The tenderness I never expected from a man who leads an empire with blood-stained hands.
Who looks at Enzo like he’s the center of the universe.
It terrifies me how naturally they've fallen into place with each other.
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.
They’re blood, after all.
A sharp knock startles me. I open the door to find my brother shifting his weight from foot to foot, eyes darting over my shoulder.
"Can I come in?" His voice sounds wrong. It’s pitched too high, too tight.
"Since when do you ask?" I step aside, studying the dark circles beneath his eyes. "You look terrible."
He attempts a smile. "Always the supportive sister."
"I've left messages for days. Where have you been?"
"Working." He moves to the kitchen, helping himself to coffee. "Business has been… complicated."
I cross my arms wondering what he might know of the attack on the Dantes and theft of their shipment. "What kind of business keeps you away from your family when there's a war brewing?"
"Not everything is about the Dantes, Kat,” he snaps.
"This isn't you." I move closer, catching the sour smell of alcohol. "What's going on?"
Pyotr's fingers tap nervously against the coffee mug. "I need your help with something."
"Finally, the real reason you've emerged from whatever hole you've been hiding in."
He ignores my jab. "There's a file I need from Lorenzo’s office. The one in the house, not in the city."
I frown. "What file?"
"Records of certain arrangements between us and the Bratva.”
Something cold settles in my stomach. Like me, Pyotr straddles the worlds of the Mafia and the Bratva, but this request feels off.
"Why not ask Alessandro? Everything of Lorenzo's was transferred to him.”
"Alessandro has enough on his plate." He waves dismissively. "The man's barely sleeping, trying to maintain control while fighting off challenges from every direction. This is a small matter I can handle without bothering him."
"Small matters don't require sneaking around the new Don's back." I step closer. "If it's important enough to need Lorenzo's private files, it's important enough for Alessandro to know."
Pyotr runs a hand through his hair, his frustration evident. "It's not like that. I'm trying to help him… take some of the pressure off him. Besides, I promised Lorenzo I’d deal with it.”
"Since when do you make promises on behalf of the Dante family?"
He rolls his eyes at me. "Since I've been living under their roof for years as their liaison.”
"This file, what exactly does it contain that's so important? And why are you so anxious to get it now, after everything that's happened?"
“The usual boring stuff that keeps peace between families. Why are you making this so hard?”
“You can get the file if its?—”
“You work here, Kat. Seriously. Why the third degree? I’m trying to do the job we were forced here to do. I already have all the side-eye glances from the Dantes. I don’t need them from you too. Are you going to help or not?”
