Page 68 of A Madness of Crows

She lifts her chin. “I only answer to Caterina or Dom. Caterina promised me that, in our first meeting- in case you have forgotten. And since I don’t see either of them here, Vincent, the decision is actuallymine.”

He blinks at the pushback. And Tony gets to his feet without another word, stalking for the door.

“Where are you going?” Frankie calls out to him, her face drawn as he rounds on her, throwing his hands up.

“What? You want agoodbye?” He steps closer, his finger jabbing the air. “Tell you what, Frank – I’ll do you a solid and keep an eye on the dark web while you’re gone. Maybe I’ll even be able to afford to buy you back when they’re fuckingfinishedwith you.”

There’s pain there, hidden beneath the vicious words that hit her like a blow.

Vincent is out of his seat, pushing Tony back in the next second. “Fucking hell, Tony. Out.Now.”

She doesn’t watch them go, doesn’t look up to see the regret that flashes across his face as Vincent shoves him toward the door. She stares at her feet until they’re gone. “I’m leaving after this meeting to return to my parent’s house. When the next party happens at the Asante estate, I’ll go, and I’ll – I’ll report back, as soon as I can.”

I almost forgot Dante was there. His voice rumbles through the phone. “If you can get out, go. But if you’re still there when we go for Cat, we won’t leave without you. You have my word.”

Nods of agreement. Of respect, as she stands. Frankie Costa offers us a crooked smile. “Then I guess I’ll see you soon.”

She’s gone before I can voice the gratitude that tightens my throat. Our already small group is now one less, and the poorer for it.

My voice is rough. “We need a new plan for Alessia. Just in case.”

Marco nods in agreement, his eyes still showing his surprise at the news Dante shared with them all only recently. “I’d still advise against using force. She’s an easy hostage to hurt. And Matteo has shown that he doesn’t care about collateral damage.”

No. Only we care. The ones we love are a noose around our fucking necks.

I wait for the explosion, but Dante is quiet. “I’ll… think about it. Get back to you with some thoughts.”

He hangs up without another word.

I’m sitting in the empty gym an hour later when a weight settles next to me. “He’s going to do something stupid if we don’t come up with a viable plan soon.”

My voice leaks with exhaustion. “What do you want me to do about it?”

I’m trying so fucking hard to keep it together.

I already lost one family.

My mother and father, broken.

My sister, dead.

Cat saved Rosa. Savedme, and gave me something else to hold on to. And all I want is to do the fucking same for her, but every step is closed to us.

We were building something solid, and real. A family we chose.

And I barely had a taste before it was ripped away from me too.

I’m tired, and I’m fuckingangry.

Rocco just shrugs. “Thought you should know.”

I don’t particularly like Dante’s enforcer. But it’s clear that Rocco, through the sarcasm and comments, is completely loyal to Dante. And that loyalty now extends to Caterina and Alessia too. “Want to blow off some steam?”

He raises an eyebrow at me as I get up. “What do you do for fun, Fusco? Bible reading?”

***

“Jesus. You’re actually a psychopath.”