Page 31 of A Madness of Crows

Dante falls silent at my voice. The anger in his tone is clear when he responds. “No. We need the blueprints for the Asante estate, Gio. Without them, we’re working blind.”

Frankie Costa leans forward, her scarred face thoughtful. “What have you got so far?”

Beside her, Tony crosses his arms. Dante responds after a moment. “The perimeter outline. Nothing of the inside.”

“I know the inside.” Her voice is quieter now, and Tony gives her a sharp look that she ignores. “I can give you a sketch of what I know. General layout, key areas. I don’t know everything, but it’ll be better than what you have now.”

Rocco leans forward with curiosity on his face. “You’re an Asante?”

“She’s a crow.” Tony’s voice is cool, but Frankie slides him alookthat makes me wonder exactly what forces of nature Caterina has been creating in her ranks.

“Iwasan Asante. I left.”

Her fingers trace the side of her face with pointed bronze nails before she swallows, sitting up. “I could… I could go back. My father still works for Salvatore.”

She stumbles over his name. “If I go for a visit, I can get inside. Take photos—,”

“No.”

Everyone in the room suddenly finds somewhere else to look. Anywhere other than at the two people glaring at each other. Even Dante stays quiet on the other end of the phone.

“I am asoldier.” Frankie’s voice carries in the small space, although she lowers it. “Aren’t I? Did Cat name me a member of her senior Crows, or not? I’m not just here for the pretty membership badge, Tony.”

“You’re not afighter, Frank.” Tony is louder. “You think I’m going to let you just walk into that place—,”

“This isn’t about your personal feelings. It’s notupto you—,”

“I get a say in this,” he snaps back at her. His cheeks flush crimson. “Fucking hell, Frankie. You barely got out last time.”

He looks around, resolute. “I’d put my life down for Cat in a heartbeat. Iwill, if and when we go in to get her. But she’d be the first one to pull a knife on any of us if we let Frankie walk in there alone. And Caterina Corvo ismyfucking capo. So the answer isno –regardless of mypersonal fucking feelings.”

“How convenient,” she mutters. But the heat is gone from her voice. “Vincent?”

The most senior crow in the room, since we lost Dom. He shrugs, apologetic. “I agree with Tony. Cat would say no, Frankie. We’ll find another way.”

“The sketch is enough. Far more than we have already.” Dante’s voice echoes. “Thank you.”

“I’ll do it today and give it to Rocco.” Frankie leans back, refusing to look at Tony.

I let my eyes slide to Nico. He sits a little further apart from us, his face shadowed as he listens. “Any update on your side?”

He shrugs. “Our men are ready to move as soon as we get the signal.”

He says nothing else.

I glance at Marco, and he clears his throat. “We’ll have a significant number. Approximately one fifty, at last count. But if we hit the Asante estatebeforetaking out Matteo, we’re looking at a war that will split the Corvo line in half.”

One side for Matteo. The other for Caterina.

“We can’t hit Matteo yet.” The fury still underscores Dante’s voice, ripples out into our small group. “Got an update on that front, Morelli?”

Nico gives the phone a hard look, as if Dante can see him. “Luc’s doing what needs to be done.”

“And we’re supposed to trust that.” Dante’s derision rings through.

“Yes.” It’s not Nico that answers. They turn to me. “We’re not going to survive this by picking each other apart, Dante. We have enough enemies out there.”

Cat needs us to work together, but every day we seem to be pulling further apart.