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“Great, now that we’re all on the same page,” I said, leaning back. “Alessio’s death won’t affect you. It’s my family matter, but if you want to point fingers, you’d better point at him.” I nodded toward DeLuca, who had retreated to the corner and hadn’t said a word since the start of the meeting.

A shaky smile split his lips when everyone’s attention turned on him. “Me?” he stammered.

“Yes, you,” I said, the corner of my lips tugging into a smile. “I know you have been housing the Surmans who attacked the Mancini holiday house, a location that not many know unless they were in a high-level position, like the Pentalia.”

His eyes widened in fear. “I… I did no such thing.”

“And you’ve also been trading secrets to the enemy,” I added flatly, eyeing him coldly.

“Is this all true, DeLuca?” Farro narrowed his eyes at him, as did the other men.

“No,” he defended himself, but it came out weak and shaky.

I simply waved a hand, and Julian nodded, handing out a dossier to the men. And it didn’t take long for them to discern the proof and fix their accusing gazes at DeLuca.

“I’m sorry, but I had no choice,” DeLuca screamed, tears streaming down his face. “I didn’t know they were going to kill the boy.” He was already on his feet, his gun in hand as he backed toward the door. But my men stopped him in an instant, disarming him.

It still wasn’t clear how the Surmans were able to break into the Mancini house, but I had no doubt it had more to do with the White Hand than DeLuca.

DeLuca was simply hosting the Surmans. I’d wanted to get rid of the lousy fucker for a long time, and this was my perfect opportunity. Instead of five heads coming at me all the time, I would only have to deal with four from now on.

“You men see for yourselves.” I waved toward the file. “I suggest you either appoint someone appropriate to oversee the DeLuca empire or… you can simply dissolve the business among yourselves. I’ll leave that decision to you. All I want is cooperation on your end so I can do my job in peace.”

The opportunity to gain more power was enough to stir the excitement.

“That’s sufficient for us,” Isaac agreed instantly and looked at the others, who all nodded rather quickly. “I think we’ll commence the meeting here. We’ll take care of this, Mr. Stormhold,” Isaac assured, casting a sly smile toward DeLuca.

Great, I don’t want to do this for at least another year. With that thought, I bid the gentleman goodbye, promising Julian I’d talk to him later as I exited the building.

I didn’t even have a moment to breathe in the car when Mikhail announced, “Killian and his men just shot two men at Windery Avenue.” His sharp eyes and blank face met mine through the rearview mirror. “That’s the third one this week, no casualties.”

I sighed, pressing my fingers between my brows.

Heath Glen somehow fucking escaped the Twins, along with those Surman fuckers, almost as if they never existed here in the first place. Although I liked that they were cleared out of my city, I knew it wouldn’t be long before they came back. But I had my suspicion that they never left in the first place, so where were they really hiding?

I had thirty-three days before the Alacteon interferes. I already had the codes and the painting and could end this, but if I didn’t lure out the White Hand now, I fear I never would.

In the meantime, Killian was going crazy, rounding up all his enemies in public to assert his power. I let him be, because the people he was taking out weren’t innocent, and he was simply acting out on his years of injustice.

Mikhail cleared his throat, and I snapped my eyes open.

“Ms. Esteal seemed to have been on Windery Avenue today. She and Killian exchanged some words.”

“Bella?” Every inch of my body tensed. “Is she okay?”

“Yes, sir,” Mikhail replied. “They only spoke, after which Killian and his men left the scene.”

I nodded, relaxing a bit. “Have a few of our men keep a close eye on her, at least till all this shit is over. Make sure they’re discreet. She’s sharp.”

Bella. Nothing had changed much since I last saw her—only this time, instead of sitting like a desolate fool just thinking of her, I buried myself in work. But still, that did nothing to keep her away from my mind. She was a permanent fixture. She always will be.

“On it,” Mikhail replied, speaking in low tones to his wrist mic just as we arrived back at the house and the car stopped at the driveway.

“It’s time he and I had a talk,” I told Mikhail as we got out of the car. “Bring him in.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Mikhail’s face gave nothing away as he nodded and walked away.

I headed straight to my kitchen, where Grayson and Jon sat in uncomfortable silence. Grayson’s plate was untouched while Jon gobbled everything in sight.