Gavriel's jaw tightened. "He wants me to end things with you. Or worse."
"Like he ended things with my father?" The words hung between us, sharp and dangerous.
"Yes." His voice was barely audible.
I moved to stand directly in front of him, my hands coming up to frame his face. "Listen to me, Gavriel Azzaro. I am not going anywhere. I'm not afraid of your father, or Juarez, or anyone else who thinks they can control us."
His hands covered mine, warm but full of tension. "Elin, they're dangerous. My father—"
"Your father is a monster who murdered my father and forced you to cut out his heart," I interrupted, my voice steady despite the rage simmering beneath. "He's trying to sell your sister to a cartel leader. He threatens to kill you for failures that aren't yours." I leaned closer, our foreheads almost touching. "I'm done running from monsters. It's time they ran from me."
Something shifted in Gavriel's eyes—a dawning realization, perhaps, or the recognition of the determination in mine. "What are you suggesting?"
"That we stop playing defense." I stepped back, pacing the living room in tight circles. The Beretta pressed against my lower back with each step, a constant reminder of what was at stake. My mind raced through possibilities, consequences, the faces of those who’d underestimated me. Starting with Don Azzaro and ending with Juarez. The blood of the two who had come into my home had dried and was flaking off my knuckles, but I didn’t bother washing it. Let it stay there for now. Let it remind me of what I was capable of. Show even Gavriel and Harley just how strong I was. "Your father thinks I'm your weakness. Let's show him how wrong he is."
"Elin—"
"Don Azzaro killed my father," I continued, turning to face him. "He's threatening you. He's sacrificing Rhea. Tell me, pretty boy—how long before he decides one of us is too much of a liability? Before he tells you to cut out my heart . . . or your sister’s?"
Gavriel was silent, his expression unreadable. I knew I was asking him to consider something unthinkable—betraying his father, breaking the most sacred rule of family loyalty. But I also knew that the man before me was more than the Owl’s Talon. He was Gavriel, my pretty boy, a man with his own moral compass that had been twisted and buried under years of his father's manipulation.
"We'd need a plan," he said finally, his voice low. "A perfect one."
Hope flared in my chest. "Then we'll make one."
The back door opened again, and my hand immediately reached for the gun at my back when it registered it was Harley, his eyes immediately going to the bound man on the floor. "Making friends without me?"
I smirked at him. “Well, if you weren’t being such a slacker, you could have been part of the welcome party.”
“Well, gods forbid I take a walk about the property to make sure it's safe like I was asked.” The roll of his eyes had me chuckling.
"Juarez's men," Gavriel explained. "Can you handle it?"
Harley nodded, his expression grim. "Consider it done. But boss—this changes things. If they're making moves this bold..."
"I know." Gavriel ran a hand through his hair. "We need to accelerate our timeline."
"Timeline for what?" I asked.
The two men exchanged a look that I'd seen before—that silent communication between two people who knew each other inside and out and excluded everyone else. But this time I caughtthe subtle shift in Gavriel's jaw, the slight nod from Harley. In their eyes, I saw determination hardening into something colder, more dangerous. This was the look of men who'd made peace with violence, who'd accepted that blood would need to be spilled. Whatever they'd been planning without me, it had just become inevitable.
Finally, Gavriel turned to me. "Rhea's extraction. We've been planning to get her out of the state before the wedding to Juarez. But after today, we need to move faster."
My attention flicked between the two of them as I held my breath. "How much faster?"
"I’ll make the calls." Harley said, already pulling out his phone.
As Harley dragged the unconscious man out, Gavriel turned to me, his expression grave. "This is going to be dangerous, Elin. If you want out—"
I silenced him with a kiss, fierce and claiming. When I pulled back, I held his gaze. "Not sure how many times I have to say this, but I'm in. All the way."
He nodded, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Then let's get to work, Goddess."
"First things first," I said, moving to my office to retrieve my laptop. "We need to warn Rhea."
“I called her on the way over. She is secure at the moment.”
I’d spoken to her too, but a cold suspicion was forming. "Is her place really all that secure? Or is it just where your father wants her to be?"
