Chapter 367: Then We Kill Him

"The Covenant," Dimitri confirmed. "They’re not just backing Dante, Mike. They’re actively treating him. Providing experimental medical treatment that’s accelerating his recovery beyond anything conventional medicine could achieve. They’ve invested in him. Seriously invested."

Mike stood and began to pace, processing this.

"So Enzo was right," Mike said. "When you called him to investigate, when you asked him to confirm The Covenant’s involvement, he found it."

"Not just involvement," Dimitri said. "Direct, active, resource-intensive involvement. They’re using pharmaceutical compounds that don’t exist anywhere else. They’re testing experimental healing technology on him. They’ve committed to making him a viable threat."

Mike stopped pacing and looked directly at Dimitri.

"Then we kill him," Mike said simply. "We send someone, we take him out, we remove the asset they invested in. It’s not elegant, but it’s effective."

Dimitri was quiet for a moment.

"You think that’s the solution?" Dimitri asked.

"I think if The Covenant invested that heavily in Dante’s recovery, then removing him removes their investment," Mike said. "It disrupts their timeline. It forces them to start over with someone new."

"And what if they’ve already started over?" Dimitri asked coldly. "What if killing Dante doesn’t end this, it just triggers their backup plan?"

Mike understood immediately what Dimitri was suggesting.

"You think they have another asset," Mike said slowly. "Another proxy waiting in the wings."

"I think," Dimitri said, "that before we make any moves against Dante, before we kill him or hurt him or do anything that signals we understand what’s happening, we need to understand what The Covenant’s real endgame is."

"And what do you think it is?" Mike asked.

"I don’t know yet," Dimitri said. "That’s the problem. Is Dante just the opening move? Is he their entire strategy? Or is he just one piece of a much larger game?"

Mike moved back to the chair and sat down heavily.

"If we kill Dante now," Mike said slowly, working through the logic, "and The Covenant has a replacement waiting, then all we’ve done is waste time. All we’ve done is show them we understand what’s happening. All we’ve done is force them to accelerate their timeline."

"Exactly," Dimitri said. "A replacement doesn’t carry months of personal vendetta. A replacement needs to be built, trusted, integrated into operations. A replacement means time."

Mike was quiet, understanding the calculation.

"But you’re right about one thing," Dimitri continued. "We need to understand what they’re really after first. Before we do anything else. Before we make any moves that could trigger them to execute their backup plan."

"So what do we do?" Mike asked.

"We investigate," Dimitri said. "We find out everything about The Covenant’s operations again, We need to investigate them again, their resources, their other proxies if they have them. We understand their real strategy. And only when we fully understand what we’re fighting do we decide how to fight it."

Mike nodded slowly, understanding the strategic necessity of patience.

"Enzo’s already working on intelligence," Dimitri continued. "He’s building a picture of The Covenant’s presence in Rome. I need you to do the same here. I need to know if there are other assets they’re supporting besides Dante. I need to know if there are other operations they’re running. I need to understand the full scope of what we’re facing."

"That’s going to take time," Mike said.

"I know," Dimitri said. "But the alternative is reacting blindly, and reacting blindly is how you lose wars."

Mike stood and looked at Dimitri directly.

"This is bigger than we thought," Mike said. It wasn’t a question.

"Much bigger," Dimitri confirmed.

"And more dangerous."

"Yes."

Mike exhaled slowly, processing the weight of what this meant.

"Okay," Mike said finally. "I’ll start investigating. I’ll find out if there are other proxies, other operations, other assets they’ve deployed. I’ll build the intelligence picture."

"Good," Dimitri said. "And Mike?"

"Yeah?"

"We keep this between us," Dimitri said. "You, me, Enzo, Marco. No one else knows about The Covenant’s involvement yet. Not until we understand what we’re dealing with."

"Eve?" Mike asked.

Dimitri was quiet for a moment.

"Eve knows I’m dealing with something serious," Dimitri said. "But she doesn’t know it’s The Covenant. And I’m not going to tell her until I understand the full scope of the threat. I won’t have her worrying about something I can’t fully explain yet."

"That’s going to be a problem eventually," Mike said. "She’s going to figure it out."

"I know," Dimitri said. "But not yet. Not until I have answers."

Mike nodded, understanding the dynamic between Dimitri and Eve, understanding that keeping her protected meant keeping her somewhat in the dark until the situation was clearer.

"Forty-eight hours," Mike said. "I’ll have preliminary intelligence in forty-eight hours. I’ll have names, operations, resources. I’ll have a picture of what we’re dealing with."

"That’s all I’m asking," Dimitri said.

Mike moved toward the door, then paused.

"For what it’s worth," Mike said, "I’m glad it’s us dealing with this instead of some other family. Because if anyone can figure out how to fight an organization like The Covenant, it’s you."

"That’s a lot of confidence," Dimitri said.

"It’s earned," Mike replied, and left the office.

Dimitri stood alone in his office, looking out at the city again, understanding that everything had just changed again.

This wasn’t about Dante anymore.

This was about something far larger.

This was about survival against an enemy that operated at a level he’d never dealt with before.

But it was also an opportunity. An opportunity to understand the threat before it fully mobilized. An opportunity to move strategically instead of reactively and finish off what he started.

And opportunities, Dimitri had learned, were the only way to win wars.

He pulled out his phone and sent a message to Enzo.

"Forty-eight hours," he typed. "I need everything by then."

The message was read immediately.

"I’ll deliver," Enzo’s response came back.

Dimitri set down his phone and allowed himself one moment of uncertainty, one moment where he questioned whether he had the resources and the strategy to survive what was coming.

Then he pushed it away.

Because uncertainty was a luxury he couldn’t afford.

Because Eve was upstairs, safe and protected, waiting for him.

Because the only way forward was through.

And because he had no intention of losing.