Chapter 410: Lorenzo Will Be Furious

Dimitri was escorted through the estate by a guard.

The private study was at the rear of the main house, isolated and secure. Heavy wooden doors. Soundproofed walls. The kind of room where real conversations happened, the kind that couldn’t be overheard.

Antonio was alone when Dimitri entered.

He was standing at the window, looking out at the Roman countryside beyond the estate boundaries. He didn’t turn immediately when Dimitri entered. He took his time.

When Antonio finally turned, his expression was absolutely controlled.

"Sit," Antonio said. It wasn’t a request.

Dimitri considered not sitting, but he understood what this moment was, a father reasserting dominance over a son who’d grown too powerful, too independent, too willing to defy him.

Dimitri sat down and looked at his father.

Antonio settled into the chair across from him, and the two men looked at each other across the distance of the desk.

"You brought the American to Rome," Antonio said. It was an accusation, not a question.

"Yes," Dimitri confirmed.

"That was unwise," Antonio said coldly.

"It was necessary," Dimitri said. "She goes where I go."

"And what happens when Lorenzo uses her as a target?" Antonio asked. "What happens when he decides that the insult of you bringing your whore into Rome is reason enough for war? What happens when he orders her killed to punish you for your disrespect?"

Dimitri felt something cold settle in his chest.

"Then that becomes his problem," Dimitri said flatly. "Not mine. And it certainly doesn’t obligate me to protect an alliance that was never going to work."

"I made it clear from the start that i had no interest in Isabella," Dimitri continued. "I made it clear that the Russo alliance was political, not personal. So Lorenzo can take his wounded pride and his concerns about his daughter and present them to you. Because I’m done playing that game."

Antonio was quiet for a long moment.

"Lorenzo is furious," Antonio said finally. "He wants to raid the villa tonight. He wants to kill Dante and extract his daughter by force."

"Which would be a catastrophic mistake," Dimitri said. "But that’s not my concern."

"It is your concern," Antonio said sharply. "Because Dante doesn’t work alone. Dante has The Covenant’s backing. Which means extracting Isabella isn’t just a matter of tactical superiority. It’s a matter of going to war against an organization that has resources you can’t imagine."

"I’m aware," Dimitri said calmly.

"Are you?" Antonio asked. "Because if you are, then you understand that this situation with Isabella is more complicated than Lorenzo wants to admit. The Covenant has positioned Dante as a tool. They’re using him to destabilize both our families simultaneously. They’re using him to fracture our alliance with the Russo. And they’re using Isabella as leverage."

"Which is why rushing to extract her plays directly into their strategy," Dimitri said. "Lorenzo wants to respond emotionally. I won’t."

Antonio stood and moved to a painting on the wall....a classical Roman landscape. He pressed a section of the frame, and the painting swung inward, revealing a hidden safe.

From the safe, he withdrew a folder.

He returned to his seat and opened the folder.

Inside were photographs, documents, intelligence reports. Years of investigation.

"The Covenant killed your mother because of a business arrangement that went wrong," Antonio said. "I was negotiating with them for pharmaceutical contracts. They wanted exclusivity. I refused. They considered my refusal an insult."

"And they killed her to punish you," Dimitri said.

"They killed her to teach me a lesson," Antonio corrected. "They wanted me to understand that defying The Covenant has consequences. That you don’t say no to an organization with their reach and their resources."

Dimitri looked at the photographs.

Antonio pulled out another document. ℯℯ𝑙.

"When they killed Claire," Antonio said, "I made a decision. I decided I wasn’t going to spend the rest of my life running from The Covenant. I decided I was going to build something that could stand against them."

He slid a photograph across the desk.

It was an aerial view of a facility.

"Prometheus Laboratories," Antonio said. "My answer to The Covenant’s capabilities."

Dimitri studied the photograph.

"What do they do there?" Dimitri asked, pretending not to know even though he knows fully well what they do there.

"Everything The Covenant does," Antonio said. "Pharmaceutical research. Biomedical enhancement. Psychological conditioning. Genetic experimentation. We’ve invested billions into making sure that what The Covenant has, we can match. What they can do, we can do better."

"And the result?" Dimitri asked.

"We’re not equal yet," Antonio said. "But we’re close. Another two years of development and we’ll have surpassed them in capability."

Dimitri understood what his father was telling him.

Antonio had spent years building a weapon specifically designed to go to war with The Covenant. Prometheus Laboratories was that weapon.

"Why are you telling me this?" Dimitri asked.

"Because you’re my son," Antonio said. "Because you need to understand what we’re actually fighting. Because this war with Dante, this situation with Isabella, this fracturing of the Russo alliance....all of it is secondary to what’s really happening."

"Which is?" Dimitri pressed.

"Which is that The Covenant is making moves," Antonio said. "They’re positioning assets. They’re testing our security. They’re probing for weaknesses. And Dante is just one of their tools."

***

Antonio stood and walked to the window again.

"Your bringing Eve to Rome changes the equation," Antonio said, and his voice carried something that sounded almost like concern. "Not because I care about Lorenzo’s wounded pride. But because The Covenant will see her as leverage."

"Eve is protected," Dimitri said. "Completely protected."

"No one is completely protected," Antonio said. "Not when they’re in Rome. Not when The Covenant has operatives everywhere. Not when they’re willing to do whatever it takes to neutralize a threat."

"Eve isn’t a threat to them," Dimitri said.

"She’s a threat to you," Antonio corrected. "And anything that’s a threat to you is a threat to us. Which makes her a target."