Chapter 373: We Want You To Move Against Brooklyn

POV: DANTE

The morning sun was harsh on Dante’s face as he stood on the terrace of his estate in Rome, looking out at the city spread below him like a kingdom he was about to reclaim.

His legs were perfect now. No pain, he has complete mobility now . The experimental treatment The Covenant had provided had worked beyond anything he’d dared to hope for. The healing was complete. The recovery was absolute. And for the first time since the warehouse in New Jersey, Dante felt like himself again.

He felt dangerous.

He felt unstoppable.

The memory of Salvatore came to him like it always did in moments of clarity. His brother, dead in a Rome alley because Dimitri Valentino had decided he wasn’t worth preserving. Four months, and the wound hadn’t closed. Four months, and Dante could still see his brother’s face in those final moments, could still feel the rage of losing him, could still taste the hunger for revenge.

Salvatore.

And then there was Isabella.

The obsession that had started as political strategy had become something far more complicated. She was his. She belonged to him. She’d chosen to come to New York to him, had helped him, had stood beside him when she could have run to her father’s protection.

But her eyes betrayed her every time Dimitri was mentioned.

Her body tensed when Dimitri’s name came up. Her hand would tremble slightly. Her breathing would change when she thinks he couldn’t notice. And Dante understood with absolute certainty that Isabella’s heart belonged to a man who didn’t want her, a man who’d chosen an American woman over the daughter of a powerful family, a man who’d rejected her publicly and thoroughly.

It was infuriating.

It was humiliating.

It was exactly the kind of wound that Dante could use to motivate himself through the next phase of The Covenant’s plan.

***

The phone call came at noon.

Dante was in his study, reviewing financial reports on the Japanese business deal, watching with satisfaction as the sabotage unfolded exactly as planned. The Japanese firm was being offered better terms by Dante’s intermediaries. They were starting to seriously consider the alternative proposal. Within days, they’d abandon their partnership with Dimitri and accept Dante’s offer instead.

The phone was encrypted. Secure. Untraceable.

"Status?" The voice on the other end was professional, neutral, carrying the kind of detachment that suggested government training.

"The Japanese deal is collapsing as predicted," Dante reported. "They’re going to accept our offer. We’ll have the contract signed within forty-eight hours."

"Good," the voice said. "That’s exactly what we needed. Dimitri’s losing business connections. His reputation is being damaged. His operations are becoming unstable."

"And the next phase?" Dante asked.

"The next phase is expansion," the voice said. "We’re shifting focus from economic damage to territorial consolidation. We want you to move against Brooklyn. Take the territory. Establish operations. Show Dimitri that he’s losing control of the city."

Dante felt a surge of anticipation.

Brooklyn was Dimitri’s secondary operation. It wasn’t his primary territory, but it was still his. Taking it would be a statement. It would be visible proof that Dante was ascending while Dimitri was descending.

"I can do that," Dante said. "How much support will I have?"

"Full support," the voice confirmed. "We’re increasing our investment in your operations. You’ll have additional intelligence, additional resources, additional personnel if needed. We’re committed to this."

Dante understood the implication. The Covenant was all-in. They weren’t hedging their bets. They were fully committing to his ascension, which meant they believed he could actually defeat Dimitri.

"What about Dimitri’s response?" Dante asked. "He’s going to fight back."

"Of course he is," the voice said. "But he’s going to be reacting to multiple crises simultaneously. The Japanese deal collapse, the economic damage, the territorial losses. By the time he understands the full scope of what’s happening, we’ll have consolidated enough power that he won’t be able to stop it."

"And if he escalates?" Dante pressed.

"Then we escalate with you," the voice said. "We have resources he can’t imagine. We have reach he doesn’t understand. We have protection he’ll never breach. He can’t win against us, Dante. And now that he can’t win against us, he can’t win against you."

The certainty in the voice was absolute.

Dante felt something settle in his chest. Not just confidence. But certainty. The understanding that he wasn’t fighting Dimitri alone anymore. He was fighting Dimitri with the backing of an organization that included elements of the federal government.

He was fighting Dimitri with weapons he never knew existed.

"I want to ask you something," Dante said carefully.

"Go ahead."

"Why are you doing this?" Dante asked. "Why are you investing so heavily in me? There are other operators, other proxies you could use. Why commit so fully to Dante Romano?"

There was a pause on the line.

"Because you have something most proxies don’t," the voice finally said. "You have personal motivation. You have a brother who Dimitri killed. You have a woman who Dimitri rejected. You have months of vendetta burning in your chest. That kind of motivation is worth ten times the resources."

Dante understood.

"We’re not just backing you because we want Dimitri dead," the voice continued. "We’re backing you because we want him to know that you did it. We want him to understand that the man whose brother he had killed is the man who destroyed him. We want the victory to be absolute and personal."

"And when it’s over?" Dante asked. "When Dimitri is finished?"

"Then you inherit his territory," the voice said. "You inherit his business. You inherit his power. You become the new Don of New York. And The Covenant becomes your primary partner instead of your backer."

It was exactly what Dante had hoped for but hadn’t dared to believe was possible.

"I’ll take Brooklyn," Dante said. "Within two weeks."

"Take it faster," the voice said. "We’re accelerating the timeline. We want to see visible movement by the end of the week."

"That’s aggressive," Dante said.

"Yes," the voice confirmed. "It is. But we’re confident you can handle it. Especially with the resources we’re providing."