LARA:
I had never seen Mark this troubled before. It was 1 a.m., with rain pouring down and a thunderstorm raging outside. Rio and Jaden, one of their partners, had just brought an injured Enzo back. He'd been shot. Blood was seeping from the wound as they laid him on the bed.
"Jaden, call the doctor. Now!" Rio urged. "We don't have much time—he's already lost too much blood."
Jaden nodded and hurried from the room. I watched as Mark stood silently by, his face tightening with every sound Enzo made in pain.
"Who the hell told you to take a bullet like you're some kind of superhero?" Mark growled, anger masking his fear. "What if... what if you..." His voice faltered as he turned away, frustrated, his hand running through his hair as he struggled to finish the sentence.
"Ma-ark..." I tried to soothe him, but he seemed distant, trapped in a world of his own, staring at something he feared losing. "Calm down... the doctor's on the way. Enzo will be fine!"
"Fine?" he shouted, spinning around, his intensity making me take a step back. "What do you know about 'fine'? Losing him because of that Brown? Losing everything we have left because one of them—again? No, Lara, this isn't fine. He isn't fine, and I..."
I swallowed, reaching out to touch his arm. "What are you talking about?"
But Mark brushed my hand away. "You don't understand, Lara... you don't know half of it. What they did to us all these years. What they took from us!"
I frowned, more determined now, and said, "Enlighten me, then."
He looked as though he wanted to—he really did—but then he stopped himself just in time. I didn't know exactly what had happened tonight, but I could tell one thing: there was a story here, one I still didn't know. After returning from the hospital, Mark had promised to tell me everything once he thought I was ready. And now, I knew the time had come.
For the next thirty minutes, we watched as the doctor fought with everything he had to save Enzo. The bullet was lodged just above his heart—a slight difference, and it could have been fatal.
We couldn't risk taking him to a hospital; the cops were still on the lookout for him. Even with his mask, the injury would've exposed him. So, the entire operating setup was brought right here, beneath the mansion.
Mark paced the hallway while we waited anxiously for the doctor's confirmation. Finally, Dr. Michael stepped out, and Mark rushed over. "How is he? How's my brother?"
Dr. Michael placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, he's out of danger." We all breathed a sigh of relief. "But you'll need to take good care of him over the next few days. He's lost a lot of blood and will need at least two weeks to recover. Keep him in bed for the first few days, and make sure he takes the medication I've prescribed. He'll be okay," Dr. Michael said, patting Mark's shoulder before walking away.
Rio, Raven, and Jaden entered with a few men, and nurses attended to Enzo. Finally, Mark sank into a chair, his face hidden in his hands, masking the fear he'd been holding in.
I approached him slowly, placing a steady, gentle hand on his shoulder. I began to massage away the tension. "He's fine," I murmured. "He'll be okay."
Mark remained silent.
I took a breath, then said softly, "I think it's time you tell me the truth."
When I first arrived, Mark warned me that I could go anywhere in the house—except the room in the north. If not for his stern tone, I might have defied him back then. But I didn't get much time to wonder about it. Now here we were, standing right in front of that forbidden door, waiting for him to unlock it.
"Before you go in," he said, his voice dark, "I want you to know there's always a way out. If you want, you can leave. Anytime." His tone held an edge of finality. "But if you stay, this will be..."
"Oh, come on," I groaned, cutting him off. I'd heard enough lines like this in romance novels about billionaires and red rooms. Was this some kind of dramatic reveal? "Just open the door, Mark."
He sighed, inserting the key and twisting it. The lock clicked, and the door swung open. "This is the truth," he murmured. "My truth."
When the lights flicked on, I was utterly stunned. It wasn't what I'd expected—no whips, no handcuffs. Instead, the walls were covered in photographs, turning the entire room into a shrine for one person.
"Aurora Romano," Mark said softly. "My Amy."
The words hit me hard, and a pang of jealousy twisted in my chest, but I swallowed it down. This wasn't the time for that. I focused, listening to him intently.
"You mean the Aurora Romano? The one who..."
"Who was brutally raped and murdered four years ago," Mark finished, his voice raw with pain. "And it was none other than the Falcon group."
"Right... Last time, Devil—Enzo and Ana—solved her case, didn't they?"
"Nothing's solved," Mark said bitterly. "This is only the beginning. The beginning of everything that's been buried for too long."
I took a deep breath, processing his words. Suddenly, it all clicked into place. Of course—Enzo, aka Benny, the Devil's brother, and Aurora's mystery lover was none other than Mark Jonas. And as he started to share the full story, everything began to make sense.
"I met Enzo when he was thirteen, along with his sister, Amy, who was just nine. They were orphans, and Enzo told me he was running from his past. My father, the Mayor of Larksville at the time, St. Joseph, took them in. I was a year older than Enzo and could sense something was off, but my father kept most of it hidden from me," Mark said, his voice distant. "Not long after, he sent all three of us to Italy for our studies. We had a farm there, and that's where we became a family. Enzo was a quiet kid, my only friend, and we grew close. He often talked about his family. How he misses them. And a girl. Though he never told me her name. And then, there was revenge, but he never told me what it was for."
Mark walked to a large photo on the wall of the three of them as kids, Enzo and him on either side of a smiling Aurora. They looked happy.
"Two years later, I got the news: my father had been accused of smuggling illegal diamonds and human trafficking. Not only was he removed from his position, but he was also humiliated publicly. People threw stones and eggs at him whenever he walked by. Two days after that disgrace, he took his own life."
Mark's voice trembled, but he pushed on. "I wanted to come back to Larksville, but my aunt, who was caring for us then, told us the police were looking for us too. She said that before my father died, he told her we were never to return to town. So instead, we moved nearby. Texas."
"Who did that to him?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Mark scoffed bitterly. "It took us six years to find out that it was the Falcons. Enzo and I started digging, determined to expose them, and that's when we uncovered even more."
"You mean about Ben, Mia, and the others?"
"They were just pawns," he said with a scornful laugh. "They followed orders from a bigger monster who promised them fame and fortune to do the dirty work. The true Falcons aren't just petty criminals—they're people with power and wealth."
I listened, hanging onto every word. "Amy and I were in love. We promised ourselves to each other, and she was the one who wanted to return to Larksville, to where it all began, where our fates were tied together. But she attracted the attention of the Falcons."
Mark's jaw clenched. "And it wasn't just Benjamin or Mia. The monsters are Sanderson, Russo, Hudson, and James."