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Tone watched him carefully. “Remove?”
Raze did not look at her.
“The men transporting children already made their choice.”
No one asked him to clarify.
Gianni leaned forward. “Once we touch that shipment, there is no negotiation. They will hit our businesses, our homes and anyone attached to our name.”
“Then we hit first,” Raze clarified.
“You’re talking about war.”
“They came to our gate and threatened a woman under our protection.” His gaze settled on each man in turn. “War does not begin when we return fire. It begins when an enemy decides he can enter our home without paying in blood.”
Marcello turned toward me.
“This began with you.”
“I know.”
“You vanished for ten years. You left us to bury your father and explain your absence to every enemy who thought the family had weakened.” His voice hardened with every word. “Now you return with a cartel at your back and expect us to form ranks around you.”
The accusation landed precisely where he aimed it. I looked around the table. Every man in the room had someone to lose. Children slept in the rooms above us. Wives trusted the walls surrounding them. Tone carried a life beneath her heart, while Archie watched each breath she took as if death might attempt to steal one.
Marcello was right about one thing. The risk did not belong to me alone.
I rose.
“Then I’ll remove it.”
Tone’s eyes narrowed. “What does that mean?”
“Adriana and I will leave tonight.”
Raze’s answer came immediately.
“No.”
“We disappear under new names. No fixed location. No connection to the Cavalho businesses. The Coccico cartel will follow the drive.”
“You can’t know that,” Atlas remarked.
“They want what’s on it.”
“And you plan to carry it?” Gianni asked.
“Yes.”
Marcello stared at me. “You’d take the only weapon we have?”
“I’ll leave copies.”
“And when they find you?”
“They won’t.”
Tone laughed once, without humour. I turned toward her.
