She scrambles to her feet, suddenly looking absolutely terrified. “He set fire to the casino when? Yesterday? What time?”
Baffled, I get to my feet, too. “It was afternoon…late afternoon.”
She curses loudly as she whips around the room, searching for her clothes. “He knows the only way to defeat the Guild is to get to you. But when that happens, he needs a clean surrender. There can’t be anyone left who would remain loyal to you.”
I rummage for my own clothes as cool dread slips down my spine. “What are you talking about?”
“Rocco,” she cries. “He’s going after Rocco.”
26
ISABELLA
My hands tremble as I grip the edge of the car seat, watching Teo’s face in the dim glow of the dashboard. He’s silent, eyes focused on the road with a deadly intensity, his fingers tight around the wheel.
He hasn’t said a word since I told him what Leon is planning. I can barely stand to look at him, guilt twisting in my stomach like a hot blade.
I feel like a traitor, caught between blood and love. I feel like a fool for believing my mother so readily and without question when Leon has been warning me foryears.
Now, he’s starting a war for me just because I believed my mother’s lies. He burned down a casino because he believed that I was doing the right thing.
This is all my fault.
I try calling him again, but it goes straight to voicemail.
“Come on, Leon. Please,”I murmur to myself, mentally begging him.
If he knew the truth, he would stop this. I know he would. I just pray that it’s not already too late for that.
The car speeds down the deserted highway, the hum of the engine the only sound in the silence stretching between us.
Teo’s jaw is clenched, his gaze locked ahead, not sparing me a single glance, but I can feel the anger radiating from him, crackling through the air like electricity.
“Isabella,” he says suddenly, voice low, taut, and it’s enough to make me shiver, “tell me exactly what he said. Word for word.”
I swallow, forcing myself to remember everything he had planned for Phase Two. “He…he wanted to make sure Rocco wouldn’t try to avenge you. He knew protection around him would be lighter now. He was going to attack him at his home.”
“Cas is with him,” Teo growls, his foot pushing the gas ever harder.
Cas…the pregnant wife from the wedding…the thought actually eases some of my anxiety. “He wouldn’t attack if she was there.”
“Forgive me for not believing the Natalis aren’t above murdering women and children.” Teo’s knuckles whiten on the wheel, and the car surges forward with a low growl.
“Leonwouldn’t,”I insist.
But his silence is worse than if he’d shouted. The worst part is, he’s right to blame me. It’s my family, my blood, doing this.
I bite my lip, looking out at the passing lights of the city. They blur as tears gather in my eyes, but I blink them away. This isn’t about me. This is about saving lives—about stopping Leon before he does something we can never come back from.
The minutes drag like hours, each one filling me with dread. I can’t shake the image of Cas and Rocco in their brownstone, blissfully unaware of what’s coming.
I imagine Cas, her hand resting on her belly, maybe reading or drifting off to sleep, feeling safe with her husband by her side. I close my eyes, and it’s all I can do not to scream.
Teo grabs his phone out of his pocket and thrusts it at me. “Call him.”
I do as he says, giving up on my own phone in favor of punching in Rocco’s details.
The phone rings. And rings and rings.
