280

280
Emilia’s POV
I didn’t think. I didn’t hesitate. I just ran.
My heart pounded in my chest as I shoved open the door to Alonso’s house, my breath coming in short, panicked bursts. I barely registered the grand hallway, the expensive furniture, the tension in the air thick enough to choke me.
All I saw was them.
Alaric.
Alonso.
Standing in the middle of the room, guns raised, pure hatred burning in their eyes.
And then-
Alonso’s finger twitched on the trigger.
“NO!” I screamed, my voice cracking as I threw myself between them.
It was instinct, reckless and stupid, but I didn’t care. I didn’t even think about it, I just moved. My arms spread wide, my body the only thing standing between them.
“Are you both insane?” I shouted, my voice shaking.
Alaric’s eyes snapped to me, wild with rage and something else something darker.
“Get out of the way, Emilia,” he said, his voice low, deadly.
“No,” I shot back. “You get out of the way.”
His jaw clenched. “This isn’t your fight.”
“The hell it isn’t!” I turned to Alonso, whose gun was still pointed at Alaric. His face was unreadable, but his grip was steady.
“Put it down,” I begged. “Please.”
He didn’t move.
I spun back to Alaric. “You too.”
Nothing.
“Are you both really so stubborn that you’d rather shoot each other than listen to me?” I snapped, my voice rising.
Neither of them answered.
I exhaled sharply, pushing my hands through my hair. My pulse was racing, and my lungs felt too tight, but I forced myself to breathe.
“You both claim to love me,” I said, my voice quieter now. “But if you actually do, you’ll stop this. Right now.”
Silence.
Alaric’s hand twitched.
Alonso’s finger hovered over the trigger.
“God,” I laughed bitterly. “Do you even hear yourselves? This feud, this stupid, endless feud, has been going on for decades. And for what?”
Alonso’s lips pressed into a thin line.
“Revenge?” I spat. “Some twisted sense of justice? Do you really think killing each other will fix anything?”
Alaric scoffed. “You don’t understand, Emilia-”
“Then make me understand!” I snapped, stepping closer. “Talk to me, damn it! But don’t stand here and pretend this is the only way!”
Alonso’s eyes flickered with something unreadable. “You weren’t there, Emilia. You don’t know what he did.”
“I don’t care!” I shouted, throwing my hands up. “I am here now! And I’m telling you, this needs to stop.”
Alaric shook his head. “He killed my brother.”
Alonso’s grip on his gun tightened. “And your father killed my wife.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. “And if you kill each other, what does that solve?”
Silence.
It stretched between us, thick and suffocating.
My hands trembled. My chest ached. I looked at both of them, my heart splitting down the middle.
“If you love me, if you actually love me, you will stop this,” I whispered.
Alaric’s jaw tightened.
Alonso’s gaze didn’t waver.
Neither of them moved.
“You’re really going to make me choose,” I choked out.
Alaric flinched. “What?”
“You’re making me choose,” I said, louder now. “Because I can’t do this. I won’t do this.”
“Emilia,” Alonso started, but I cut him off.
“If you pull that trigger, you lose me,” I said, my voice breaking. “Both of you.”
That got their attention.
For the first time, they hesitated.
For the first time, they actually looked at me, not as an obstacle. Not as a problem. But as me.
Emilia.
Not their battleground, not their pawn, not the thing between them. Just me.
But it still wasn’t enough.
I could see it in their eyes, the rage, the pain, the years of history neither of them could just let go of.
I took a deep breath, my chest tight, my pulse hammering in my ears. They were both staring at me, their hands steady on their guns, and I realized something. They weren’t going to stop.
Not because I was here.
Not because I was begging them to.
Not even because they loved me.
They were too far gone, too buried in this hate, this rage that had consumed them both for years.
“Do you even hear yourselves?” I snapped, my voice sharp and cutting. “You’re both so blinded by revenge you don’t even see what’s right in front of you.”
Alaric’s eyes darkened. “What’s right in front of me is the man who killed my brother.”
“And what’s right in front of me,” Alonso shot back, voice cold, “is the son of the man who destroyed my life.”
“And what’s right in front of both of you,” I interrupted, “is me.”
Silence.
I took a shaky step forward, planting myself between them again. “Me,” I repeated, my voice trembling. “Your daughter, Alonso. Your fiancee, Alaric. The person you both claim to love more than anything.”
Neither of them spoke.
“You say you love me,” I continued, “but love doesn’t look like this. Love isn’t shoving a gun in someone’s face. Love isn’t tearing someone apart just to settle an old score.”
Alaric’s grip on his gun tightened. “You don’t understand, Emilia-”
“Then explain it to me!” I cut him off. “Explain how killing Alonso will bring Dominic back! Explain how killing Alaric will bring Mom back! Explain to me how this doesn’t just keep the cycle going!”
Alonso’s face darkened. “Your mother deserves justice.”
“And what about me?” My voice cracked. “Do I deserve to lose another person I love?”
Alaric’s jaw clenched. “It’s not the same.”
“It’s exactly the same!” I shouted. “And the fact that you don’t see that proves how lost you both are.”
I turned to Alonso, my throat thick with emotion. “You lost Mom. I get it. I get it. But don’t you see? You’re about to make me go through the same thing. You’re about to make me lose someone I love too.”
Alonso’s gaze flickered, but he didn’t lower his gun.
I turned back to Alaric, pleading now. “And you, how many more people do you have to lose before it’s enough?”
His face was unreadable.
I swallowed hard, taking another shaky breath. “You’re both standing here, ready to throw everything away. And for what? So you can feel like you won?”
Neither of them answered.
I felt my chest squeeze, my stomach twisting. I knew this wasn’t going to be easy. I knew I wasn’t going to snap my fingers and magically fix years of bloodshed.
But I needed them to hear me.
“You’re both so focused on the past,” I whispered, “that you don’t even see the future you’re destroying.”
Alonso scoffed. “There is no future as long as he’s alive.”
I stared at him, my heart breaking. “And what about me?” I whispered. “Am I not your future?”
For the first time, I saw hesitation.
A flicker of something behind his cold, unrelenting rage.
But it wasn’t enough.
I turned to Alaric, desperate now. “What about Francesca? What do I tell her when she asks where her daddy went?”
His jaw tensed.
“Because I will not stand there and tell her her father is dead because he was too proud to let go of his anger,” I continued, voice sharp. “I will not be the one to explain to my child why the man I love is gone.”
Alaric flinched.
I knew I had hit something.
But he still didn’t move.
“You both have families,” I pleaded. “You have me, Alonso. You have Francesca, Alaric. You both have something worth living for, but you’re too damn stubborn to see it!”
Alaric’s fingers flexed on the trigger. “Emilia-”
“No!” I cut him off. “No excuses. No more but he did this, but he did that. I don’t care anymore! I care about right now! I care about what happens next!”
Alonso’s lips pressed into a thin line. “You don’t get it, Emilia.”
“No, I do get it!” I shot back. “You both want blood. You want to hurt each other. But what happens after? What happens when one of you is dead and the other one is left standing in a pool of blood, realizing it still wasn’t enough?”
Silence.
I was shaking now.
Fury. Fear. Heartbreak. It was all too much.
But I wasn’t going to stop.
I stepped forward, voice unwavering. “If you do this, you lose me.”
Alaric’s breath hitched.
Alonso’s expression tightened.
“You will lose me,” I repeated, my voice breaking. “Because I can’t be a part of this. I won’t.”
Still, neither of them moved.
God, why wouldn’t they just listen?
I clenched my fists, chest heaving. “If you pull that trigger, you lose me. Both of you.”
Alaric’s gun lowered just an inch.
Alonso’s grip loosened, barely.
It wasn’t enough.
But it was something.
I took a shaky breath. “If you really love me, if you actually love me, you will stop this.”
Neither of them answered.
Neither of them moved.