red lipstick on her lips, she smiled and disappeared into the dark......