My fangs slid down at the suggestion.
This was why I came here instead of going straight to the DiRavello palazzo. If I walked through those doors as I was, there’d be nothing but blood splashed on the walls.
“We’re not discussing the method of execution yet.” Nico’s tone carried the same vicious undertone I was currently feeling. “First order of business is Ember’s safety. And her brother’s. Luca’s fine, by the way. I checked on him overnight. Giovanni stayed in Enzo’s study, rearranging books or some bullshit. Acted spooked when I popped my head in.”
“Hiding the evidence,” I muttered.
“Or that,” Nico agreed.
“I should have killed him the night of the wedding.” I took a calming breath that did nothing to help.
“And now it’s too late for reckless moves,” Nico pointed out. “We thought we could exploit that alliance. And you hadn’t fallen in love with her yet.”
I shot him a look. “Who said anything about love?”
He smiled lazily. “Don’t be a lying prick, Dante. You’re completely head over heels, and you know it. You shredded half the canal wall to get to her.”
Gabriel’s mouth tilted, just a little. “To be fair, she’s easy to like. It didn’t take me long to stop looking at her like a political pawn.”
I should have been jealous of my brother… but I understood. In the beginning, Ember had been the weapon I stole out from under Giovanni’s nose, a way to both get under his skin and thumb my nose at his power.
Revenge should have been the end of it. But somewhere between our wedding ceremony and our first argument,standing in front of me with her chin up and eyes blazing, she’d become something I couldn’t lose.
Wouldn’t lose.
I dug the heels of my hands into my eyes. “Which is why I’m here with you assholes instead of at the palazzo. I need you…bothof you, to promise me something. Swear to it, actually.”
“Anything,” my brother agreed with no hesitation.
“If something happens to me, if anything goes wrong, take care of Emberline. Giovanni is not to lay a fucking filthy finger on her. Neither is Marcello. If they both need to die to keep her safe, then kill them both and get her out of the city. Take her somewhere safe. Take the brother, too, because fuck knows she won’t leave without him.”
“Sure, but nothing’s going to happen,” Gabriel chided, like he wasn’t decades younger than me. “Try not to murder the sick fuck because I want a piece of him, too.” He stepped closer, voice low. “But I can tell you this. No one will hurt her on my watch.”
“Good.” Having their word made me feel incrementally better about dying. At least my wife would be with the two people I trusted most in this world.
I wanted Giovanni stripped of everything that made him dangerous—the DiRavello name, the network of power, the influence, and the secrets—before I finally took his life. I wanted every single member of this Dynasty to watch that bastard fall.
And I wanted Giovanni DiRavello to know who brought him down.
But even more than that, I wanted Emberline safe. Protected.
Fifty years of vengeance and hate withered and died inthe face of my love for Emberline, and I couldn’t do this without ensuring her safety.
“What will I be walking into? Does he have any idea about Ember?”
“Not as of this morning.” Nico grinned, lazy and sharpened intent all at once. “His spies came and went, as expected, but he never left the palazzo.” His voice went flat. “My guess is, he’s hidden the evidence somewhere inside Enzo’s office. I smelled the reek of lagoon water all through that place. You have to be convincing, Dante. Don’t half-ass this.”
“Oh, trust me, I’ll be convincing as fuck,” I spat, disgust curling my lip.
“Point is,” Nico went on, “he’s still regrouping. Feed his doubt and give him more to worry about.”
Gabriel folded his arms. “Marcello didn’t return last night until late, something Giovanni could easily verify. Plant that piece of information, then I’ll do my best to fan the flames of paranoia from my end.”
“Sow division between the two, sever this freshly forged alliance of theirs.” I grinned, imagining the ensuing arguments between them. “I like it.”
Nico nodded once. “Uncertainty is poison, and we’ll just feed Giovanni an enemy he’s already primed to distrust, then let his suspicions do the rest. And in the meantime,” he added, “he’ll be wasting time and resources looking for Ember. Giving us time to sway more allies to our side. We already have Emilia. And Luca.”
“Father’s… been ill these past days.” Gabriel looked troubled, and my instincts prickled at this new information. “But you have my vote.”
