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“No,” I said, voice sharp. “I want her tothinkwe are.”

Maxim’s brow furrowed. “Explain.”

“She’s too smart to walk into a trap unless the prize is irresistible,” I said. “We give her what she wants: Ilias. A solo meeting. On his turf. On one of his ships. Something... quiet. Off-grid. She’ll believe he’s breaking ranks. That he’s ready to deal her in.”

“Why would she believe that?” Conall asked. “Ilias wouldn’t do that.”

“She doesn’tknowhim. She only knows what she wants to believe, and what she wants is power. We’ll make her think that Ilias is interested in the business. That he’s willing to cut us out, and cut her in. We can make herthink that Ilias is willing to do what he needs in order to keep his company in the black.”

“Give her a lie wrapped in desperation,” Ilias murmured, finally catching on. “Make her think I’m bleeding out.”

I nodded once. “And let her come in for the kill.”

Silence stretched. The plan was insane — bold. It had to be. She wouldn’t take a risk unless she thought the reward outweighed it. But it wasn’t just about her empire. It was personal. She needed towin. And winning meant turning one of us against the other. That was what made it crazy, but part of it hinged on the idea that she still had one step rooted in taking us down. That there was still a piece of her that would enjoy that.

I lit a cigarette I didn’t want and stared out over the city. This place — Sacueni, Bucharest, the whole damn Eastern Bloc — felt like the rotting teeth of the empire my mother wanted to build. Maybe I was just in a shitty mood.

“You good?” Maxim’s voice behind me was low. Tired.

“No,” I said.

He came to stand beside me, arms crossed, gaze fixed on the horizon. “You think she’ll bite?”

“I know she will,” I said. “The question is how close I need to let her get before I pull the trigger.”

Maxim didn’t speak for a while.“You know she’ll bring backup.”

“I want her to bring it. I want her to think she has the upper hand,” I said viciously. Just the thought of her coming to the meeting tantalized me.

“She’ll sniff out anything that smells like a trap.” Maxim tried to be reasonable. He and Conall had been trying to reason with me for the past few days, as if I were actually being unreasonable about this plan.

“We’re not baiting her into a setup,” I said. “We’re baiting her into aconversation. One where Ilias is supposedly defecting. Where I’ve stepped away. Where the Commission is fracturing from the inside.”

Maxim frowned. “We’re going to need to sell this so hard.” He rubbed a hand over his neck, looking over the map.

I met his eyes. “She’ll believe it if we leak that I have already splintered from the group.”

Maxim’s face darkened. “That’s a line.”

“Not if it’s for show. Not if it gets her in arm’s reach.” I flicked the cigarette off the rooftop, watching the ember spiral. “Let her think I’m angry that I don’t trust any of you anymore. That I’ve lost control in my anger over Theo. That Ilias offered me a new future. Ilias will be my brother-in-law after all. It’s believable. We need her to come to the meeting. That’s it.”

Conall grinned in the gloom. “It could work. She remembers you as the boy who was all teeth and claws, who let his anger get the best of him. She doesn’t know the man you’ve become.” He nodded. “This could work.”

Veronica patched into the encrypted call, her voice clear despite the lag. “I’ve laid the digital breadcrumbs. Rumors that you and Ilias met secretly in Sorrento. That you’ve pulled funding from the Commission’s larger pipeline. Will that work?”

Ilias, seated next to me, snorted softly. “Yeah, I think that’ll be enough to get her interested.”

“She needs to think I’m ready to betray everyone for the sake of survival.” I’d thought this through and talked it over with Bacco andCarlo before I brought it up. I wanted to ensure that our lines of communication didn’t have any holes that she could see through.

Veronica continued, “She’ll do one of two things: retaliate, or try to co-opt you.”

“She’ll co-opt,” I said. “It’s what she’s best at. Manipulation.”

“And when she does?”

I looked at Ilias. “We give her a meeting. One of your deepwater cargo ships. Greek registry. No crew. Just her... and us. I want it rigged to blow. Something you can sacrifice.”

Ilias nodded slowly. “Good. We’re not fucking around.” His grin widened. “She’ll think she’s cutting a new deal. We make her think she’s carving up the Commission with a new partner.”