CHAPTER 25

Jamie didn’t sleep that night.

Enzo’s warning looped in his head over and over again.

If you break him… you won’t survive what’s left.

Jamie sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the unbreakable window.

Break him.

Was that what he was doing?

Or was Matteo already cracked — just refusing to show it?

It didn’t matter.

There was one move left that Matteo hadn’t accounted for.

Lucas.

Jamie hadn’t seen him in days. Matteo had been careful — calculated — maintaining the lie that Jamie was unstable, that he needed “space,” that his behavior had grown erratic.

And Jamie knew exactly why.

If Lucas believed him sane, everything unraveled.

If Lucas believed him imprisoned, Matteo lost leverage.

So Jamie would remove the leverage.

The opportunity came at lunch.

The doors to his room opened without warning.

“Walk,” one of the guards instructed.

Jamie raised an eyebrow. “No blindfold today?”

The guard didn’t respond.

Interesting.

Jamie followed down the corridor — not toward the usual wing — but toward the sunroom.

His pulse quickened.

He knew before he stepped inside.

Lucas was there.

Seated at the long table.

Alive.

Pale.

But alive.

Jamie stopped just inside the doorway.

Lucas looked up slowly.

There was confusion in his eyes.

Not fear.

Not anger.

Confusion.

“Jamie?”

The sound of his name in Lucas’s voice almost unraveled him.

Jamie forced himself steady.

“Hey.”

Lucas frowned slightly, studying him like he was trying to place something just out of reach.

“You look… better,” Lucas said slowly. “They said you were having episodes.”

Jamie felt something sharp twist in his chest.

Of course they did.

Matteo stood at the far end of the room.

Watching.

Silent.

Composed.

Jamie glanced at him briefly.

Matteo’s expression was unreadable.

That irritated him.

Lucas shifted in his seat. “I don’t remember much from that night,” he admitted. “The cove. The water. I just remember you panicking.”

Jamie stepped closer to the table.

“I wasn’t panicking,” he said carefully.

Lucas blinked. “You were yelling. You kept saying they’d kill us.”

Jamie held his gaze.

“They would.”

The air shifted.

Subtle.

But immediate.

Lucas laughed awkwardly. “Okay. That’s dramatic.”

Jamie didn’t smile.

“I’m not joking.”

Matteo moved then.

Just one step.

A warning without words.

Jamie ignored it.

“You think this is a resort?” Jamie asked Lucas quietly. “You think this is just some powerful CEO with control issues?”

Lucas frowned. “What are you talking about?”

Jamie’s heart pounded.

This was the line.

Once crossed—

No going back.

He looked directly at Matteo.

Then back at Lucas.

“They’re not businessmen,” Jamie said clearly.

Silence.

Matteo didn’t interrupt.

That was worse.

Lucas’ brows drew together. “Jamie—”

“They’re mafia.”

The word landed like a dropped glass.

Stillness swallowed the room.

Even the guards shifted.

Lucas stared at him.

Then laughed.

Actually laughed.

“Okay,” he said slowly. “That’s not funny.”

Jamie’s jaw tightened.

“I’m serious.”

Lucas’ smile faded slightly.

“Jamie. You’ve been locked up. You’re stressed. This isn’t—”

“Ask him.”

Jamie gestured to Matteo.

“Ask him if he owns more than Uniflix. Ask him where his money actually comes from.”

Lucas turned slowly toward Matteo.

Matteo met his gaze calmly.

Unbothered.

Unrushed.

“Lucas,” Matteo said evenly, “Jamie has been under significant strain.”

There it was.

The narrative.

Controlled.

Measured.

Reasonable.

Jamie stepped forward sharply.

“Don’t.”

Matteo’s eyes flicked to him.

A silent warning.

Jamie pressed anyway.

“You think I’ve been unstable?” he asked Lucas. “Why do you think they don’t let you see me alone?”

Lucas hesitated.

Because that part… was true.

Jamie saw it.

The flicker of doubt.

Good.

Matteo stepped closer to the table.

Still calm.

“Lucas,” he said, “you nearly drowned because Jamie insisted on escaping through a flooded cove.”

Lucas flinched slightly.

That memory hurt.

Jamie’s stomach twisted.

He hadn’t meant—

No.

Stay focused.

“Why was I escaping?” Jamie pushed.

Lucas’ breathing grew uneven.

“Because you thought—”

“Because we’re prisoners.”

The word echoed heavier than the mafia accusation.

Lucas looked between them.

Something was shifting now.

Not belief.

Not fully.

But unease.

Matteo noticed it too.

And for the first time since Jamie had known him—

Matteo’s jaw tightened.

“Enough,” Matteo said quietly.

Jamie ignored him.

“You don’t think it’s strange?” Jamie asked Lucas. “The guards? The restricted areas? The way Enzo talks?”

Lucas swallowed.

He looked at Matteo again.

Searching.

Matteo held his gaze steadily.

“You are free to leave,” Matteo said calmly.

Jamie let out a sharp laugh.

“Tell him about the people you have killed.”

Lucas blinked. “Killed?”

Jamie stepped closer continuing.

“Anyone that goes against them is as good as dead.”

Matteo’s voice dropped.

“Jamie.”

It wasn’t loud.

But it was edged now.

Jamie felt it.

And pushed harder.

“Ask him why we can't leave. They have this sick obsessionwith us and won't let us go!.”

Lucas’ hands tightened on the edge of the table.

“Is that true?”

The question wasn’t directed at Jamie.

It was directed at Matteo.

And that—

That was the fracture.

Matteo stepped closer slowly.

Every movement deliberate.

“Lucas,” he said calmly, “I built an empire. That requires protection.”

“That’s not an answer,” Lucas said quietly.

Jamie felt a surge of vindication.

There it was.

Doubt.

Matteo’s gaze shifted to Jamie.

And this time—

There was no amusement.

No patience.

Just something colder.

“You’ve said your piece,” Matteo said evenly.

Jamie held his stare.

“You can’t control this one.”

The tension snapped.

Matteo moved fast.

Not violent.

Not explosive.

But decisive.

He gripped Jamie’s arm firmly and pulled him back from the table.

“Enough,” he repeated.

Lucas stood abruptly. “Don’t touch him.”

The room froze.

That was new.

Matteo slowly released Jamie.

His eyes returned to Lucas.

Measured.

Assessing.

“You are free to believe someone in a manic episode. We are doing the best for him,” Matteo said calmly.

Jamie almost laughed at the manipulation.

So reasonable.

So composed.

But Lucas wasn’t laughing anymore.

He was staring at Matteo like he was seeing something unfamiliar.

Something he couldn’t quite reconcile.

“Are you?” Lucas asked quietly.

The question hung heavy.

Matteo didn’t answer immediately.

That hesitation—

Small.

Almost invisible.

But Jamie saw it.

And Lucas did too.

It wasn’t confession.

It wasn’t denial.

It was calculation.

And that silence did more damage than any argument.

Matteo finally spoke.

“You are safe here.”

That wasn’t the question.

Lucas sat slowly.

Processing.

Jamie’s heart pounded.

He had done it.

He had cracked the narrative.

But as guards stepped closer—

As Matteo’s gaze hardened—

Jamie realized something else.

He had crossed the line Enzo warned about.

And this time—

Matteo wasn’t amused.