His face is a mask of controlled fury so intense it’s almost frightening.
His blue-gray eyes—so much like mine—burn with a cold fire that promises death and destruction.
His jaw is clenched so tight I can see the muscle jumping beneath his skin, and his hands are curled into fists at his sides.
He looks like he wants to burn the world down.
For the first time in my life, I’m actually a little scared of him.
“How are you feeling?” His voice is eerily calm despite the rage radiating from every line of his body.
“Like I want to kill someone,” I say honestly.
His lips quirk and he looks at me in a way I’ve never seen before.
Like he’s seeing something in me that he’s been waiting for, something that finally makes sense.
Good,Giuseppe roars in approval.Let him see what we really are.
Use his anger,Sophia suggests.Channel it. Direct it.
Be careful,Matteo’s voice warns.Don’t let rage make you stupid.
“The Calabreses set us up,” I say, pushing myself upright despite the shooting pain in my shoulder. “No, I’m okay, Bella… This whole thing—all four trials—it was never about testing my worthiness. It was revenge.”
Matteo nods, his lips pressed so tightly together they appear white. “We figured that out about thirty seconds after the shooting started.”
“For what?” I demand, though I think I already know the answer. “What did we do that was so fucking terrible they had to orchestrate an elaborate assassination attempt disguised as a trial?”
“Everything.” His voice is flat, emotionless, but I can hear the fury underneath. “Bella killed Johnny. Mario and Elena’s actions put Anthony in prison.
Giuseppe built his empire on the bones of their rivals.
We’ve been crushing the Calabreses for decades, and Dominic finally found a way to hit back.”
And now we crush them completely,Giuseppe snarls.No mercy. No survivors.
No,Sophia whispers.Now weusethis. Turn it into an opportunity.
Now we think,Matteo’s voice cuts through both of them.What’s the smart play here?
I close my eyes, trying to process the three different approaches warring in my head while fighting through the pain and medication that’s making everything feel fuzzy around the edges.
“They wanted me to fail,” I say slowly, working through the logic. “But they also wanted me to succeed just enough to look like a traitor. Protecting a federal witness, working with the FBI—that was supposed to make me look weak and disloyal to the other families.”
“And when that didn’t work, when you actually pulled off the impossible, they tried to kill you and make it look like you died protecting someone who testified against our people.” Matteo’s voice grows colder with each word and Bella glances at him. “Either way, they destroy your reputation and eliminate you as a threat.”
The brilliance of it is actually impressive, in a sick, twisted way.
They created a scenario where my success would have been almost as damaging as my failure.
Except I didn’t just succeed—Iexcelled.
I saved the witness, completed the mission, and survived their assassination attempt.
I proved that I could handle impossible situations and come out stronger.
They underestimated us,Giuseppe growls.Now we show them what that mistake costs.
