“Oh, I get it perfectly,” I cut him off. “You think you can protect me from everything. Well, news flash! You can't! Especially from him! You don't know him like I do.”
That silences them. Hard.
I take a breath, forcing the words out before the fear wins.
“When my father wants something… he gets it. He has resources. Money. Men. The kind of power that never stops. If he wants me back? He’ll get me. He’ll destroy anything and anyone in his way.”
Mikey’s throat bobs as he swallows, and Kai’s brows pull tight.
“So we don’t run. We outsmart him.”
Mikey lets out a harsh laugh. “Outsmart the head of the fucking De Luca crime family? Julia—”
“Yes,” I bite out. “Because he expects obedience, predictability, and fear. He expects YOU to follow his orders.” I jam my finger into his chest, “and he expects ME to break,” emphasizing my words.
“So we give him what he wants.”
Both twins’ heads snap up at the same time.
“I’m gonna need you to clarify that part for me,” Kai says.
I grab Mikey’s burner phone off the counter and lift it up to them. “I’m assuming this is connected to my father?”
Mikey nods, but doesn’t say anything.
“We make him think the plan is working,” I say. “That you’re bringing me to him. That I’m terrified and compliant.”
Mikey’s eyes widen slowly.
“You want me to lie to him,” Mikey murmurs.
“No,” I correct. “I want you to bait him.
Kai crosses his arms over his chest. “Bait him with what? A fucking good vibes playlist?”
I grab the hem of Mikey’s hoodie I’m still wearing, and yank it off.
“This,” I say simply. “It smells like me. Looks like I was wearing it. You drop it at the meeting point. You let him think I was there, and that I ran. That you lost control. Something that forces him to react fast.”
Kai stares at the hoodie like it’s a grenade ready to explode.
“... Holy fuck,” he whispers.
Mikey meets my eyes, something dark and dangerous brewing behind his expression.
“If I do that, he’ll send every man he has to hunt you.”
“Bingo,” I say. “That’s exactly what we want. He’ll panic and spread himself thin, trying to scramble the resources. That will buy us time.”
Kai steps forward. “And while he’s chasing your shadow… where the hell are you?”
“With you,” I answer simply. “Both of you. Somewhere he won’t think to look.”
Mikey frowns. “And where exactly would that be?”
“Wherever you two went,” I say softly, “When you were sixteen and scared, trying to keep your mom alive. Wherever you hid when you were working for him.”
Kai’s entire body goes still. Mikey closes his eyes like he’s being dragged backwards through time.
