Page 117 of Veil of Obsession

Romiro’s eyes flash. “I think you’re too close to see straight. And that makes you dangerous.”

“Dangerous?” I take a step forward. “You want dangerous? Keep talking about handing her over and see what I fucking do.”

“You’re not thinking clearly,” Dom cuts in. “She’s the reason we had to scrape your ma’s blood off the kitchen tiles?—”

“Don’t.” My voice breaks, sharp and raw. “Don’t fucking talk about my mother like she’s evidence in a case file.”

Dom sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Lucio?—”

“She didn’t mean for any of this to happen!” I shout, louder than I mean to. The chandelier above us sways slightly. “She didn’t know they were using her. They baited her—planted something in her system. She thought she was helping.”

Romiro shakes his head. “That’s the problem, Lucio. She thought.”

The room goes still.

“You’re asking me to hand her over,” I say, quieter now. “To you cruel fuckers. You think I don’t know what you’ll do to her. What the Camorra will do to those who cross them. You want me to give her up for you to kill her.”

Romiro meets my eyes. “No. We want you to step aside. Let us handle it.”

“No.”

Dom scoffs. “You’d throw the family away for one girl?”

I walk up to him, close enough to see the lines around his eyes. “You’d sacrifice a girl who didn’t know better just to send a message?”

“This isn’t about a message. It’s about blood. Retribution. Security,” he spits. “She’s a liability.”

“She’smine,” I snarl.

Silence falls like a blade. Heavy. Cold.

Romiro’s voice is quiet now, like he’s trying to reason with a bomb. “She was the breach, Lucio. Whether you like it or not.”

I turn to him, fury boiling under my skin. “I know that. I fucking know. But she didn’t pull the trigger. She didn’t shoot Ma. She’s not the one who stormed into our house armed to the teeth like fucking cowards.”

Dom’s voice cuts in like ice. “But sheopened the door. And that means something.”

I breathe hard through my nose, trying to stay steady.

“She loves me,” I say, softer. “And I love her. You don’t get to rewrite that because it’s inconvenient.”

“She’s not a part of the Camorra. She’s not one of us,” Dom says.

“Neither was your wife,” I shoot back.

Romiro flinches.

I step back, running a hand through my hair, chest heaving. “I’m not handing her over. You want her? You come through me.”

Romiro steps forward, voice heavy. “Then what? You protect her forever? You keep her locked away? What happens next time someone gets through? What happens when your enemies know exactly where to strike?”

I don’t have an answer. Not one they’ll accept.

Dom pours himself another drink and takes a long, slow sip. “You don’t get to make decisions like this alone.”

I look him dead in the eye. “I’m not asking for permission.”

Romiro’s face falls. “Lucio…”