Chapter 302: He’s Going To Try To Take Eve

Dante’s blood or Dimitri’s blood or Isabella’s blood. Maybe all three.

"I’ll make the preparations," Luca said.

"Good," Dante said. "And Luca?"

"Yes, boss?"

"Thank you for getting me out of there. For saving my life."

Luca nodded. "Always."

Because that was what he did. He saved Dante’s life. He kept him breathing. He stood by him through wars and betrayals and obsessions that consumed everything in their path.

Because Dante was his Don. His leader. His reason for existing in this world.

And Luca would follow him into hell and come out the other side, no matter the cost.

Even if the cost was the end of them both.

***

POV: LUCA

Later that night, after Dante was heavily medicated and sleeping, Luca stood on the roof of the safe house and looked out at Jersey City spread below him.

Twelve years.

Twelve years he’d been at Dante’s side. Twelve years of loyalty, of sacrifice, of putting Dante’s needs before his own.

And in those twelve years, he’d learned to read Dante better than anyone else alive.

He could see when Dante was strategizing and when he was being driven by emotion. Could sense when a decision was calculated and when it was obsession disguised as strategy.

And right now, Dante was being driven by obsession.

The revenge against Dimitri had been understandable. Salvatore was his brother. That kind of blood was worth fighting for.

But Isabella? That was different. That was something that had started as a tool and was becoming a compulsion.

Luca had watched Dante’s face when he talked about her. Had heard the change in his voice. Had seen the heat and hunger and something darker underneath.

Dante wanted Isabella in a way that went beyond using her. Beyond possessing her.

He was falling for her.

And that was going to be his downfall.

Luca pulled out his phone and made a call to the man he had stationed in Rome.

"How is she?" Luca asked without preamble.

"Stable. Medicated. Ready to move." The man’s voice was professional. "She’s been waiting for contact from Dante. When we approached her, she came willingly."

"Good," Luca said. "Maintain her at the safe house. Don’t let her out of your sight. And be gentle with her, Boss cares about this one, and if she’s harmed, he’ll be difficult to manage."

"Understood."

Luca hung up.

He stood on the roof and thought about the game board. About the pieces moving across it. About Dimitri and Dante and Eve and Isabella and everyone else caught in the crossfire.

And he understood, with absolute clarity, that this was going to end in blood.

Lots of blood.

The only question was whose blood would be spilled and in what order.

Luca didn’t have the answer to that question.

But he would be there when the answer came. Would be standing beside Dante when it did, ready to fight, ready to kill, ready to bleed if necessary.

Because that was what loyalty meant in their world.

It meant being willing to burn with your Don if that’s what was required.

And Luca had been burning for twelve years.

He wasn’t about to stop now.

***

POV: DANTE

Dante woke in darkness, pain radiating from multiple points on his body.

The IV was still in his arm, the medication flowing steadily, keeping the worst of the agony at bay.

He was alive.

And despite the pain, despite the losses, despite being temporarily crippled, Dante felt something like satisfaction settle over him.

Because he had a plan now.

A plan to hurt Dimitri in a way that would make everything that had come before seem insignificant.

Eve.

He was going to take Eve, and he was going to use her to break Dimitri into pieces.

And Isabella... Isabella was going to be part of that. Because if there was one thing Dante understood about the human heart, it was that people would do anything to protect what they loved.

Dimitri loved Eve.

And Dante was going to use that love to destroy him.

He closed his eyes and let the medication pull him under again.

***

POV: DIMITRI

Dimitri sat in his study, watching the feeds from every location they had under surveillance.

Marco had brought him real-time updates on the warehouse cleanup.

Twenty-three bodies.

Dante had escaped with Luca.

And the game was about to enter a new and far more dangerous phase.

Because Dimitri understood something that Dante didn’t understand yet.

Dante was going to come at him through Eve.

It was the obvious move. The logical move. The move that any intelligent operator would make.

And Dimitri had already prepared for it.

He’d upgraded Eve’s security. Had moved assets to the penthouse. Had set contingencies in place that would trigger if anyone even attempted to breach their defenses.

But preparation wasn’t the same as prevention.

And Dante, wounded and desperate, was going to be unpredictable.

Dimitri pulled out his phone and called Marco.

"I want more men at the penthouse," he said without preamble. "I want the security protocols upgraded. I want to know who moves within five blocks of the building. And I want backup teams positioned at secondary locations in case we need to extract."

"Already done," Marco said. "I anticipated the move. We’re as secure as we can be without turning the penthouse into a military bunker."

"Good," Dimitri said. "Because Dante’s wounded, which makes him desperate. And desperate men are unpredictable."

"What’s your read on his next move?"

"He’s going to try to take Eve," Dimitri said. "It’s what I would do in his position. Take the leverage. Force the negotiation."

"And when he does?"

"Then we’ll be ready," Dimitri said. "And we’ll use him to get to Luca."

Because Dimitri understood something that Dante didn’t understand.

Luca wasn’t just Dante’s second-in-command.

Luca was the string that held Dante upright.

Cut the string, and Dante would collapse.

And Dimitri was very good at cutting strings.

He ended the call and returned to the feeds.