Chapter 310: Police

CHAPTER 311

KATYA POV

The ember flared brighter. For one endless second, nothing else happened. Then the figure pushed himself away from the wall.

The movement was slow.

Unhurried. As though the three bodies lying across the alley weren’t enough reason for anyone to panic.

As though he had all the time in the world. A fresh wave of terror slammed into me. Beside me, Chiara stumbled backward so abruptly her shoulder crashed into mine. I nearly lost my footing again, my shoes scraping against the damp pavement.

Neither of us spoke. Neither of us could. The man took one step. Then another. Each measured footstep echoed softly through the narrow alley.

Tap. Tap. Tap. My pulse pounded so violently I could barely hear anything else. The alley was dimly lit, the old amber streetlight casting long shadows across the cracked concrete. For several agonizing seconds, the man’s face remained hidden beneath darkness.

All I could make out was his height. The broad line of his shoulders. The expensive black suit that somehow looked immaculate despite the blood staining the pavement around him.

The cigarette rested loosely between two fingers. Another slow drag. Another cloud of smoke drifted into the cold night air.

He didn’t seem hurried. He didn’t seem surprised to find us standing there. He simply… watched.

Every instinct screamed at me to run. My body refused to obey. The man took another step. This time, the light caught him.

Not completely. Only half his face emerged from the darkness.

And that was enough. Enough for my stomach to drop. Enough for every ounce of warmth to drain from my body.

Black. Matte. Expressionless. The mask. My breathing caught so sharply it hurt. My eyes locked onto it, unable to look away.

I knew that mask. I could never mistake it. I had seen it from only inches away. Seen it while my pulse raced beneath his fingertips.

Seen it while those cold, unreadable eyes had looked at me as though they already knew exactly how I would react.

The memory crashed over me all at once. His voice. His threat. His gaze. The way he had smiled without a trace of warmth.

My lips parted before I even realized I was speaking. “…Romeo.” Barely a breath. But the name still escaped me.

The half-masked man stopped walking. The glowing tip of his cigarette burned quietly between his fingers.

For the first time since stepping out of the shadows… Those familiar, terrifying eyes settled fully on me.

The alley fell silent. Not the kind of silence that felt peaceful. The kind that pressed against my ears until even the sound of my own breathing became deafening.

Romeo didn’t answer. He didn’t acknowledge that I’d spoken his name. He simply stood there, the glowing ember of his cigarette the only thing moving in the darkness as it slowly burned toward his fingers.

Those grey eyes remained on me. Unreadable. My lungs burned. I realized then that I hadn’t breathed. Not properly. Not since I’d recognized him.

The night suddenly felt colder. My fingers trembled uncontrollably at my sides. Somewhere behind the heavy steel door, muffled screams still leaked from the club. Distant. Frantic. Yet somehow they felt impossibly far away.

Nothing existed except this alley. The bodies. And him. Romeo lowered the cigarette from his lips.

His movements were as calm as they had always been. Infuriatingly calm. As though he wasn’t standing a few feet away from three dead men.

As though blood wasn’t drying across the cracked pavement beneath our feet. As though this entire night hadn’t descended into madness.

For one irrational second, my mind desperately searched for another explanation.

Maybe… Maybe he had just left Maybe he’d found them like we had.

Maybe—

No.

The thought died before it could fully form.

Something inside me already knew better. The image of the three security guards lying motionless on the ground flashed through my mind. Michael’s men. The same men who had escorted Romeo away barely twenty minutes ago. A cold sickness settled deep inside my stomach.

I couldn’t stop looking at him. Tonight had stripped me of whatever courage I’d managed to gather before…

It had disappeared somewhere between the smoke-filled staircase and the lifeless eyes of the first body.

I was terrified. Utterly. Completely. Romeo took another step. The scrape of his polished shoe against the pavement echoed through the alley.

Instinct took over. I stumbled backward before I even realized I was moving.

One step. Then another. My heel caught uneven concrete. My shoulder slammed lightly against the brick wall behind me.

There was nowhere else to go. My breathing grew shallow. Every nerve in my body screamed the same thing.

Run.

Run.

Run.

But my legs refused. Because he was walking toward me. He wasn’t rushing. He wasn’t threatening. He wasn’t reaching for me.

He simply continued forward with that same measured pace that somehow frightened me more than if he’d been running.

Beside me, Chiara had gone unusually quiet. I could feel her standing rigidly only a few feet away. Romeo never looked away.

Not until he was almost in front of me. My heart pounded so violently I was certain he could hear it. I pressed myself instinctively against the wall, wishing I could somehow disappear into the bricks behind me.

He was close enough now that I caught the faint scent of expensive cologne beneath the lingering smell of cigarette smoke.

Close enough that the streetlight reflected dully against the smooth black surface of his mask.

Close enough that I could see those impossibly cold eyes without obstruction. Every muscle in my body locked.

This was it. That whatever happened next had always been inevitable.

I braced myself without even realizing it.

Then… He walked past me.

Just… Past me.

His shoulder never brushed mine. His hand never reached for me. He didn’t slow down. He didn’t stop. He didn’t even turn his head.

One moment he stood directly before me. The next, he was already beyond me, continuing toward the mouth of the alley as though I were nothing more than another object standing in his path.

I blinked. My brain struggled to understand what had just happened.

He wasn’t coming for me.

He had never been. A shaky breath escaped my lips.

Behind me, Chiara let out one too. I hadn’t even realized she’d been holding hers. Romeo reached the mouth of the alley without a single glance backward.

The orange ember glowed once more as he lifted the cigarette to his lips.

Another slow drag. Another thin ribbon of smoke disappeared into the cold night.

Then, without hurry… Without looking back… Without saying a single word… He stepped beyond the reach of the streetlight and vanished into the darkness.

Gone.

As though he’d never been there at all.

The alley suddenly felt impossibly empty.

Only the three motionless bodies remained. Only the smell of blood. Only the silence.

I caught myself against the brick wall before I could collapse completely, my legs were extremely painful from these dangerous heels.

Beside me, Chiara stared at the place where Romeo had disappeared, her face almost as white as mine.

Neither of us spoke. Neither of us knew what to say.

Until In the distance… A faint wail drifted through the freezing night.

One siren. Then another. The sound grew louder.

Closer. Blue and red lights flashed somewhere beyond the buildings, reflecting briefly against the wet pavement at the mouth of the alley.

Police.