Chapter 370: They Wouldn’t Dare Touch You Because Of Your Father

"Show me," Dimitri said.

Mike pulled up the files on the encrypted laptop he’d brought. Financial flows. Government contracts. Shell company structures. Spending patterns that made no sense on the surface but formed a clear picture when you understood what you were looking at.

The United States government was funding The Covenant.

"Here’s what I found," Mike continued, pulling up the second set of files. "Dante is the primary asset they’re currently weaponizing. But there are others. Multiple other proxies receiving support and protection. And the thing is...when I tried to identify the top-level assets, I hit a wall."

"What kind of wall?" Marco asked.

"The kind protected by federal classification," Mike said. "The names are encrypted. The identities are classified at levels that suggest high-level government involvement. My conclusion is that some of The Covenant’s top assets are government officials. People with enough power to provide protection and funding without consequence."

Dimitri moved to the window, processing this.

"So The Covenant doesn’t just have government protection," Dimitri said. "They have government infiltration."

"Deep infiltration," Mike confirmed. "The kind that suggests they’ve been placing people in government for years. Building their network slowly. Creating the infrastructure that allows them to operate openly."

Marco was quiet, reviewing the financial data on the screen.

"How much money are we talking about?" Marco asked.

"Annual spending in the range of $400-600 million," Mike said. "Across multiple government agencies. Defense department, intelligence agencies, even some civilian agencies. It’s systematic. It’s organized. It’s been going on for at least fifteen years based on the paper trail."

"Fifteen years," Dimitri repeated.

"At least," Mike said. "Probably longer."

Dimitri turned from the window to look directly at Marco.

"Mike, question," Dimitri said.

"Yeah?"

"Why doesn’t The Covenant just kill me?" Dimitri asked. "They have government resources. They have trained operatives. They have every advantage. Why use Dante at all? Why not just eliminate the problem directly?"

Mike was quiet for a moment, and Dimitri could see him thinking through the strategic implications.

"Because of your father," Mike said finally.

"Exactly," Dimitri confirmed. "My father."

Mike stood and began to pace, his tactical mind working through the calculation.

"They killed your mother years ago," Mike said slowly. "When their business dealings with your father went wrong. And Antonio accepted that....not happily, but he accepted it because the situation was what it was, and retaliating directly would have cost him too much politically."

"Right," Dimitri said, understanding where Mike was going with this.

"But now," Mike continued, "Your father has Prometheus Laboratories. He has pharmaceutical research that rivals theirs. He has resources and reach that he didn’t have when your mother died. And if The Covenant tried to kill you directly, if they tried to repeat what they did to your mother, your father wouldn’t accept it again. He’d retaliate. He’d go to war."

Mike turned to face them both.

"And The Covenant knows that," Mike said. "They know that attacking you directly means attacking Antonio. And they’re not willing to risk what Antonio can do to them now. So instead, they use Dante. They use a proxy with a personal vendetta. They let Dante’s hatred do the work while they stay in the shadows."

Marco nodded, understanding the calculation.

"That’s why they invested so heavily in his recovery," Marco said. "That’s why they provided experimental medical treatment. That’s why they’re backing him with intelligence and resources. Because Dante is their insurance policy. He’s the weapon they can use without directly exposing themselves."

"But it’s also a weakness," Dimitri said, understanding the implication immediately. "If Dante is their proxy, then Dante is their vulnerability. If we take him out, if we eliminate him, we force them to either come at us directly or find another proxy."

"And coming at you directly means confronting your father," Mike said. "Which they won’t do."

"Which they can’t do," Dimitri corrected. "Because my father would burn them to the ground if they tried."

Dimitri moved back to the desk where the intelligence files were displayed.

"So the question becomes," Dimitri said, "do we remove Dante and force The Covenant to escalate, or do we use Dante as the focal point for understanding The Covenant’s entire operation?"

"The second option," Mike said immediately. "Because if we kill Dante, yes, we disrupt their immediate plans. But we also alert them that we understand what’s happening. We force them to activate their backup plans. We push them toward direct confrontation, which means government resources being deployed against you."

"And that’s a war we can’t win conventionally," Marco added. "Because you can’t fight the federal government with traditional methods."

Dimitri understood the logic completely.

"So we do what I told Enzo we’d do," Dimitri said. "We investigate. We understand the full scope of The Covenant’s new operations. We identify their other assets, their other proxies, their other vulnerabilities. And only when we have a complete picture do we make moves."

"Exactly," Mike said. "We need to know everything before we do anything."

Dimitri picked up his phone and dialed Enzo’s number.

Enzo picked up almost immediately.

"Enzo, I’m putting you on speaker," Dimitri said. "Mike just briefed me on The Covenant’s new development, Dante is their primary proxy, but there are others. And the top-level assets are so protected that Mike’s conclusion is they must be government officials."

"Government officials," Enzo repeated on the line. "You mean actual government employees."

"That’s what it looks like," Mike said. "The funding is systematic. The protection is institutional. This isn’t just a criminal organization operating with government immunity. This is government agencies actively funding and protecting The Covenant’s operations."

There was a long silence on the line.

"That’s..." Enzo started, then stopped. "That’s bigger than I thought."

"Yes," Dimitri said. "Which is why we need your information more than ever. We need to understand what The Covenant is doing in Rome. We need to know if there are government officials there who are also involved. We need to know if this is a U.S. government operation or if it extends internationally."