Stefan's expression shuttered slightly. "About me?"
"I don't know. Maybe." I kissed him. Couldn't help myself. "I'll be back soon."
"Matteo—" He caught my hand. "Whatever they tell you down there, whatever they want you to do... this is real, right? What's happening between us?"
The vulnerability in his voice destroyed me.
"It's real," I said. "More real than anything else in my life right now."
I left before I could do something stupid like refuse to go to the meeting at all.
***
Sandro was in his office with Elio when I arrived. Both of them looked grim.
"What happened?" I asked.
Sandro slid a folder across his desk. "New intelligence came in this morning. Giuseppe Romano has been meeting with FBI Agent Rebecca Watson. Multiple times over the past two weeks."
I opened the folder. Photos of Giuseppe entering a federal building. Logs of phone calls. A summary report from our source inside the bureau.
"He's trying to flip," Elio said. "Offering information about our operations in exchange for immunity and protection."
My blood went cold.
"How solid is this?" I asked.
"Very." Sandro's expression was carefully neutral. "Our source is reliable. Giuseppe's been feeding them information for weeks. Financial details. Names. Operational procedures. Everything they'd need to build a case."
I scanned the documents. Dates and times of meetings. References to "Romano family cooperation" and "witness testimony regarding Vitale organization."
Giuseppe was trying to take us all down.
"Does Stefan know?" Elio asked.
The question hung in the air.
"I don't know," I said honestly.
"But you're going to ask him." Sandro leaned back in his chair. "Can you still be objective about the Romano situation, Matteo?"
I should say yes. Should promise that what happened between Stefan and me wouldn't affect my judgment. Should maintain the fiction that I could separate my feelings from strategy.
"Yes," I said.
We both knew I was lying.
Sandro sighed. "Talk to him. Find out what he knows. But Matteo—" He held my gaze. "If Stefan's involved in this, if hecame here as part of Giuseppe's plan to infiltrate and gather intelligence, you need to tell me. No matter what's happened between you."
"He didn't know." The certainty surprised me. "Stefan came here trying to prove himself to his father. Giuseppe sent him on a suicide mission. This wasn't a coordinated plan."
"You better be right." Elio's voice was sharp. "Because if you're wrong, if Stefan's playing you, we're all fucked."
I took the folder and left.
My mind raced as I climbed the stairs. Giuseppe working with the FBI changed everything. Made Stefan even more valuable as leverage—or more dangerous as a potential liability. Made keeping him both more risky and more necessary.
If this went public, if the other families found out Giuseppe was flipping, Stefan would be a target. Giuseppe's son. Someone they could use to send a message or extract information or simply punish the traitor by hurting what he valued.
