"He saw me at the event in Prague."
Cam cuts in. "Jakob Novak?"
"That's the one." Jakob was an awful man. Taking him down was huge for us. "He's been following me for years. I don't think he actually knows much about Phoenix—given how little any ofus operatives know—but he always planned to take me out. He married me to get Papa's fortune."
Massimo shakes his head. "We should have realized. I should have known before putting you on this assignment. I'm sorry."
I wave him off. "He was good. Too good. This isn't on you."
There's a brief pause as we all swallow the weight of my words.
“What else do I need to know?” I ask when the quiet becomes too much.
“There’s an auction happening next weekend,” Massimo tells us.
“An auc—oh.” I swallow hard. “What’s the plan?”
“We infiltrate, gather information, but don’t engage.”
“Why not go in guns blazing?” Enzo asks.
Massimo shakes his head. “It’s not safe. There are over thirty girls on sale for this auction. We can’t let any get hurt. Not more than they already are.”
“So, we’re just going to let them get sold?” Enzo scoffs.
“No. We have a plan for getting them out after. We’re planting a lot of operatives on this. This is the moment to take them down.”
“You’ve been planning this for a while.”
He nods at Enzo and then swings his gaze back to me. “Your ties to Lucas were just one part of the operation. I’m sorry about how that turned out, truly, Isolde.”
“Not your fault,” I whisper as Enzo picks up my hand and rubs his thumb over my wrist.
Enzo exhales. “I need to tell Gio.”
All eyes snap to him. Massimo growls, “You can’t.”
“His sister’s best friend was taken. He deserves a chance to save her.”
Fuck.
The unspoken hangs between us.
If she’s even still alive.
37
Still Fighting
I made a friend today. His names Matteo. I think you’d like him. He’s a troublemaker like you. —Love, Enzo
Enzo
“Areyougoingtotell me how Lucas knew where we were yet?”
We’ve been home three days, and Izzy has asked me the same question every one of them. I could’ve told her. But I was waiting—waiting until my plan was in place.
I had Gio do some digging. How did Lucas know Izzy was at my club? How did he get past the security at my apartment? How did he find my mamma’s house?
