Hiding a truth in a liealwaysmade it more believable. If Gabriella had chosen him instead of Leo to marry Giana, he would have done it as soon as he could convince her to walk down the aisle.
"Vincenzo is ambitious, not stupid," he continued. "He won't move against her openly if she's publicly mine. He'll try subterfuge or try to snatch her again, quietly, before the wedding. He'll get sloppy and come to us."
"And we'll be waiting," Athena stated, her voice cool.
"With everything we have," Rodrigo confirmed.
Leo's eyes went assassin cold. "Having them attack us here on our home ground is smart. It will give us an advantage, and we won't get on the other families' bad side by starting any shit in Sicily or Naples. It will be seen as us defending ourselves."
"Exactly. Kon, Athena, I want you to help prepare the grounds and handle the first invasion. Yes, Athena, you can use as many explosives as you like as long as they aren't close enough to damage the villa or the church."
"Excellent," she said with a wide grin.
"Dario, I want you to bring in everyone who knew you were watching Giana. I want them on-site and monitored. Leo can track any incoming or outgoing messages here, so if they let anyone know what we are planning, we can stop it from going out and find who is behind it. Fred," he turned to her, "you're on Giana if any action kicks off. I need someone who can handle the situation and get her out of the compound to safety. Turn her into a ghost and help her disappear."
He held her gaze for a long moment. "You are in or out. If I hire you for this, and if anything happens to Giana, your life won't be worth the bullet it takes to end it."
Frederica met his stare, unfazed, and gave a curt salute. "Understood, sir. Though babysitting a traumatized heiress if there is a fight wasn't exactly the wet-work I signed up for." Her eyes flicked dismissively toward Dario. "Try not to get in my way, Colleoni. Or trip over your own ego."
Dario's smile was a razor slash. "Just do your job, baby, and I'll do mine."
Frederica flipped him off, but before their arguing could escalate, the heavy double doors at the far end of the room swung open.
Giana stood framed in the doorway. "I see my future is being planned without me again. How fucking typical."
8
Rodrigo's breath hitched. Giana was wearing loose, dark silk pajamas and a matching robe. It should have looked soft and vulnerable. Instead, it hung on her like armor.
Her face was still a little swollen, and dark circles bruised the skin beneath her eyes, but the eyes themselves were fierce, intelligent, blazing with a cold, furious light that pinned Rodrigo where he sat.
She moved into the room, her steps slow, betraying the pain she must have been feeling with every movement, but she didn't falter or look away. She walked toward him as if she owned the room.
Thiswas the Giana who had spat at Gabriella's feet. This was the fire he had watched be banked but never extinguished. It was blazing now, fueled by pain and rage and a terrifying will.
Rodrigo's heart beat faster as the distance between them closed. She was the only woman who had ever made him lose his senses just by her proximity.
She stopped a few feet from him, her gaze sweeping over the assembled mercenaries, the maps, the dossiers before finally landing on Rodrigo again.
"You willneverplan my future ever again." Her words echoed in the vast room.
Rodrigo stared at her, the carefully constructed ice of his control threatening to fracture. "Giana," he started, his voice rough. "You should be resting. The doctor?—"
"The doctor," she interrupted, her eyes never leaving his, "isn't running this plan to find who is after me, and neither are you." She took another step closer, her gaze sweeping the table again, taking in the plans laid bare. "Not without me."
Rodrigo felt a surge of panic warring with a dawning, terrifying respect. "This isn't a discussion. You are not?—"
Giana cut him off again, her voice dropping to a low, dangerous whisper. "If you think that after what they did to me, after you pulled me back into this gilded fucking prison, that I'm going to sit in some silk-lined room playing the dumb, dutiful fiancée while you all plot revenge, think again, Rodrigo."
She placed her good hand flat on the table and leaned toward him until he could see nothing but her beautiful, furious face.
"You want to use me as bait? Fine. Draw the bastard out. Burn his world down. I want that too, but you don't get to pull the strings while I dance. Not this time. I want access to every piece of intel. Every plan. Every name. I want a seat at this table. Not as your pawn or your prize but as your partner in this fight."
The word rang in Rodrigo's ears.Partner.
Rodrigo felt the foundations of his world shift as he stared into her dark eyes. Caging that fire wouldn't protect it; it would snuff it out. The thought of her spirit crushed sent a deeper terror through him than any physical threat.
The silence stretched. Dario and Leo watched their brother, knowing the tectonic shift happening before him.
