CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Bruno
The door to Pietro's office slams open.
Liam strides in, phone pressed to his ear, face tight with controlled urgency. He ends the call and looks directly at me.
"We have it."
My hands grip the armrests so hard the leather groans.
"Where?"
"Industrial complex on the south side. Abandoned meatpacking plant." Liam pulls up something on his tablet, sliding it across Pietro's desk. "My contact inside the Castellano organization just confirmed. They've been using it as a staging ground for the past seventy-two hours."
Nico leans over the desk, studying the screen. "That's fifteen miles from where we found her phone signal."
"Decoy." Liam's jaw tightens. "They dumped her phone in the warehouse district to throw us off. Bought themselves time while we searched the wrong buildings."
Twelve hours I've been searching the wrong fucking place.
I force the thought down. Rage won't help her. Rage will get her killed.
"How many men?" Pietro asks.
"Eight confirmed inside the building. But the complex has multiple entry points, and they've got surveillance on the perimeter." Liam swipes to another screen. "We need at least twenty to breach without giving them time to react."
"We have twenty," Valentino says from his position by the window. "I can have Dante's crew here in forty minutes."
"Do it."
Liam hesitates.
I know that hesitation. I've seen it on his face exactly three times in the fifteen years he's worked for this family. Each time, it meant something I didn't want to hear.
"What else?"
Liam meets my eyes. "The man running the operation inside. My contact identified him. Marco Castellano's personal enforcer. Goes by Scar."
"The one from the security footage."
"Yes." Liam's voice drops. "He's been tasked with eliminating the hostage if the breach goes wrong."
The room goes silent.
I can hear my own heartbeat. Can feel it pounding against my ribs like it's trying to break free.
"And?"
"He kills for pleasure." Liam doesn't look away from me. "My contact says he's been waiting for an excuse. Any excuse. He wants her dead, Bruno. He's hoping we give him a reason."
Something cracks inside my chest.
Like ice on a frozen lake, splintering outward from a single point of impact.
Antonella.
A man who kills for pleasure is standing between me and her.
