"Of course. I would expect nothing less from Lorenzo's consigliere."
The way he says it—Lorenzo's consigliere—makes it sound like an insult. Like I'm a dog on a leash. A weapon pointed at whoever my master chooses.
Maybe he's right.
I walk to the chair. Sit down.
Alejandro studies me. His eyes move across my face like he's cataloging every feature. Comparing me to something. Someone.
"You look like your father," he says finally.
"Don't," I say. The word comes out harder than I intended. "Don't talk about him."
Alejandro tilts his head. "Why not? He's the reason we're both here."
"He's the reason you murdered my family."
"He's the reason I washiredto murder your family." Alejandro leans back in his chair. "There's a difference."
"Not to me."
"No. I suppose not."
Silence stretches between us. The hanging light flickers once. Twice. Somewhere in the building, a door slams.
I check my phone. Send the text to Marina.Still alive.
I pocket the phone and look at Alejandro.
"What do you want?"
He raises an eyebrow. "Straight to business. I appreciate that."
"You didn't bring me here to reminisce about my dead family. You didn't set up this elaborate trap just to kill me—you could have done that a dozen times over the past three months. So what the hell do you want?"
Alejandro's smile fades. For the first time, I see something real in his eyes. Something cold and hard and utterly without mercy.
"You're right," he says. "I don't want you dead. Not yet, anyway."
"Then what?"
He leans forward. His hands rest on his knees. Casual. Relaxed. Like we're two old friends having a conversation over coffee.
"I want you to kill the Sartoris."
The words hang in the air between us.
For a moment, I'm certain I misheard him. Certain my brain is playing tricks on me, filling in words that weren't actually spoken.
But no.
He said it.
Kill the Sartoris.
Marina
I'm sitting on a couch in an apartment three floors below the penthouse. Different unit. Different layout. Same building. Dante's men moved me here twelve minutes after he left—two of them appearing at the penthouse door with instructions to relocate me immediately.
