Chapter 377: It’s Time To Eliminate Dante

*DIMITRI’S OFFICE AT SINNERS*

Dimitri was going through the club records when his phone rang.

He picked up the phone and saw that it was a call from Marco.

Dimitri knows that Marco doesn’t call unless the situation was serious, so he piked the call immediately.

"Marco" Dimitri said.

"We had an extraction attempt," Marco said without preamble. "It was well coordinated and professional with multiple vehicles, it was perfectly timed accident to create separation opportunity. We neutralized the threat and secured Eve. She’s in safe house Delta. Physically unharmed but traumatized."

Dimitri felt something go absolutely cold inside him.

"Details," he said flatly.

"Upper West Side. Intersection near the restaurant. Delivery truck ran a red light, created traffic obstruction. Black sedan attempted to separate her vehicle. Our team responded immediately. We maintained protective envelope and extracted her to the safe house. No shots fired. No pursuit past the initial attempt."

"Who?" Dimitri asked.

"Unknown," Marco replied. "The vehicles were dark-windowed, operatives were masked. Professional execution. This wasn’t an amateur work, boss."

Dimitri understood the implications immediately. Amateur hour meant street criminals. Professional execution meant someone with resources and training.

"I’m coming to her," Dimitri said.

"Good," Marco said. "She needs you."

Then the line went dead.

***

Dimitri arrived within forty minutesm after dropping the call.

Eve was in the main living area. She was sitting on the couch, wrapped in a blanket despite the warmth of the room, her eyes hollow and distant.

The moment she saw Dimitri, she ran to him and threw her arms around him, and started crying...not delicate tears, but full body sobs that shook her entire being. Dimitri wrapped his arms around her completely, pulling her against his chest, his hand moving to her hair, soothing her the way you soothe something broken and terrified.

"You’re safe," he said, his voice absolutely certain. "You’re safe. I have you. I have you."

He held her for a long time, not moving, not speaking, just being present while she processed the terror of what had almost happened.

***

*TWO HOURS LATER*

The team was assembled in the safe house conference room: Dimitri, Marco, Mike, and three senior operatives who’d been part of the response.

Eve was upstairs, finally asleep, her body exhausted from adrenaline and trauma.

"It was professional," Marco said, laying out the facts. "The coordination was too precise. The timing was too clean. The operatives were trained. I think The Covenant is making a move. I think they’re testing our security infrastructure."

"The Covenant wouldn’t be that stupid," Mike said immediately. "They know that taking Eve directly would trigger full retaliation. They know that kidnapping the one person Dimitri loves most would make him move against them without hesitation. That’s not strategic. That’s suicide."

"Then who?" Marco asked.

Dimitri was quiet, thinking through the implications.

"Dante," Dimitri said finally. "It’s Dante."

"What?" Marco asked, surprise crossing his face.

"Dante is testing," Dimitri said, his voice turning cold and certain. "He has Covenant backing now. He’s feeling strong. He’s feeling powerful. And he’s trying to send a message: ’I’m stronger than I was before. I can reach your woman now.’"

Mike understood immediately.

"He’s trying to prove something," Mike said. "He’s forgotten what happened last time he kidnapped Eve."

"No," Dimitri said flatly. "He hasn’t forgotten. But last time, he was alone. Last time, he didn’t have The Covenant’s resources. Last time, he didn’t have federal backing. This time, he thinks he’s untouchable. This time, he thinks he can test the waters and see if we’ll flinch."

Marco’s expression hardened.

"So what do we do?" Marco asked.

"We respond," Dimitri said. "But not how he expects. We don’t immediately hunt him down. We don’t immediately come at him directly. Instead, we make sure every piece of this is documented. We make sure everyone knows that Dante made this move. We make sure the underworld understands that he’s escalating."

"And then?" Mike asked.

"And then," Dimitri said, his voice dropping into something darker, "we make sure that the next time he even thinks about approaching Eve, he understands that it’s going to cost him everything."

***

Dimitri left the meeting and went to check on Eve.

She was asleep, but fitfully. Her body was tense even in sleep. Her breathing was shallow. The trauma was embedded in her nervous system now, written into her body’s response.

Dimitri sat on the edge of the bed and simply watched her sleep.

He understood now, with a clarity that cut deeper than anything he’d felt before, that the threat to Eve was real. It was immediate. It was not theoretical or abstract. It was operationally active, coordinated, and designed to test his defenses.

And the fact that it had been Dante, Dante who’d already kidnapped her once, Dante who’d already learned the cost of coming after her, Dante who was foolish enough or confident enough or backed well enough to try again.....that changed something fundamental in Dimitri’s response calculation.

Because Dante was right about one thing: he was stronger now. He had The Covenant’s backing. He had federal resources. He had intelligence and support and operational capability that he’d never had before.

But what Dante had miscalculated was one simple fact: Dimitri’s response to threats against Eve had no limits.

Dante had just made the mistake of showing Dimitri that he was willing to move against her. And now Dimitri understood that Dante had to be eliminated. Not eventually. Not strategically. But now. Before The Covenant could use him for another attempt. Before Dante got another opportunity.

The hunting was about to begin.

And Dante Romano had just made himself the priority target.

***

POV: DANTE

The phone call came at 11:33 PM.

Dante was reviewing reports on the Brooklyn operations when the encrypted line lit up. The Covenant contact. The timing was unusual, they typically communicated during predetermined windows, never at random hours. An unscheduled call meant something significant had shifted.

Dante answered immediately.

"Yes?" he said, his tone formal and professional despite the surge of anticipation that had just flooded through him.