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That being said, I’d refused to come unarmed. If he was going to try to kill me, at least I was going to die fighting.
I leveled him with a hard glare.
Marco stood up slowly, his gaze fully fixed on me. “Dante,” he greeted, his voice dripping with disdain. “You’ve been making waves in the city. Killing the Rossi brothers…? That was a bold… bold move.”
I kept my expression neutral. “It needed to be done. They were a liability. Eventually, they would have been for you too, and you know it.”
Marco chuckled, a cold, humorless sound that chilled me to the bone. “Hmmmm. Maybe,” he said. “But you’ve weakened your standing with that move, Dante. You’ve made some enemies in the fallout.”
Rafael shifted slightly beside me. I could feel the undercurrent of danger in the room, like a coiled spring ready to snap.
“This meeting was supposed to be about peace, Marco. Let’s keep it that way,” I said, my voice steady and sure.
He scoffed, “Peace? In our world, peace is just the lull before the storm. You know that.” His eyes narrowed. “But let’s see if we can find some—How should I put it—common ground.”
The grin that spread over his face made my blood run cold. I squared my shoulders and raised my chin with constrained confidence.
“What do you have in mind?” I asked, my question hanging in the air for several seconds between us.
Marco’s next words sliced through the tense atmosphere like a knife. “You want peace, Dante? Hand over Ellie. She’s the key to preventing an all-out war between you and me.”
Handing over Ellie was not an option, not now, not ever. She was mine, not his. He wasn’t going to take her either. If he touched a single hair on her head, I’d put a bullet straight between his eyes.
I should kill him for what he did to her.
My grip tightened subtly on my Beretta, hidden beneath my jacket.
I wouldn’t hesitate if this escalated any further.
“Ellie is off-limits,” I replied coolly, my voice steady despite the rage boiling inside me. “You’re underestimating me, Marco.”
Marco’s smirk was predatory. “Am I now? Or are you willing to risk everything for one woman?”
Rafael shifted beside me, a silent sentinel ready for any outcome. “We’re not handing her over,” he said, his tone as hard as steel. “You should reconsider your position, Marco. This doesn’t have to get ugly.”
Marco laughed, a sound devoid of any real humor. “This world we live in, it’s always ugly, Rafael. You of all people should know that.”
I stepped forward, the tension between us growing increasingly palpable. “Don’t underestimate the alliances I have, Marco. This isn’t just about us and the Rossis. There are others who would back me in this, others who you and the Rossis have stepped on in the past.”
Marco’s expression hardened, his eyes narrowing. “Is that a threat, Dante?”
“It’s a fact,” Rafael shot back. “Cross us, and you’ll see just how far our reach extends.”
The standoff between us intensified, each word, each movement heavy with the threat of violence.
“You should be more concerned, Marco,” I continued, my voice low and dangerous. “I have Cyrus Holt in New York backing me. And let’s not forget the Murphys and the Morozovs in Boston. They owe me too.”
Marco’s eyes flickered, a brief glimmer of fear betraying his otherwise composed façade, but it passed quickly, replaced by a hard, unyielding glare. “You think name-dropping your allies scares me, Dante? This city knows only one language—power. And I have enough of it to put you down.”
His men shifted uneasily, hands hovering near their own weapons, ready to react at any moment.
“But consider this,” Marco continued, a twisted smile playing on his lips, “Hand Ellie over, and you might just save yourself and your empire from complete ruin.”
I could feel Rafael’s tension beside me, but I didn’t dare glance in his direction. Not now.
“You lay a hand on her, and it won’t just be me you’re dealing with,” I warned, my voice deadly calm. “You’ll have a war on multiple fronts. Think carefully, Marco. Is it worth it? Is she worth it to you?”
Marco stared back at me, his gaze hard, and I leveled him with a look that told him I wasn’t going to back down.
