DANTE’S POV
The shrill of my phone cut through the atmosphere like a warning shot.
I mopped the sweat off my brow, I reached for it and turned to the screen.
The number was too damned familiar, the message beneath it froze my blood in my veins.
Rocco Cafaro.
He never knew when to quit.
It wasn’t a long message, but it might as well have been a bomb blowing up in my hands, words exploding with every inflection.
*Give up Draven LTD or suffer the consequences.
You have until the end of the week.*
My muscles clenched, the anger and concern welling up inside of me like a volcano.
This wasn’t a threat anymore; this was war.
It wasn’t business anymore; it had just gotten personal.
Rocco was digging graves best left alone, starting something that I’d hoped died with my mother.
I jammed the phone into my pocket and swung back to Camilla, who was standing with crossed arms, watching me like she could read the tension rolling off me in waves.
“What is it?” she asked.
Her voice was neutral but threaded with the edge of concern.
I manufactured a smile, trying to brush it off.
“Nothing you need to worry about.”
Her eyes narrowed.
She wasn’t buying it.
“You’re a terrible liar, Dante.”
I blew out a breath and ran a hand over my head.
“It is just business. Some things I have to deal with.”
“Business?” Her brow rose.
“The kind of ‘business’ that has you clenching your fists and setting your jaw like you are ready to tear someone apart?”
I didn’t want her mixed up in this.
Not yet.
She did not need this weight, especially not with Jasper on her mind.
I moved closer, trying to reassure her concern.
“Look, it’s nothing I can’t handle.”
She didn’t buy it.
“You’re lying to me again.”
I leaned in close to her, my head blankly racing all over what I should say and not.
“Rocco Cafaro,” I said finally.
“He’s dragging up some old problems.”
Her lips parted and confusion danced across her features.
I’d been uptight, avoiding the details about what exactly made my family so complicated.
That was all well and good, but if we were going to get out alive, that wasn’t going to stay buried for her.
“He’s my uncle. Rocco’s the head of the Italian mafia,” I added, testing her reaction.
“Our families, it’s complicated. My mother’s marriage to my father was supposed to unite both sides. But Rocco, he blames my family for his sister’s death.”
Confusion sharpened into something else, fear.
Another step toward me, her voice barely above a whisper.
“So, what does he want?”
“To take it all down.” I fisted my hands.
“He’s about to make his play on the business. It’s more than that. It’s personal. He’ll do anything to bring me down. And I won’t let it happen.”
Her eyes went wide.
“What does that mean, Dante? What’s he going to do?”
I shook my head; really, she didn’t have to freak out any more than necessary.
“I don’t know yet. But I’m going to make sure we’re prepared.”
Her hand reached out and laid a soft, insistent touch on my arm.
“You can’t just keep shutting me out. If something’s going on, I deserve to know what I’m getting into.”
I caught her gaze, the weight of her words landing like a blow to my chest.
She was right, but taking her deeper into this world?
That wasn’t what I wanted for her.
“Camilla, I don’t want you mixed up in this. It’s dangerous. Rocco. He doesn’t play by any rules.”
“Neither do you,” she snapped.
“You’re already risking everything to protect me and Jasper. So why stop now?”
Words died in my throat as my breath escaped square in the dead center of my urge to shelter her from the brutal fact, but such a thing as a safe distance from this war didn’t exist; she was in it already, against my will.
“I need to leave the safe house. It’s time to go back to the Draven estate.”
She frowned further, her eyes narrowing into my face in demand for an explanation.
“Why? What’s going on?”
I looked around the room, as though the walls were listening in.
My head replayed over and over, my gut wailing over and over-the message was only the beginning.
He wouldn’t go without a fight, and that was only the beginning.
“I don’t know exactly. But something’s coming. And I need to be ready.”
Her hand fell from my arm, but I saw there in her eyes-the resolve.
“Are you saying there’s going to be an attack?”
I leaned into her, reaching for her hand and tugging her close as I dropped my voice low.
“I can’t say, but if it gets messy, I need you to promise me that you’ll keep Jasper safe. No matter what happens, he comes first.”
She nodded, the muscles of her jaw flexing, her eyes flashing with the fight.
This wasn’t the same woman I’d rescued weeks ago.
This was hard, fierce.
I swallowed hard as a knot pulled tight in my chest.
I didn’t deserve that kind of loyalty, but hell, I was grateful for it.
“I know.”
Another buzz, and I turned to the screen reading yet another message from my contact down at the docks.
It was due in two days.
It was then that Rocco would make his move.
“We’re running out of time,” I muttered to myself as my head reeled with all the plans and contingencies running through it.
“What are we doing?” Camilla asked.
The sound of her voice drew me back.
I stared at her a moment, it weighing heavy on me.
Isn’t just about me anymore; it’s about her, Jasper, everything that means anything to me.
“Preparing, ” I said, opening up and snatching my jacket from the back of the chair.
“I need to get in touch with my men. We’re not going to let Rocco blindside us.”
“And what about me?” she asked, following me to the door.
I turned to her then, my gaze steady against hers.
“You’re coming with me. It’s no longer safe here.”
Her lips parted and surprise flickered across her face.
“You want me at the estate?”
I nodded once.
“I want you where I can keep an eye on you.”
She hesitated another second before nodding, firming her face into a mask of resolve.
“Alright. But from now on, you better start telling me what’s going on.”
A smile tugged my lips against the tight coiling in my chest.
“Deal.”
We went outside into the cool evening air, and with the weight of the world weighing upon my shoulders, it hit me right between them.
I couldn’t afford for anything to slip.
Not now that Rocco had made his move, and if I was going to keep Camilla and Jasper safe, then I needed to be ten steps ahead.
I stopped once we reached the car and turned to her, a dour thought clicking into place.
“Whatever happens next, just know, that this fight, it’s not going to end cleanly.”
Her brow furrowed.
“What do you mean?”
I glanced up the street now empty behind me, the shadows closing in so palpable.
“Rocco’s not the only one coming for us.
Then it was, we hit the streets, oblivious to what lay in store for us, it was as though a vow of silence had been made.