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“I’ll handle it,” I informed them, turning toward the door.

“No,” Raze replied.

“This concerns Adriana and me.”

Atlas buttoned his jacket. “Then it concerns the family.”

“I don’t need an army at the gate.”

“Well, you’re getting one,” Marcello advised. “You may have forgotten how things run in this family, but we haven’t.”

Gianni checked the magazine in his weapon and returned it beneath his jacket.

I looked around the table. There was no hesitation and no discussion. I had returned after ten years carrying an injured stranger and enemies none of them had made. Still, they stood by my side, regardless of the danger my return presented.

“Stay inside with the women,” I warned Adriana, as she stepped toward me.

Her head snapped toward me. “No. This involves me.”

“That’s why you’re staying inside.”

“I need to hear what he says.”

“You’ll hear it from me. I brought you here to protect you, not to set you in the sights of the Coccico family.”

Tone moved between us before Adriana could answer. “Go. I’ll stay with her.”

Adriana looked at Tone. Tone gave her a pleasant smile that fooled no one into believing she was sweet.

“Don’t make me chase you,” she warned. “I’m newly pregnant and already furious.”

Archie looked at her. “You’re not chasing anyone.”

Tone ignored him as Raze ended the call.

“The vehicle is waiting beyond the outer gate.”

I turned to Adriana.

“Stay here.”

She held my gaze. I recognized the look in her eyes for what it was; anything but agreement, but reluctantly she stayed.

Six of us crossed the courtyard.

Raze and Atlas walked on either side of me. Marcello and Gianni followed, while Archie stayed half a step behind, his attention moving between the windows, the walls, and the vehicle waiting beyond the iron gates.

In my absence, they had clearly settled into a formation of their own. No one needed to give an order. Each man knew where to stand, which angle to cover, and who would move first if the situation turned violent.

Sunlight struck the stone courtyard, but the air remained cool beneath the cypress trees. Armed guards stood at intervals along the wall.

A black sedan waited outside the gates.

One man stood beside it.

He wore a charcoal suit tailored closely to his frame and a pale silk tie. His silvering hair had been combed neatly away from his forehead. He carried no visible weapon.

Men who arrived unarmed at enemy gates were either fools or certain someone else was carrying weapons for them.