Athena's eyes widened, and then she and Dante both burst out laughing at the same time.
"Bad luck there," Dante said, shooting Dario an empathetic smile. "Freddy has never failed a contract before."
Dario's neck turned red, a sure sign he was about to blow. Rodrigo rapped his knuckles on the table.
"Enough. What is past is past. We have something bigger than your petty rivalry to deal with. Firstly, our main suspect, Vincenzo Falcone," Rodrigo began, his voice a low rumble.
Leo tapped a finger on his trackpad and brought up a surveillance photo showing a man in his late twenties,handsome in a slick, arrogant way, exiting a Palermo nightclub surrounded by heavies.
"Nephew of Enzo Falcone," Leo continued. "From what I have found out, he thinks his uncle's olive oil empire and quiet retirement are a waste of the family legacy. He might have seen Giana and her family fortune as a way to buy his own power and take the family from Enzo."
He moved the photo on the screen aside, revealing the sprawling, fortified Falcone villa perched on a cliff overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea north of Palermo.
"Does he haveotherconnections we need to know about?" Rodrigo asked, unable to say 'magic' without feeling like an idiot.
"I've cross-referenced Vincenzo's known associates with thoseotherdatabases." Leo glanced at Kon and back to Rodrigo. "Nothing Aurora-adjacent either so far, but whoever's backing him has resources that don't show up in normal channels. It's annoying the hell out of me."
"I don't care who it is. If Vincenzo ordered Giana's kidnapping, he won't stop. Men like him don't understand failure, and his ego won't let him," Rodrigo muttered. "Whoever did this to her, I want them annihilated."
Kon hummed thoughtfully. "Annihilation is expensive, Rodrigo. And messy. Especially with old families. They have long memories and hold grudges for generations. We need to be sure without a doubt who is responsible before we make a move."
"Agreed, but violence is the only language they speak," Rodrigo countered, his voice flat. "And I intend to make Vincenzo Falcone, or whoever the fuck hurt her, pay in every way I can. Every brick of their compound, every euro in their accounts, every soldier in their employ. I want it all reduced to ash and memory."
Dario shifted slightly. "Rodrigo, the retaliation from other families..."
"Is precisely why we do it," Rodrigo cut him off. His gaze didn't waver from the mercenaries. "We make an example of them and make it so utterly devastating that the very thought of touching Giana Sorrentino becomes synonymous with suicide. We send a message written in blood."
"Be careful. You are starting to sound like Mama," Leo warned him, his eyes filling with worry. "We did that to Giana's family, and look how it's backfired. This is our fault."
Only his little brother could land such a direct hit on Rodrigo.
"I don't like it,Leone, but Mama was right about some things. They won't stop coming unless they are scared. If you can think of a better way, I'm all ears, but the one responsible for the order dies. That's final," he replied. He hated the compromise. He wanted the carnage, but he had promised his brothers he wouldn't become Gabriella. Leo was right to check him.
"The first thing we need to draw a rat out of their hole is good bait," Dario commented.
Frederica snorted softly, a dry, humorless sound. "The broken bird? You think she's in any shape for that?"
Before Rodrigo could lunge across the table and show her precisely what happened to people who called Giana broken, Dario spoke, his voice tight with warning.
"Careful, Frederica. I didn't say we use Giana. I just saidbait. That 'broken bird' is under Colleoni protection."
"Kon said you had been watching her despite Rodrigo's wishes." Frederica raised a dark eyebrow, unimpressed by his brother's warnings. "Your protection didn't work so well in Bodrum then, did it, Dario? Excuse me for pointing out the most obvious asset we have to get our target's attention."
Dario's jaw clenched again, a muscle ticking furiously in his cheek. The competitive hatred between them crackled like a live wire.
Rodrigo ignored their pissing contest. The insult to Giana still burned in his ears, but the plan required focus. An idea came to him as he stared at them.
"The bait," he continued thoughtfully, "is not going to be the idea that Giana is vulnerable, but that she has been claimed." He took a steadying breath. "We announce our engagement."
Dante let out a low whistle. Dario stared at Rodrigo, a complex mix of understanding and apprehension in his eyes.
"Engagement?" Kon echoed, leaning forward. "Toyou? Rodrigo Colleoni taking a wife? That'll set the underworld gossip mill on fire. It will be guaranteed to piss off every old bastard who ever looked at her sideways, and every mafia mama hoping to land you as a son-in-law."
"Precisely," Rodrigo said. His stomach churned at the idea of using Giana like this again, but he couldn't see a way around it. "It consolidates her position and makes her untouchable. Or it makes anyone who touches her declare war on the Colleoni family directly."
"You are just substituting Leo for yourself right now," Dante pointed out. "This will be the same fucking mess all over again."
Rodrigo shook his head. "No, it will be different this time. It will be more believable that while the arrangement with Leo was a farce, we can sell that she and I became something more during that time and have decided to make it official now that Gabriella is out of our way," he replied.
