"I think we owe her father to protect her.”
Luca stops seething long enough to ask, "Can she be turned? Become an asset for us instead of a liability?"
I almost laugh at the question. "She’s as straight as an arrow agent I've ever met." I pause, choosing my next words carefully. "But that's exactly why she's investigating her own people. She believes in justice, real justice, even when it means going against her own."
"That makes her unpredictable," Marco warns.
"It makes her valuable," I counter. "She's not motivated by money or power. She can't be bought or threatened. But she can be convinced by evidence, by truth."
What I don't say is how much I admire this about her. How her unwavering moral compass both frustrates and fascinates me.
How watching her struggle with what she's discovering about her own organization has made me question things I've accepted my entire life.
"I'm not asking for permission," I say finally. "I'm telling you what I'm doing as a courtesy. Olivia Ricci is under my protection. Anyone who moves against her moves against me."
The challenge hangs in the air, unmistakable in its implication. I've never defied La Corona before. Never had something or someone worth the risk.
Leo drums his fingers on the table. "If what you're saying is true, we have a common enemy."
"One who's been three steps ahead of us for years," I add.
Marco studies me for a long moment. I can see the calculations behind his eyes, weighing risks against potential rewards.
"Fine," he says finally. "Roman will meet with your agent. Hear what she has to say." His eyes harden. "But if this is a trap, Dominic, if she's playing you?—"
"She's not," I say with more certainty than I have any right to feel.
I leave the meeting with a sense of victory.
Getting Roman to meet Olivia means she stays alive, for now.
But having that dangerous bastard anywhere near her makes my skin crawl.
I've seen what Roman can do when he decides someone's a threat.
As I drive back to the safehouse, I rehearse how to tell Olivia about our new "ally."
She'll hate it.
Hell, I hate it, but Roman's involvement buys us protection from La Corona while we pursue Blackwood.
I pull into the garage of the safehouse, cutting the engine and sitting in silence for a moment. The men of La Corona aren’t wrong.
What I’m doing is dangerous in so many ways.
I’d have reacted the same if any of them did what I’m doing. Hell, I wasn’t sure Roman marrying Isabella as a way to handle her was the right thing to do.
But I can’t seem to stop needing Olivia. I know I will at some point have to.
But for now, being with her these last few days has been fulfilling in ways I can’t explain.
Even now, as I make my way to the front door, I feel like I’m coming home.
When I step inside, Olivia's curled on the couch with case files spread around her, hair pulled back in a messy knot.
She looks up, those sharp eyes immediately reading the tension in my stance.
"That bad?" she asks.
