Page 125 of Lupo

"Call them back. Tell them to send proof. A photo. The woman holding her phone, showing the time."

Vittorio's jaw clenches but he makes the call. Gives the instructions.

We wait. Two minutes later, his phone buzzes. He looks at it, then turns it to show me.

A photo. Isabella, holding Elena, looking terrified but alive. She's holding a phone, the time clearly visible.

Three minutes ago.

They're still alive.

"Satisfied?" Vittorio asks.

"Not even close." I slip Elena's rabbit inside my jacket. "But it's a start."

"What now? We just walk away? Pretend this didn't happen?"

"No." I look at each man at the table. "Now you understand that you made an enemy of the wrong man." I pause. "And you live with that knowledge every single day. Wondering when I'll come for you. Wondering when I'll decide that letting you live was a mistake."

"You're letting us go?"

"For now. Because my family is safe. Because I have bigger concerns than revenge." I lean close to Vittorio. "But if you ever come near them again. If you even think about them. If you say their names. I will end you. Not quickly. Not mercifully. I will destroy everything you are and everything you love. Understand?"

He nods slowly.

"Good." I straighten up, gesture to my men. "We're leaving. Nobody follows us. Nobody makes a move and we all walk away tonight."

"And tomorrow?" Vittorio asks.

"Tomorrow, we figure out a new arrangement. One where you stay in Florence, I stay in Naples, and we never have to see each other again." I turn to leave, then stop. "Oh, and Vittorio? If anything happens to my family. Anything at all, even an accident. I'll know it was you. And there won't be any negotiations next time."

I walk out of the restaurant, Ciro and my men following. The civilians are still frozen in fear. Vittorio's men are still positioned around the room, weapons ready.

But nobody moves.

Nobody stops us.

Because they saw in my eyes that I meant every word.

We get in the van and Ciro starts driving fast away from the restaurant. Toward Via Senese.

"Boss," he says quietly. "Did you really give orders about his family?"

"No."

"I didn't think so." He glances at me. "But you sold it well."

"Because I meant it. Maybe I didn't give the orders yet. But I will. If they touch Isabella and Elena, I'll burn Florence to the ground."

"I know." Ciro is quiet for a moment. "You got your memory back. I can tell. You're different."

"I'm Alessandro again. Don Rossi." I touch the rabbit inside my jacket. "But I'm also still Lupo. Still the man who reads bedtime stories."

"Can you be both?"

"I don't know." I stare out the window at the dark streets blurring past. "But I'm going to try."

We drive for twenty minutes. Out of Florence, into the industrial outskirts. Past warehouses and factories, most of them abandoned.