Page 31 of Damon

"She's eighteen years old and she's been isolated with a dangerous man for a week. Young girls form attachments."

"Yes, they do."

"Is that what this is? An attachment?"

I think about Viviana curled up on the couch this morning, asking me to come back safe. Think about the way she looked at me like my safety mattered to her, like she'd rather be with me than rescued by her own family.

"I don't know," I admit. “I didn’t want her to be terrified of me.”

It's more honesty than I intended to give him, but Roberto nods like he appreciates it.

"My daughter has been sheltered her entire life," he says. "Protected from this world, from the realities of what we do. She thinks she understands, but she doesn't."

"She's learning."

"Is she? Or is she playing dress-up in a fantasy?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself when this is over?"

"And when will this be over?"

"Whenever we find who really ordered the hit on your family because it sure as fuck wasn’t us."

Roberto leans forward. "You still maintain your innocence."

"Because we're innocent. My family had nothing to gain from attacking yours."

"Didn't you? With us weakened, your territory expands. Your influence grows."

"At the cost of a war that would destroy both our organizations? At the cost of bringing federal attention down on all of us? That's not strategy, Mr. Bonacci. That's stupidity."

"Then who?"

"That's what we need to figure out."

"We?"

"You want your daughter back alive. I want to stay alive long enough to hand her back to you. That makes us temporary allies."

Roberto's laugh is harsh. "Allies. With the man holding my child hostage."

"I'm not holding her hostage. I'm keeping her safe and alive."

"You’re keeping her from her family."

"No, I’m keeping her away from whoever's trying to kill her family."

"You think they'll try again."

It's not a question, but I answer it anyway. "I know they will. The hit on your compound was too coordinated, too professional to be a one-time thing. Someone invested serious money and resources into taking out your bloodline. They're not going to stop because they missed."

Roberto is quiet for a long moment, processing this. "What do you propose?"

"Joint operation. My intelligence, your connections. We find the real enemy, we eliminate them, and then we go back to our respective corners."

"And Viviana?"

"Stays hidden and safe until it's over."