Page 3 of Sovereign Oaths

She bobbed her head. “Less than you’re probably thinking, but enough that my husband had this room built.”

Fair enough.

“And this is normal in Cuba?”

“Unfortunately.”

Her face didn’t betray her, but I knew she was lying. She could claim this was just about living in a nice house, but she had to think I was a fool to believe her.

“Why don’t you move in with Alessio then? It would be safer.”

Her spine straightened. “This is my home. I will not be moved.”

No, she’d rather sleep while armed men scaled the walls and murdered her security team.

Turning on the monitors and figuring out what was happening was tempting, but I couldn’t. Hopefully, we wouldn’t be in here long. It shouldn’t take more than five minutes to get the situation under control with how many guards they had on the property.

What would Millie do in this situation?

Should I be more nervous? Cry? Ask more questions?

So far, I’d followed Maria’s lead, staying quiet and calm. Was that the appropriate response for someone who’d never been in a situation like this?

What was I supposed to know? I’d heard a noise. The guardhouse wasn’t answering, and Alessio wanted to check on things. Maria thought it was a burglary.

Those things alone shouldn’t cause a full panic attack, not without having seen something like a body. We hadn’t been chased, and Alessio and his mom both kept treating this as just a precaution, nothing to fuss over.

Yet.

Her eyes flashed to her phone between us on the couch a dozen times before the locks clanked, and Alessio stepped inside with two men behind him.He hurried to me, only checking his mom briefly before taking my hand and helping me to my feet.

“We need to go.”

“What? What’s going on?”

Maria rose and stood between the men. “¿Qué pasó?”

“Eran doce hombres. Italianos. Todos estan muertos, y dos de nuestros hombres,” one of the men told her.

I turned to Alessio. I couldn’t pretend like I didn’t understand all of that. Twelve men were dead, plus two of their own. But one thing stood out in the worst way. “Italians?”

Anger flashed across his face. “We need to go. Now.”

“Why would Italians be breaking into your mom’s house?” I demanded before looking at her. “You said it was probably a robbery. By locals, right?”

Her lie didn’t rattle me, but news of the Italians actually put my nerves on edge.

“I don’t know why they were here.” He tugged on my hand, but I stood firm.

“Italians like your buddy Brazzi? Is this him? Is he here?”

Alessio lifted his chin and blew out a breath. “He’s not, but we believe they were his men.”

I stepped back, pulling my hand free from his. This was no longer acting. What the fuck was going on?

“Why? Why would he send them here?”

Why not attack Alessio in Miami?

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