I turn to Blake. His face is chalky, his failure hanging in the air between us like a physical thing. The name Marco is an unspoken accusation. Marco would have seen the rot in this man weeks ago.
“Take him to the warehouse,” I say, my tone quiet and unarguable. “He has an appointment with me tomorrow.” I let my gaze drift over the trembling man. “You used your ears to listen to my enemy, Domingo. And your tongue to swear loyaltyto me. Tomorrow, I’ll take both. A man who cannot hear orders or speak lies can no longer be a rat.”
A strangled sob escapes Domingo’s lips. The tremor becomes a violent shake as he’s hauled from the office, his choked pleas for mercy cut off by the closing door.
I face Blake. “This happened on your watch. It will not happen again, or you’ll be joining Domingo’s fate. Re-vet every man.”
“Yes, sir.” His voice is strained with the effort of holding himself together.
With the breach handled, I focus on the true target. I walk out of the office and into the great room.
Lea looks up as I approach, her expression a placid mask. She has decided. She’s at peace with it.
I’m too late.
Isabel Vega has already done her damage.
I stop a few feet from her chair, seeing her not as a captive but as a rival queen on the chessboard. The game has changed.
“Tell me about your meeting with Isabel Vega.”
She closes her book, the soft thud of it on the side table the only sound. Her eyes, clear and steady, meet mine. “I was on the dock. She was there. I don’t know how she got past your men.”
“A problem that’s been handled.” I move closer, circling her chair. “You didn’t answer the question. What did you discuss?”
“She offered me a way out,” Lea says, her voice smooth, rehearsed. A performance. “A new identity. A life away from all of this. Away from you.”
“And in return for this generous offer?” I stop behind her, my hands gripping the back of her chair, my knuckles brushing her hair.
She tilts her head back, exposing the elegant, defiant line of her throat. “Information. Your vulnerabilities. Your arrangement with my mother. Your plans for Moretti.”
“And what did you tell her?”
“That I’m loyal to you.”
The lie is so audacious, it’s almost magnificent. “And?”
“I told her that whatever this is between us, I chose it. Betraying you isn’t an option.”
“You expect me to believe that?” I lean down, my voice an indistinct murmur against her ear, my breath stirring the hair at her temple. “The woman who fled into a thunderstorm to escape me is now the model of loyalty?”
“Things change.” Her voice is steady. “You’ve taught me things. Maybe I’ve learned that siding with you is the only way to survive.”
I move to crouch in front of her, forcing her to meet my gaze. I search her eyes for a crack in the new armor.
“What did she tell you, Lea? What poison did she use?”
“She told me the Vancouver intel was a lie,” she admits, sacrificing a pawn to save the queen. “She said she did it to prove you were distracted. To prove that your control isn’t as absolute as you pretend.”
“And did it work?” I press. “Do you believe her?”
Lea’s gaze holds mine. The earlier flicker of pain is gone, replaced by a dark, unnerving heat. She leans forward, her body close enough that I can feel its warmth.
“Believe she can distract you?” Her voice is a low hum. “Maybe. But she made a mistake, Nico.” She reaches out, her hand landing flat on my chest.
“She thought showing me your supposed weakness for me would make me run to her.” Her eyes never leave mine. “She doesn’t understand. Your obsession, your possessiveness... that’s the only thing in this world that makes me feel safe.”
My own words, the ones Alessandro threw back in my face, are now recast as a virtue.
