Four sets of eyes turned to me. Intense. Focused. Dangerous.
I forced myself to continue.
"He's obsessed with legacy and power. His reputation is everything to him. If you destroy that—if you make him untouchable, unreliable, someone nobody can trust—you destroy him. Nobody will work with a man nobody trusts. Not Watson. Not the other families. Not his own associates."
Silence.
Then Sandro leaned forward.
"Explain."
"My father's entire operation depends on perception. On being seen as powerful, connected, reliable. If you expose his deal with Watson—if you prove he's been selling out other families to federal agents—everyone will turn on him. The families he's betrayed will want revenge. Watson will lose her source. The Bianchis will be isolated. Vulnerable."
"That's a strategy," Matteo said slowly. "Destroy his credibility instead of killing him."
"Exactly. He'll be alive but powerless. Worse than dead, from his perspective. And you won't have federal agents investigating a murder."
Luca smiled. "I like it. It's elegant. Vicious. Uses his own tools against him."
"It's risky," Elio said. "If we expose the Winston-Watson connection, we're also exposing ourselves as having this information. Winston will know Julian gave it to us."
"He'll know anyway," I said quietly. "Once it gets out that I’ve been here for weeks, sheltered by you."
Sandro studied me. "You understand this makes you a permanent target? Your father will never forgive this betrayal. Your family will consider you an enemy. You'll spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder."
"I know."
"And you're okay with that?"
I thought about Dante's hands on me. My father's cold indifference. The cage I'd been living in since I was fourteen.
"Yes. I'm okay with that."
Sandro nodded slowly. "Then we use Julian's strategy. We'll need to be careful about execution—one mistake and this backfires spectacularly. But it's the best option we have."
The meeting continued. Details. Logistics. Timing.
I sat there and tried to process what I'd just done.
I'd given them a strategy. Contributed to their war against my father. Actively participated in destroying the man who'd raised me.
I should feel guilty. Conflicted. Something other than this strange calm certainty.
But I didn't.
After the meeting ended, Sandro and Luca left to start making calls. Matteo followed, mentioning something about updating Stefan.
That left me alone with Elio in the conference room.
He moved from his position by the wall to sit in the chair next to mine. Close enough that our shoulders almost touched.
"You just crossed a line you can't uncross," he said quietly.
"I know."
"Your father will find out you helped us. When he does—"
"I know." I looked at him. "I'm not stupid, Elio. I understand exactly what I just did. And I'd do it again."
