I set down the glass and leaned back in my chair, the leather creaking softly.Below me, the city continued its oblivious existence.Above me, two families scrambled to respond to a crisis they couldn’t solve with their usual methods of violence and intimidation.
“And now you’ll pay the price,” I murmured, watching the feeds as more cars arrived at the Lombardi estate, as the De Luca compound’s security expanded outward in concentric circles.“One way or another, Caterina.You’ll pay for choosing him over me.Your brother will pay.Your families will pay.And when it’s over, you’ll understand exactly what your rejection cost.”
I returned my attention to the laptop, settling in for a long night of observation.The game was in motion now.All I had to do was wait and watch as the pieces moved exactly where I’d predicted they would.
Twenty-two hours until midnight tomorrow.Twenty-two hours until Caterina made the choice that would define everything that came after.
And I’d be watching every moment of her suffering, savoring each one, knowing that I’d finally made them all understand what it meant to underestimate Marco Vitale.
Chapter Fifteen
Dante
It had taken several hours to locate Luca.Although, I had a feeling Marco didn’t think I’d be able to pull it off before his deadline.The man hadn’t been as clever as he’d thought.
I’d held Caterina when she’d finally broken.She’d blamed herself for what happened to Luca, and after an hour of pacing, she’d fallen apart, sobbing so hard I’d worried she’d never stop.I couldn’t remember a time I’d ever gently held a woman, but I had this time.Some part of me had wanted to comfort her, even though I hadn’t known how.Seeing her cry, watching her fall apart, had made me feel like someone had stuck a knife in me and twisted it.
Once she’d calmed, I’d gotten back to work, and it had finally paid off.
The warehouse schematic glowed on the tablet screen I’d positioned at the center of my command table, blueprints spread around it like a paper minefield.Three forty-five in the morning and I had six of my best men on video call, their faces tiled on the monitor to my left while I walked them through entry vectors and fallback positions.Caterina had woken twenty minutes ago, moved to the bathroom to clean up, and returned looking more like herself -- still pale, still obviously exhausted, but functional.She’d been standing behind me for the past ten minutes, silent while I coordinated, but I felt her presence like heat against my back.
“Team Alpha enters through the north service door here.”I tapped the blueprint with enough force that the paper shifted.“Rizzo, you’re leading that squad.Four men, suppressed weapons, full tactical gear.You breach at exactly 0400.Not a second before, not a second after.”
Rizzo’s face nodded on the screen, his expression set in the focused lines of someone who’d done this a hundred times.“Rules of engagement?”
“Marco dies on sight.Anyone with him who resists, same.But Luca Lombardi comes out unharmed or you answer to me personally.”I moved my finger to a different entry point.“Team Bravo takes the main entrance.Francesca, you’re commanding that vector.Eight men, heavier weapons.You’re the hammer -- loud, obvious, drawing attention while Alpha moves to the hostage location.I’ll fill in wherever I’m needed, which means I may move from team to team if that’s what it takes to get Luca out safely.”
My sister’s face on screen showed the kind of cold calculation that ran in both our bloodlines.“And if Marco has the location rigged?Dead man’s switches, remote detonators?”
“Then we move fast enough that he doesn’t have time to use them.”I zoomed in on the warehouse interior layout.“Intelligence suggests he’s keeping Luca in the central bay area.Most exposure, easiest to guard from multiple angles.But that also means --”
“I’m coming with you.”Caterina’s voice cut through my tactical briefing like a blade.
I didn’t look up from the schematics.“No.”
“Dante --”
“No.”I kept my tone flat, absolute.The same voice I used when giving orders I expected followed without question.“You stay here.Watch the feeds if you want.But you’re not coming into an active combat situation.”
I heard her move closer, felt her hand come down on the table beside mine.“I have as much right to be there as anyone.More.He’s my brother.”
“Which is exactly why you’re staying here.”I finally looked up, met her eyes across the width of the command table.“You’re emotionally compromised.You’ll make mistakes.Get in the way.Possibly get your brother killed trying to help him.”
Her jaw set in that stubborn line I’d come to recognize.“I know Marco better than anyone on your team.You think I haven’t done research on him?”
“Irrelevant.”
“It’s not irrelevant.”She was leaning over the table now, her hands braced on the blueprints.“He’ll have anticipated your approach.Military-style breach, overwhelming force, the standard enforcer playbook.But I know what he’ll do when things don’t go according to his plan.The moment I got even a hint the man wanted me for himself, I made sure I learned all I could about him.I wanted to be prepared.”
I felt my jaw clench.Felt my fingers drum against the table edge in the rhythm that meant I was being pushed toward a decision I didn’t want to make.She had a point.Not to mention, sometimes women saw things differently than we did.
But letting her into danger went against every instinct I had.The same instinct that had made me hold her while she cried.And had led to my promise to find her brother.I’d spent three years ensuring no unworthy man got close enough to claim her, all because I’d known in my gut she belonged to me.
“You’re a liability,” I said, forcing the words out with more conviction than I felt.“I’ll be focused on the tactical situation.Can’t afford to worry about keeping you safe while extracting Luca and eliminating Marco.”
“So don’t worry about keeping me safe.”She pushed off the table and moved around it, coming to stand directly in front of me.Close enough that I had to look down to maintain eye contact.“Treat me like any other asset in the operation.I follow orders, stay out of the way when you’re breaching, provide intelligence when it’s useful.”
“It doesn’t work that way.”
