Silent Scars

CHAPTER 60

The house stood as a haunting reminder of the past, but the true weight of what they had seen didn’t sink in until Leonardo and Marcus stepped back outside.

Neither of them spoke.

The cold air did little to chase away the suffocating heaviness in their chests.

Leonardo’s mind raced, but his emotions were unreadable, locked behind the steel walls he had built over the years. He had spent a lifetime in control, always ten steps ahead, always calculating.

But this?

This had been right under his nose, and he had been blind.

Ariana had suffered in silence while he had questioned her, doubted her, assumed the worst.

He clenched his jaw, a sharp, bitter anger twisting inside him, not at her, but at himself.

Marcus stood beside him, his arms crossed, his face set in stone. But beneath the cold exterior, Leonardo knew his brother well enough to recognize the storm brewing beneath.

Marcus wasn’t just angry.

He was furious.

Not at Leonardo, not entirely. But at the world. At the people who had done this to Ariana. At himself for not seeing it sooner.

We should have known.

The unspoken thought hung between them like a blade.

Leonardo exhaled sharply, forcing himself to focus.

"We need to find out who else was involved."

His voice was controlled, but there was a hard edge to it.

"Who helped them keep her hidden for so long?"

Marcus didn’t respond right away. Instead, he turned his head slightly, scanning their surroundings as if expecting something.

Then, he spoke, his voice quiet but firm.

"We will. And when we do, they’ll pay for it."

Leonardo didn’t doubt that for a second.

But before he could say anything, something shifted.

A feeling.

A warning.

Then.....

BANG!

The sharp crack of gunfire shattered the silence.

Leonardo reacted instantly, shoving Marcus behind the SUV as bullets tore through the air. The windshield exploded into shards, glass raining onto the pavement.

"Ambush!"

Marcus growled, pulling out his gun.

Leonardo’s mind went into overdrive.

How the hell?

They had been careful. They had used a different car, taken a different route.

This wasn’t random.

Someone had been expecting them.

Marcus peeked over the car, eyes narrowing as he counted the assailants.

"Three, maybe four shooters. Positioned on the rooftops and alleyways."

Leonardo’s grip on his weapon tightened. They were out in the open, too exposed.

Another round of bullets whizzed past, forcing them lower.

Marcus’s jaw clenched.

"This wasn’t a warning."