Page 199 of Malicious Claim

There was a long pause before Vincenzo finally spoke.

"So what's the plan?"

"We have two options," Eva said. "The first is to let my daughter remain in Makros' inner circle. Use her emotional ties to manipulate him, soften him, isolate him. When the time is right, she removes him from the inside."

"Risky," Vincenzo said.

"She's already infiltrated. Makros trusts her. If she still desires revenge, she'll strike deep."

"And if she doesn't?" Yury, the youngest Bratva brother asked.

Eva smiled faintly. "Then we move to option two. We push Makros to a point where he has no choice but to surrender. And to get him to surrender, Nicolai has assured me he would burn his empire to save my daughter."

"And you?" Vincenzo asked. "Still plan to crown me prince of Italy?"

"I didn't come all this way for sentiment," she said, her tone turning sharp. "Makros' fall must be permanent. And once he's gone, you will step in to fill the void. The Cretes will fracture. The families will fall in line. And the Orel Bratva... will have free reign across southern Italy."

The men considered her words. And for a moment, the future of Italy sat in the silence between them.

Chapter Seventy-Five

Attack on Cretes

The phone rang just as I was adjusting my cufflink in preparation for the day. Dragon's name flashed on the screen, and my stomach tightened instantly. I answered on the second ring, my voice already cold, betraying nothing.

"What is it?" I asked, but even as I spoke, my pulse quickened. Lately Dragon's reports were always fraught with bad news. I hoped this time it was different.

"There's been an attack."

My body snapped to attention, every muscle going taut. "An attack, where?"

Leila's gaze whipped to me from the vanity table. Her expression was full of confusion, a soft frown forming as she heard the words attack and where.

"Our home, Makros," Dragon said, the words coming out sharp and clipped. "Retaliation for Aleksei killing one of their members."

I froze. The phone felt like it had doubled in weight. My mind went blank for a split second, then a flood of fury and fear hit me, clashing in an emotional wave for dominance. Fuck everything else. Fuck the shoe company, fuck Greece. I should have been there. I should have been in Italy yesterday.

Leila took a cautious step toward me, but before she could speak, I raised my hand. A simple gesture, but one that made her stop in her tracks. I wasn't ready to offer her any explanation yet.

I quickly dialed Enzo, the command spilling out of my mouth in a rush the moment he answered. "Get the jet ready. Now."

As the line clicked dead, I glanced at Leila. She was already standing closer, her brow furrowed. "The jet?" she asked, voice quivering with uncertainty. "Are we under attack? What's going on, Makros?"

Her words sounded distant. Not because they were, but because all I could hear was the roar of my own thoughts. The attack... the Bratva. Aleksei. They came after us because of that fucking idiot. I let him live. I gave him a chance to slip through my fingers, and now look where we were.

How many dead? How much damage? How bad was it?

I hadn't asked how fatal the attack had been. Why? Because I knew that if I thought about it for even a second, I might lose my mind. If I let myself think too deeply about the attack, if I even imagined the blood of my family being spilled, I might break. I couldn't afford to break. Not now, not ever and especially not in front of her.

"Makros?" Leila's voiced out again, more insistent now. I looked at her, but I wasn't really seeing her. Not right now. My mind was already on the plane, already halfway to Italy. To the wreckage I was going to have to clean up.

"Stay here," I snapped, my tone sharper than I intended. But it didn't matter. It couldn't matter. "I don't have time to explain."

I could feel the weight of her gaze on me, the worry, the concern, but it was nothing compared to the heavy, crushing responsibility that sat squarely on my chest. A responsibility I couldn't ignore, a consequence I had brought down on all of us.

The Orel Bratva didn't know how to stop. It's why I never wanted to negotiate after the attack on the factory. This was just another excuse for them to keep coming. They never stopped coming after me. They were coming for everything, and if I didn't act fast, I'd lose it all, my family, my power, my empire.

An hour later, we were in the air. Myself, Leila and Alonso.