"Dante—" Vito's voice carries a warning.
"What? I'm just saying, it's good to see you're human after all." Dante grins like an idiot. "Next thing you know, you'll be attending Lamaze classes and wearing one of those baby carriers."
Rafa chokes on a laugh he's trying to suppress.
Vito's glare could melt steel. "Are you finished?"
"Almost." Dante's grin widens. "Does Rina make you refer to the baby as 'we'? Like 'we're craving pickles' or 'we're feeling hormonal today'?"
"I will shoot you," Vito says flatly.
"Better check with Rina first before you do."
Even I crack a smile at that one.
Vito points at the door. "Out. Both of you."
"All I'm saying is, Rina's running this organization now and we should probably start taking orders from her directly."
Dante's the only one that can get away with teasing the boss this way. And, honestly? I'm glad for it. We all need someone to bring us back to Earth in this line of work.
The letter opener that whizzes past Dante's head and embeds itself in the doorframe shuts him up real quick.
"Out!"
Dante scrambles through the door, still laughing, but Rafa pauses just outside the threshold.
Vito's expression shifts back to serious. "Dante's an idiot, but he's not entirely wrong. Rina did have strong opinions about this decision."
"She usually does," I venture carefully.
"She said Elena's been through enough. That forcing her into a decision about war when she's barely holding herself together would be cruel." He runs a hand through his hair. "She also said that if I'm going to destroy the Irish for threatening our family, Elena gets a say in how that happens. It's her trauma. Her revenge. Her choice."
The logic is sound. Rina's logic usually is.
"And you agreed."
"I did. Because she's right." Vito meets my eyes. "And because I promised Bianca I'd protect Elena. That includes protecting her right to decide her own fate."
I nod. Whatever Elena wants, she'll get. Even if it means burning the city down.
"There's one more thing," Rafa says hesitantly. We both turn to look at him. "Liam wants to meet. Face to face. To negotiate terms."
"Absolutely not," I say immediately. "It's too dangerous."
"I agree. But he says it's non-negotiable." Rafa pulls up the message again. "He'll only deal directly with our leadership. Which means Vito. And he wants it on neutral ground within twenty-four hours."
"It's a trap."
"Maybe. Or maybe he's just being cautious." Vito's already calculating. Planning. "We pick the location. We bring enough firepower to level a city block. We make it clear that any wrong move results in his immediate death."
"And if he still tries something?"
"Then we kill him and proceed with the war." Vito's smile is cold. "Either way, the Costellos lose. It's just a question of how much blood gets spilled in the process."
A deal that could end this cleanly. Or a war that could consume everything.
And somewhere in the middle of it all is Elena—broken and healing and trying to put herself back together.
