FAZER LOGINDante set down the intelligence package and looked at his man with the kind of calm that came from someone who'd already thought through multiple scenarios."How much has he found out?" Dante asked."Not much yet," Paul said. "But he's persistent. He's using his Valentino name, so people are willing to talk to him. And he's got resources, he's systematically working through your territory, methodically building a picture of what you've been doing."Dante stood and walked to the window overlooking his gardens. Enzo. Of course Dimitri would send his brother. Of course he'd use the Valentino name as leverage to open doors."Luca," Dante said, and his second-in-command who was sitting opposite to him, where he'd clearly been listening. "What do you think?""He's a threat," Luca said immediately. "If Enzo keeps digging, if he finds The Covenant connection, if he reports back to Dimitri with confirmed intel about who's backing you...""Then Dimitri knows exactly how serious this is," Dante
He still couldn't throw a full punch without his side pulling. Still had to sit down after too many stairs, still felt it when he pushed further than he should. But he could stand at the window of his Brooklyn office without gripping the frame for balance, and today that felt like enough of a victory to notice."You're doing the thing," Luca said from the couch, not looking up from his laptop."What thing?""The thing where you stand there looking pleased with yourself because your body finally stopped betraying you.""I'm allowed a moment.""You've had about eleven moments this week."Dante turned from the window, and even that felt easier than it had a month ago, no sharp intake of breath, no careful recalibration. "You'd be insufferable too if you spent three weeks being carried around like a piece of furniture.""I was insufferable when I broke my wrist in college. I can't imagine what you'd have been like with an actual bullet wound." Luca finally glanced up. "How's the ribs?""B
The tremor started in her hands.Isabella noticed it first while she was doing her makeup, the eyeliner wobbling off course, smudging into a jagged line at the corner of her eye. She wiped it off with a tissue and tried again. Her hand shook worse the second time.Great. Perfect timing.She set the eyeliner down and pressed her palms flat against the vanity, breathing through it the way she always did when the anxiety climbed too fast. In, hold, out. In, hold, out.It didn't help. Nothing helped until the medication kicked in, and the medication was three days late.She checked her phone. No messages from the pharmacy. No confirmation, no tracking update, nothing.Isabella grabbed the phone and dialed the number she'd had memorized since she was sixteen years old.It rang twice before a woman picked up. "Studio Medico Armani, buongiorno.""It's Isabella Russo. I need to know where my delivery is. It was supposed to arrive three days ago."A pause. The clatter of a keyboard. "One momen
Dimitri's jaw tightened as he said it, understanding fully what he was proposing. Not just a vendetta with Dante. But potentially a conflict with an organization that had already proven willing to create bioweapons, to conduct experiments, to operate at a level of ruthlessness that made traditional crime look civilized."Okay," Enzo said, "I'll get back to you in twenty-four hours. I'll gather the information and have answers for you. I'll talk to my contacts, follow the money trails, investigate any unusual meetings. Twenty-four hours.""Good," Dimitri said.There was a brief silence on the line, then Enzo said. "I heard about what happened to Eve," Enzo finally said. "And I heard that Dante escaped. In Jersey City, when you had him in the warehouse. You let him live."Dimitri felt Eve's hand slip into his, squeezing gently. She understood what Enzo was saying. She understood the implication."I guess you shouldn't have let him leave, brother," Enzo continued, his tone measured but c
POV: DIMITRIDimitri was back at the penthouse, standing under a scalding shower, letting the heat wash away the stress of the morning when his phone rang.He knew the ringtone immediately. Enzo.Dimitri stepped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around his waist, and answered without saying anything."I heard about the shipment," Enzo's voice came through, calm and clinical. "What happened?"Dimitri moved through the penthouse toward the bedroom, already understanding that this wasn't a casual call. News travels fast through the underworld. If Enzo had heard about the shipment interception in Rome, that meant the information was already spreading, which meant the damage was already done in terms of reputation and perception."Colombian shipment at the New Jersey port," Dimitri said, his voice steady and cold. "Intercepted before it cleared customs. The port manager was turned. Three million in product gone."There was a pause on the other end of the line. The kind of pause that came
He called Marco as he was heading to the elevator."I need the car ready," Dimitri said. "And I need you to pull together everything you can find about Dante Romano's current status. Medical records, movement logs, everything. I need to know if he's mobile again.""Yes, boss," Marco said, understanding without needing explanation that something had happened.By the time Dimitri reached the garage, the car was ready. By the time he was pulling out into the early morning traffic, his mind had already moved through the first dozen responses he could make to this attack.He could hit Dante's operations in Rome. Could move money to retaliate. Could escalate the violence immediately and force a direct confrontation.But that's what whoever was behind this would expect. That's what they were counting on, that he'd react emotionally instead of strategically.Instead, Dimitri decided to do something different.He decided to find out exactly who he was dealing with before he made his move.The







