“I don’t even know what I’m protecting anymore,” he mutters. “You… or the version of you I thought was on my side.”
My chest caves in.
“Iamon your side,” I whisper.
Finally, he turns around. There’s something broken in his eyes. “Then stop hiding things from me.”
Silence.
For one brutal second, I think he’s going to walk away, but he doesn’t.
Instead, he moves forward, takes my hand. Not gently. Not lovingly. But like a man grabbing onto the last rope before the fall.
His voice, when it comes, is hoarse. “We’re too far in now. So don’t lie to me again. Not about anything.”
I nod, breath shallow. “I swear.”
His grip tightens.
Because the real war hasn’t started yet.
But I lit the match, and Matteo’s the one who might have to burn for it.
They’re all staring at me. The Messina family, Matteo’s entire bloodline, lined up like an army in tailored suits. Shadows stretch across the room from the tall arched windows, the afternoon light bruising everything gold and dark.
My mouth is dry.
Matteo stands beside me, but I feel like I’m on my own again, all eyes, all silence, all waiting for the wolf to speak.
“There’s more,” I whisper.
Matteo stiffens next to me. He thought we’d gone over everything, but I couldn’t tell him the whole of it then. I couldn’t breathe through it.
“There’s more,” I repeat louder. “And you all need to know.”
I hold out the documents, when I was in my family’s office, I took pictures of everything I found and printed it all out. I wanted to make sure if they got my phone I still had something to prove what they were doing.
Matteo takes them from me slowly, flipping through page after page as I speak.
“My family… The O’Briens, they’ve been working with Rory’s father for years. The whole engagement, me and Rory, it’s not just about a wedding. It’s about power. It’s about taking you down. All of you. They’ve been planning it for a long time.” The room goes still. “Rory’s wife…” I swallow, bile rising in my throat. “She wasn’t just collateral damage in a war, she had no part in. The shooting that killed her happened in Hollow Drive. In Cavalli territory, but they blamed you, the Messinas, becauseyour daughter is married to them, and you have the power of every town around here.”
I pause, watching Matteo’s jaw clench.
“They’re using it as fuel,” I continue. “They’re marrying me off to ‘avenge’ her, but also to gain land, weapons, alliances… and when I’m pregnant—” My voice breaks. “They had a pregnancy initiative. Lock the bloodline. Secure the heir. And then…”
I pull the last document from my coat. A manila envelope. Sealed. I don’t need to open it again; the words are already seared into my mind.
“Termination plan,” I whisper. “They were going to stage my death and blame it on you. Start a war.”
“Mother of God…” Matteo’s uncle Luca says, his voice ragged with disgust. “These fucking snakes.”
I can barely look at them.
“I didn’t know,” I say, chest heaving. “I didn’t know until I saw it with my own eyes.”
“You should’ve told us sooner.” Marco’s voice is cold.
“I know,” I whisper.
