Chapter 34

Laura's POV

My heart slammed against my ribs as the old man’s crazed eyes locked onto mine. His grip on the gun was firm despite the slight tremor in his hands.

Without warning, he raised the weapon and fired.

The deafening blast shattered the silence, the bullet embedding itself into the wall just a few inches from where I stood. My ears rang, and my nose tinged with the sharp scent of gunpowder filling the air.

The perfume bottle slipped from my grasp, shattering against the polished floor.

I forced myself to stay still, to not flinch, even as my entire body screamed at me to run. If I moved too fast, he might actually shoot me next.

His expression twisted with something between madness and suspicion. "Answer me!" he barked, his voice gravelly with age and rage. "Who sent you?"

I swallowed hard, raising my hands slightly to show I wasn’t a threat. "I—I’m not an intruder," I said, keeping my voice level. "Kelvin brought me here."

Something flickered across his face at the mention of Kelvin’s name, recognition, maybe even resentment, but his grip on the gun didn’t waver.

"Lies," he spat. "Kelvin wouldn’t bring a woman here. Not unless—" His gaze hardened. "Unless you’re one of them."

Them?

What the hell did that mean?

I had no time to ask before he suddenly lunged forward, gripping my wrist with a strength that didn’t match his age. I gasped, struggling, but he yanked me closer, the barrel of the gun pressing against my temple.

A cold rush of fear spread through me.

"You don’t belong here," he whispered, his breath hot against my skin. "And I don’t trust you."

Before I could respond, the door burst open.

Kelvin stood there, his eyes scanning the situation in an instant.

"Let her go." His voice was dangerously low, filled with something lethal.

The old man stiffened but didn’t lower the gun. "So it is true. You brought an outsider here."

"She’s mine," Kelvin said, stepping closer with calm as if I wasn't having my life flash before my eyes

"Let. Her. Go."

For a long moment, I wasn’t sure if the old man would listen. But then, with a huff of disgust, he shoved me away, sending me stumbling back.

I barely caught my balance before Kelvin’s arm wrapped around my waist, steadying me. His body was tense, rigid with fury.

The old man’s eyes burned into me with one last look of warning before he turned and stormed out of the room, his footsteps heavy against the floorboards.

I exhaled shakily. "Who the hell was that?"

Kelvin didn’t answer right away. His fingers tightened around my waist before he finally let go, his expression unreadable.

"My uncle."

My breath hitched. His uncle?

His gaze met mine, dark and unrelenting. "Stay in your room. And next time, don’t go looking for trouble."

Looking for trouble??

I sputtered, my mind still reeling. "I was in my room! I didn’t go looking for trouble, trouble came looking for me!"

But Kelvin didn’t stay to listen.

He turned on his heel and strode out, his footsteps fading into the hallway. He was gone, leaving me shaken, breathless, and pissed as hell.

I collapsed onto the floor, my legs finally giving out under me. My pulse was still crazily racing and my palms clammy with sweat.

This wasn’t normal.

None of this was normal.

I pressed my fingers to my temples, trying to make sense of it all. First, Kelvin practically kidnaps me, dumps me in the middle of nowhere, and now his uncle, a deranged old man with a gun, decides I’m some kind of enemy spy?

What the hell was wrong with this family?

Were they all born crazy, or was it some kind of Aldoracco initiation?

I let out a shaky breath, my gaze drifting to the bullet hole in the wall. That could have been my head.

A hysterical laugh bubbled in my throat, but I swallowed it down. Was I also slowly going crazy?

Losing my mind wouldn’t help me survive whatever twisted world I had just been dragged into.

I sat there for a while, trying to calm my pulse, but then I heard low, guttural grunts and the unmistakable sound of flesh meeting flesh.

I frowned. Was someone fighting?

Kelvin’s words echoed in my mind. ‘Stay in your room.’

But since when had I ever been good at listening?

Curiosity burned through my veins. Slowly, I pushed myself off the floor, tiptoeing toward the slightly open door. Peeking out, I followed the noises down the dimly lit hallway. I'm just going to sneek a peek and get back, I thought as my bare feet was silent against the cool floor.

The sounds grew louder. A grunt. A sharp exhale. The crunch of impact.

I turned a corner and froze.

Kelvin and the old man, his uncle, were beating the absolute shit out of each other.

And they were…smiling.

I stood there, mouth slightly open, watching as Kelvin dodged a right hook with a grin, then retaliated with a swift punch to his uncle’s ribs. The old man grunted, wiped the blood from his mouth, and let out a hoarse chuckle before launching himself at Kelvin again.

“What the actual hell?”

They weren’t fighting out of anger. No, this was something else entirely. A twisted, brutal form of bonding. Like two wild animals testing each other’s strength.

Kelvin caught his uncle in a headlock, but the old man twisted out of it with surprising agility, throwing Kelvin to the ground. The impact sent dust flying, but instead of cursing or lashing out, Kelvin just laughed…actually LAUGHED…before flipping over, pinning his uncle down.

Breathless and grinning, they finally pulled apart.

"You’re getting slow, old man," Kelvin said, wiping the sweat from his brow.

His uncle huffed, pushing himself up. "And you still hit like a spoiled brat."

I just stood there, blinking, my brain struggling to process what I was witnessing.

Kelvin turned, his gaze locking onto mine, amusement flickering in his dark eyes. "I told you to stay in your room."

I crossed my arms, knowing I had been caught. "Yeah, well, I thought someone was being murdered."

His uncle let out a raspy chuckle. "Not today, girl."

I shot him a glare. "Great. So, just to clarify, trying to shoot me was normal, but this—" I gestured wildly at their bruised and battered forms. "This is just family fun?"

His uncle smirked, looking at me, “You are very fitting for the Aldoracco family." Then he turned to Kelvin, “I like her already.”

I groaned, dragging a hand down my face. They were all insane.