All Chapters of UNDRESSED BY THE MAFIA LORD: Chapter 431 - Chapter 440

"No," Dimitri confirmed. "I'm not.""Even though Dante just demonstrated that he's capable of strategic planning and has resources and can execute complicated operations?""Even though," Dimitri agreed. "Because that's his problem now, not mine. He's chosen to involve himself with the Russo family and potentially The Covenant's attention. Those are his consequences to manage."He pulled her closer."My focus is here," he said, and he kissed her forehead. "My focus is on keeping you safe. Everything else is noise."Eve understood what he was saying: he'd compartmentalized. He'd looked at the situation, analyzed it, determined it wasn't relevant to his immediate concerns, and moved on.It was brilliant and cold and completely logical.It was also absolutely him."Don't worry about any of this," Dimitri said. "None of it concerns us."But even as he said those words, Eve understood that the world outside their penthouse sanctuary was moving in complex ways. That other people were making

"So you're saying Dimitri might already know Isabella is being poisoned?" Dante asked."I'm saying he probably suspects," Luca said. "And at minimum, he has resources to find answers. Resources you can access if you ask.""I'm not asking Dimitri for anything," Dante said."Then Isabella suffers," Luca said, and his tone was absolute. "Because without Dimitri's resources, we're stuck. The medication source is hidden too well. Prometheus Laboratories is too secretive. We can't find them fast enough with what we have."Dante listened to his second-in-command lay out the logic, and he knew Luca was right."If I call him," Dante said slowly, "he's going to know that I don't have the resources to handle this alone. He's going to know that I'm vulnerable. He's going to see it as weakness.""Or," Luca said, "he's going to see it as a man protecting the woman he loves. And Dimitri understands that. He's doing the same thing with his American woman."Dante considered this."What if he refuses?"

POV: DIMITRI / MARCODawn came gray over Rome.Dimitri hadn't slept. He stood at the study window with a cup of coffee that had gone cold in his hand, watching the light move across the rooftops, when Marco knocked once and came in."You're up early," Marco said."I haven't been to bed."Marco glanced at the untouched whiskey glass on the desk, then at Dimitri's face. He set the folder he was carrying down beside it. "Something happened.""Dante called me last night."Marco went still. "On the private line?""On the private line.""Someone sold it," Marco said."Someone did. I want to know who by the end of the day." Dimitri turned from the window. "Sit down."Marco sat. Dimitri told him all of it: the four days without a dose, the tremors, the pill with two layers, the clinic that didn't exist, the three changes of delivery address. He told him that Luca had traced the compound as far as it would go and that Dante had finally said the name aloud. He told him what Dante had offered, a

Mike's mouth twitched. "That's cruel.""It's efficient.""It's both." Mike turned back to the screen. "He'll be proud of it. He'll carry it to Dante like a cat with a bird.""And Dante will believe it, because Luca brought it."Mike worked through the next hour with his head down. Dimitri stayed on the line and didn't interrupt him. Once Mike swore under his breath at a registry page that wouldn't load, and Dimitri said, without looking up from his papers, "Try the older archive." Mike tried it, and it worked.Marco rejoined the call a little after nine, Rome time, which made it just past three in the morning in New York. He turned the camera toward a gray case on the desk and opened it.Two plain white cartons lay inside, unmarked.Mike stopped typing and looked at the screen."That's it?" he asked."That's it," Marco said.He took a single pill from one of the cartons and held it up to the camera. Mike leaned close. It was small and white and perfectly ordinary."That's what's been

Dante carried her to the bedroom. He laid her on the bed with her head turned to the side and pulled the blanket up over her shoulders. Then he pulled a chair up beside the bed and sat in it, and put his hand over hers.He did not look away from her face for the next two hours....Luca arrived at one thirty-four.Dante heard the car on the gravel and was at the door before the engine cut. Luca came up the steps fast, a plain black bag in one hand. He stopped when he saw Dante's face."She seized," Dante said.Luca closed his eyes briefly. "How long?""Under two minutes. It's over.""Is she....""She's breathing. She hasn't woken." Dante held out his hand. "Give it to me."Luca gave him the bag. "The drop was clean. A locker at a rail station. Nobody followed me. Nobody saw me.""Did you see who left it?" Dante asked. "No. It was already there." Luca hesitated. "Boss, the bottles. Nothing on them. No label, no seal, no lot number. Whoever packed these knew how to leave nothing.""Yes