Fed follows me up. “We need to tell the Morettis.”
“I know.” I pause on the landing. “But not until we have everything confirmed. Luca’s testimony, his family’s extraction, the financial trail Carmela found. We go to Nico with irrefutable proof, or we don’t go at all.”
“How long will that take?”
“Forty-eight hours, maybe seventy-two.” I resume climbing. “Tell Marco to start preparing a legal brief—something that shows the pattern of false flag operations. We need documentation that even Nico’s most suspicious capo can’t dismiss.”
“You really think this will work? That we can convince them we’ve been played?”
I reach the top of the stairs, pausing before opening the door. “It has to work, Fed. Because if it doesn’t, if we can’t unite against Tartarov...” I don’t need to finish the sentence.
We both know what happens if we fail. More bloodshed. More bodies. The complete destruction of both families, while Tartarov picks up the pieces.
“Get started on the debrief,” I tell him. “I want everything documented—video recorded, transcribed, cross-referenced with our existing intelligence. Nothing left to chance.”
Fed nods and heads down the hallway toward the secure rooms. I stand there for a moment, the weight of everything pressing down on me. Nine men dead. Both families infiltrated.A Russian puppet master pulling strings we didn’t even know existed.
I pull out my phone and open the security app, checking the feeds throughout the house. I find Carmela in my office, still analyzing intelligence reports, determination etched across her beautiful face. My heart aches at the sight of her.
She’s hunched over the laptop, her hair falling forward as she types notes, completely absorbed in her work. Even exhausted, even after being awake for over twenty-four hours, she pushes forward. For me. For us. For the family she didn’t choose but has claimed as her own.
I zoom in slightly on the feed, watching as she reaches for her coffee mug, takes a sip, then makes a face—probably gone cold hours ago. She sets it aside and continues working, her fingers flying across the keyboard.
This woman. This incredible, fierce, brilliant woman.
For the first time in my life, I have something truly precious to lose. Not just territory or power or legacy—but her. The thought of Tartarov’s men getting anywhere near Carmela makes my blood run cold.
I close the app and head toward my office, my resolve hardening with each step. Whatever it takes—whatever alliance I need to forge, whatever enemy I need to destroy—I’ll protect her. Protect what we’ve built.
Because Carmela isn’t just my wife anymore. She’s my entire world.
And I’ll burn everything to the ground before I let anyone take her from me.
31
CARMELA
Islip out of Silvo’s office while he’s still debriefing with Fed and Lorenzo about Carlos’s confession. The tension is unbearable, and I need air. I need to feel like something other than a tactical analyst in a war I didn’t choose.
I hover in the doorway, waiting for a break in the conversation. “I’m going shopping,” I announce.
The room goes quiet. Silvo’s eyes snap to mine, and I already know what’s coming.
“No.”
“Silvo—”
“I said no, Carmela.” He sets down the folder in his hands, giving me his full attention now, which somehow feels worse than being ignored. “We have a confirmed leak. Tartarov’s men are still out there. You think now is the time to browse boutiques?”
“I’ve been staring at surveillance photos and financial records for three days straight,” I say, keeping my voice level despite the frustration rising in my chest. “I need two hours. That’s all.”
“The answer is no.”
Fed clears his throat quietly and finds something fascinating to study on the ceiling. Lorenzo suddenly becomes very interested in his coffee.
I step fully into the room, closing the door behind me. “Silvo. I understand the threat. I’ve been living inside it with you every single day. But if I don’t get out of this house for a few hours I’m going to lose my mind, and that helps no one.” I hold his gaze. “I’m not asking to go alone. I’m not asking to cross the city. Rittenhouse Square. Two hours. I’ll have bodyguards with me.”
His jaw tightens. “Tony and Paulie aren’t enough. Not right now.”
