Interesting.
“I see congratulations are in order… Don Gabriel.” He dipped his head. “But yes, I should get to the point. I tire of playing Giovanni’s games,” he said plainly. “Of dealing with his endless delusions of grandeur. He means to ruin us all, and I, for one, quite like my empire operating just the way it is.”
Silence followed that statement, all of us measuring how much of that was a lie.
Dante let out a quiet breath through his nose, along with a stream of smoke. “That’s so?”
Rocco’s focus stayed on me. “This plan of his—this obsession with the Basin, with controlling everyone—it’s gone beyond strategy into madness.”
“It was never about strategy,” I countered. “It wasalwaysabout dominance,which you should have recognized from the beginning.”
Rocco bristled slightly. “Nevertheless, it’s gotten out of hand.”
“You’ve been playing along for centuries,” Dante shifted the subject. “Why the cold feet now, when you’re so close to succeeding?”
“Because Giovanni intends to use the Basin to enslave us, and I have no desire,”—Rocco’s voice dropped—“to spend whatever time I have left under that fucker’s thumb.”
My brother’s sharp, humorless laugh cut through the tension.
“Imagine that.” He crossed his arms over his chest, and I thought the shirt was going to explode at the seams. “All it took to change your mind was discovering you’d end up like the rest of us. It’s almost like you didn’t see that coming.”
Rocco studied him, something unreadable settling behind his eyes. “Careful,” he said mildly. “I’m still a Pentarch head and well above your pay grade.”
Dante smiled, baring just enough fang to make it clear he didn’t give a shit about the warning or the status. “Why? You gonna betray me, too?”
“That depends.” Rocco looked him up and down, smirking at the borrowed clothes. “Are you worth betraying?”
Nico let out a quiet breath. “We don’t have time for games, Rocco. You came here for a reason. Get to it.”
Rocco’s attention shifted back to him, tension easing by a fraction.
“I want Giovanni buried,” he said. “I want him off the council, and I do not wish to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder.”
“And you think we don’t?” Dante shot back.
“Ithink you do.” Rocco tapped his cane hollowly on the dock. “I also think you don’t have the full picture.”
My gaze narrowed slightly. “Then enlighten us.”
Rocco exhaled slowly, like he was weighing exactly how much to give away.
“Giovanni isn’t just planning to rule the council,” he explained. “He’s aligning himself with something far older. An ancient influence that doesn’t care about our traditions, our alliances, or our rules.”
Blackwood.It had to be.
“And you want out,” I said quietly. “While your head is intact. Even though you’ve played his game up until now and made him into what he is. If that’s not a traitor to the cause, I don’t know what is.”
“Can you blame me?” Rocco spread his hands in supplication. “I want him gone, but I’m not strong enough to do it myself. But together…” His dark gaze drifted over the three of us. “Together, we can stop him, and this Dynasty can go back to the way it was.”
“We know what you did, Rocco.” Dante stepped closer. “And what makes you think we won’t just kill you tonight and solve part of the problem ourselves?”
Rocco didn’t flinch.
“Because I know where your woman is,” he admitted. “And I can help you get her back.”
My gaze flicked to Dante briefly, a silent question. He gave a single nod.
“You help us find her, and we’ll let you in our circle,” I offered. “But betray us, and I swear to the gods, I will take your head with pleasure.”
