"She can handle anyone," I agree. "That’s not the problem."
"No." He nods slowly. "The problem is she’s yours."
My throat tightens. "Exactly."
He smirks. "Yeah. I get it."
And if anybody does, he is the man. Not even I had known of his love for Sophia; he’d kept it well hidden, but now that the world is finally allowing them to be together, he's obviously not going to take it for granted. Ever. Just like me. For a moment, we sit there—two men who lead, who kill, who don’t talk about fear—saying nothing.
But something shifts.
A step toward an alliance. A step toward trust. Maybe even friendship.
Raf sets his coffee down with a quiet finality. "About Caracas."
I nod. "I’m all ears."
He leans his elbows on his knees; his expression is hard, carved from stone. "I owe Aurelio. I promised I’d kill him."
I don’t ask why. I don’t need the details. I know enough. Caracas was a clusterfuck of blood and betrayal. The kind of mess only Raffael DeSantis could crawl out of alive.
"You want in?" he asks. "We can go together or separately. Your choice. Either way…" His jaw tics. "Aurelio is mine."
I hold his stare. "I need answers from him. And from his father," I say. "Before anyone dies."
"And you shall have them." Raf’s voice softens in the most terrifying way possible. "I’m not opposed to extending Aurelio’s life. I just don’t want it to be a… pleasant extension."
We grin at each other.
Well, fuck.
Two men aligned not by trust, but by mutual rage and opportunity.
Sometimes that’s better.
We stand and shake hands, firm and final.
As we release, I add, "You’ll have to tell Oksana."
He smirks. "Coward."
I laugh, shaking my head. "Precautious, not cowardly."
"Hmm," he hums, unconvinced. "Same thing."
I flip him off. He returns it with a lazy salute.
But beneath the banter, something settles. A pact. A direction. A war is quietly being born in my living room.
"So," his grin is deadly. "Ready to burn the world?"
I look him dead in the eye. "Let’s start with Caracas."
And for the first time today, the agitation eases. Becausewith Oksana on one battlefield… and Raf beside me on another… I like our chances.
A text message interrupts the moment.
"Shit."
