Page 98 of Lust and Honor

Every man, no matter how far he’s crawled into the devil’s lap, has a breaking point. And Ava’s mine. This is the blood I can’t spill. The line I can’t cross. The woman I can’t imagine living without…and now can’t stand to live with. The only way out is to take my daughter and get the hell away, put miles, hundreds of miles between us.

I storm out of the house and call Diego, ordering him to pick up Aurora and take her to Carlo’s place with the other kids. Then I grab Alex’s phone, forward the photos to Lorenzo, and tell him to dig up everything he can on that mystery bastard. After that, I get in my car and drive off from that cursed house, because I know if I stay one more second, I’ll go back and I’ll claim that traitorous bitch for good. Hell, I’d even throw down with Carlo over her. And that can’t fucking happen.

I don’t know how many hours I drift through the streets before Carlo’s name flashes on my screen.

“Maxim,” he hisses the moment I pick up. “Where the fuck are you? Do you know how many times I’ve called you?”

I suck in a deep breath. “Sorry, Carlo.”

His voice sharpens like a blade. “Sorry for what? Where’s Ava? What the hell did you do to her?”

“Nothing. I know she fucked you over, but I’m not letting you lay a hand on her, Carlo. She’s my kid’s mother. She’s—” I can’t finish. The words die in my throat.

All I can hear is his angry breathing on the other end, heavy and impatient. “I’m in your goddamn house. Get here. Now.”

The line goes dead, and it’s like a live wire rips through me. Carlo’s not the kind of man who lets betrayal slide, especially one that cost him his men. He’s there to kill her. I slam the car into gear and tear down the road toward home, calling Alex again and again. No answer. Straight to voicemail every fucking time.

When I finally screech up to the house, I don’t even kill the engine. I jump out and sprint through the yard, my pulse pounding in my ears. Carlo’s inside, phone still in hand, his chest rising and falling with the fury carved deep into his face. Brando’s off to the side, barking orders into his own phone. Lorenzo and Giorgio stand nearby, silent and watchful, while a few of Carlo’s soldiers wait around them, tense and ready.

Carlo spots me, cuts the call, and turns toward me with a glare that could cut steel. My eyes dart around the room, frantic, searching for any sign of her.

“Where is she?” I ask.

He steps right up to me and smirks. “That’s the same fucking question I’ve got for you. What did you do with the girl?”

If I didn’t know Carlo like the back of my hand, I’d swear he was bullshitting me. I shake my head slowly, side to side.

“Nothing. Just told her to get out of our lives.”

His fists clench tight, knuckles whitening.

“Get out where? On what fucking charge?” he growls through gritted teeth.

No point denying it, I know Lorenzo’s already filled him in on the photos. “She worked with my father,” I snap. “Planted a device in our bedroom to spy on us. She betrayed me, Carlo.”

He drags in a heavy breath, jaw ticking hard, then holds his hand out toward Lorenzo. Without a word, Lorenzo passes him the phone. Carlo lifts it and shoves it in my face, showing me the same damn photos, Leonardo and that stranger.

“This guy,” he says, pointing, “the one meeting Ava, he’s your father’s contact, right?”

“Yeah.” My voice comes out flat.

“Do you even know who the hell he is?”

His tone’s got a bad vibe crawling under my skin. I stay quiet, and that’s all the answer he needs. Carlo’s smirk twists wider, sharp and bitter.

“I do. Remember when I ran Ava’s background before hiring her? This man is Gerard Niccini. He was her former boss. Supposed to be in the States right now with his wife, April Niccini, and their two sons.”

He pauses, eyes darkening, voice dropping lower. “Except April’s body turned up in New York this morning. And Gerard’s was found in Rome just a few hours later.”

My chest tightens like a vice. My brain connects the dots instantly, but my gut refuses to accept what it means.

“What are you saying, Carlo?”

Rage, regret, and blame twist across his face like a storm brewing.

“I’m saying they probably set her up for this shit. They leaned on Gerard, used his wife, to make him approach her, so they could feed you these photos and make her look dirty. We’ve gotta track her down fast, Maxim. Her life’s on the line.”

I rip my phone from my pocket and pull up the security cam footage. The second I see it, the blood drains from my face. What the fuck have I done? I swallowed their bullshit whole, Alex’s blind trust, Leonardo’s setup, and handed Ava straight to that son of a bitch on a silver platter.