Chapter 158: We Are Being Watched

She stayed still, and wrapped her hand around him, her forehead pressed to his, their breathing syncing.

"I shot someone today," Dimitri whispered, not planning to say it but unable to stop the words. "He stole from me. And I shot him in the leg and told him I’d kill his children if he betrayed me again."

Eve didn’t flinch. Didn’t pull away.

Just held him tighter.

"Did he deserve it?"

"Yes."

"Then you did what you had to do."

"You’re not horrified?"

"I’m sad that you have to carry that. But horrified? No." She pulled back to look at him. "I know who you are, Dimitri. I know what you do. And I chose you anyway. All of you. Even the parts that scare you."

Something in his chest cracked open.

He kissed her desperately, and started moving, he needed to feel her, needed to lose himself in this.

They made love slowly, her riding him while he watched her face, both of them chasing connection more than orgasm.

When they came together, it felt so perfect and so synchronized, it felt like healing.

Like absolution.

Like she was washing away the darkness he’d accumulated all day.

Afterward, they stayed tangled together on the couch, neither wanting to move.

"Thank you," Dimitri whispered into her hair.

"For what?"

"For being my light. For loving me despite everything."

"Thank you for coming home to me. For trusting me with your darkness. For being mine."

They fell asleep like that, wrapped around each other.

***

A Week Later

The flight to Rome was smooth.

Too smooth.

Dimitri sat in the leather seat of his private jet, Marco across from him, and felt the familiar weight of entering enemy territory settle in his chest.

This wasn’t like New York, where he controlled every block, every corner, every whisper.

This was Antonio’s kingdom.

Forty years of power built on blood and fear and alliances Dimitri was only beginning to understand.

"Marcelo’s meeting us at the safe house in Trastevere," Marco said, not looking up from his tablet. "Alone, like we requested. Says he has three hours before his people start wondering where he is."

"Three hours is enough." Dimitri checked his gun....loaded, safety on, comfortable weight against his ribs. "You confirmed the intel about his wife?" 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Triple confirmed. She is receiving treatment at Ospedale San Giovanni. The facility has direct ties to Prometheus Laboratories, equipment, funding, personnel. She’s not just a patient. She’s a test subject." Marco pulled up medical records. "Stage 4 ovarian cancer. Experimental immunotherapy protocol. Survival rate unknown because they’re still testing it. On her."

Dimitri felt cold fury settle in his bones.

Using a man’s dying wife as a guinea pig to ensure his loyalty.

That was Antonio.

That was the monster he was going to overthrow.

"Show him everything," Dimitri said. "Every document. Every connection. Every piece of evidence that proves my father has been experimenting on his wife for two years. And then offer him the alternative."

"Real treatment. No experimentation. Best doctors money can buy."

"Exactly. And protection. For him and Sofia both." Dimitri leaned back. "Marcelo is a good man trapped in a bad situation. We give him a way out, he’ll take it. And then we have someone inside Antonio’s inner circle."

The plane landed at a private airfield outside Rome at 3 PM local time.

Two cars waited, one for Dimitri and Marco, one for the three soldiers they’d brought as backup.

The drive into the city felt wrong.

Dimitri couldn’t put his finger on why. Just... instinct. The kind developed over years of staying alive in a world where hesitation got you killed.

"You feel that?" he asked Marco quietly.

"Yeah. We’re being watched."

"Since when?"

"Since we landed. Black Mercedes. Two cars back. Been following us for ten minutes."

Dimitri didn’t turn to look. Just adjusted the rearview mirror slightly.

There. Black Mercedes. Tinted windows. Professional tail....staying far enough back to not be obvious, close enough to track.

"Your father’s people?" Marco asked.

"Maybe. Or someone else who knows I’m in town." Dimitri pulled out his phone. "Take the long route to the safe house. See if they follow. If they do, we lose them before the meeting. I’m not bringing surveillance to Marcelo’s door."

They drove for thirty minutes through Rome’s winding streets, doubling back, taking sudden turns, using every counter-surveillance technique they knew.

The Mercedes stayed with them for twenty minutes.

Then disappeared.

"Lost them or they pulled back?" Marco wondered aloud.

"Don’t know. Don’t care. We’re already late." Dimitri checked his watch. "Bellini’s going to be nervous. Let’s not make it worse."

***

The safe house was a small apartment in Trastevere....old building, narrow stairs, the kind of place that blended into Rome’s historic district perfectly.

Marcelo was already there.

Forty-three years old. Medium build. Tired eyes. The look of a man who’d been carrying weight too long.

He stood when Dimitri entered, nervous energy radiating off him.

"Mr. Valentino. Thank you for meeting with me."

"Sit, Marcelo. This isn’t formal." Dimitri took the chair across from him, Marco standing by the door. "You know why I’m here?"

"You want me to betray your father. Turn against the man I’ve worked for for fifteen years. Risk everything I’ve built." Marcelo’s voice was steady but his hands shook slightly. "That’s why you’re here."

"I’m here to offer you a choice." Dimitri leaned forward. "You’re a good man, Marcelo. Everyone says so. Loyal. Honest. You manage your territory well, treat your people fairly, never steal, never cheat. My father’s lucky to have you."

"But?"

"But you’re trapped. Your wife is dying. Antonio’s paying for her treatment....experimental treatment that’s keeping her alive. And you can’t leave because the second you do, that treatment stops and your wife dies." Dimitri’s voice was gentle. "Am I wrong?"

Marco’s face crumbled slightly. "No. You’re not wrong."

"What if I told you that treatment, the one keeping her alive, is also killing her?"

Marco went very still. "What?"

Dimitri nodded to his Marco, who pulled out a tablet, set it on the table.