Page 105 of Not Mine to Keep

Calliope

“The League sent someone from their location in Oslo and confirmed the intelligence,” Hudson shared the second we joined everyone inside a large office decorated with warm wood and dark colors.

“That was fast. Rocco must be anxious for us to hurry up and get there,” Alessandro said as his mother pulled me in for a hug and murmured apologies as if she were to blame for my nightmare.

I peeked over her shoulder, catching Alessandro peering my way as if the sight of his mother holding on to me for dear life physically pained him.

“So my aunt is being held in Norway?” I asked once she freed me from her grip. “Do they know if she’s still okay?” I swiped away tears, sending an acknowledging hello to Mr. Costa when he joined the room.

Hudson handed an iPad to Alessandro, and he gestured for me to join in to view the screen. Did I really want to see that? No, but did I look? Of course. “She’s tied to a chair. No visible injuries and alive. This is in real-time.”

I’d done my best not to involve Tia in my mess, but what if I’d told her in the first place? Maybe she’d be okay.This is my fault.

“Clearly, Rocco was expecting we’d take the bait and send someone to confirm she’s there. He wants us to see her,” Izzy said, sitting behind the desk in front of a laptop, Constantine off to her side.

“Since you received a location, does that mean you figured out who’s the insider at Italian Intelligence?” I directed my question to Hudson as Alessandro handed him back the iPad.

“Yeah. Gabriel let his case officer know the insider is working with the Barones,” Hudson shared. “They can’t arrest him until after the Barones are taken down, or they’ll figure out we’re onto them.”

“Guess it’s a good thing we didn’t trust Gabriel.” Izzy looked up from her screen.

Because then anything you told him would’ve wound up back at Rocco.

“But you were right about him.” Constantine looked at Alessandro, and was that an apologetic nod from him?

“What are we telling Armani?” I asked them, knowing Leo wouldn’t reach out to Armani. But Frankie had to know something was wrong since we’d hightailed it from the penthouse, and Javier was keeping him outside the house right now.

“The truth.” Mr. Costa joined in on the conversation. “A version of it, at least.”

“That Rocco’s family is coming after us for revenge,” Alessandro clarified, hooking his arm around my waist, drawing me to his side. When his mother noticed the comforting gesture, a little look of hope reached her eyes despite everything going on right now. “Gabriel will tell him. And I think we should have Gabriel go with the team on the rescue op in Norway, let the insider truly believe we took the bait.”

I turned into him, hands flying to his hard chest. “But it’s going to be an ambush, right? What if he gets killed and my aunt dies in the cross fire?”

“I’ll go with him,” Hudson offered. “We need someone from our side to make it more believable. Plus, we’ll have League support.”

Izzy abruptly stood, her brown eyes shooting his way. Concern etched between her brows. “What, so you can be the one to die in the ambush?”

“No one’s dying,” Hudson rasped, turning his attention on her as if insulted she’d think he’d go down that easily. I had a feeling there was more going on in that heated look being exchanged than any of us were privy to.

“Clearly, you have the memory of a goldfish,” she said, breaking the silent staring contest. “I may have been in the dark about what happened to Constantine four years ago while it was going on, but he was taken for weeks, and ...” She let her words to Hudson hang in the air while catching Constantine’s eyes as her next target.

“It’s different this time,” Constantine said after an awkward minute ticked by. “We have the advantage.”

“But do we?” If Izzy was this on edge, how was I supposed to feel? Would the shell shock wear off and I’d become hysterical with worry? “What if Rocco has an exfil plan? An emergency way off the compound we’re unaware of?”

“We have no choice but to go,” Constantine said, his tone steady and reassuring. “And The League has been prepping for the infil into the compound for weeks. We’re doing a HAHO jump, and once inside, The League will breach from the Black Sea. This needs to end with the Barones, and now.”

“Hey-ho?” I looked up at my husband. “What does that mean?”

“High altitude, high opening jump,” Alessandro explained, as if that’d make perfect sense to me. “We have to jump from high up so no one can hear or see the plane. Then we glide into the landing zone at a horizontal distance for quite some time.”

When you put it like that ...“You make it sound like it’s no big deal. Are there risks from jumping from high-high up?”

“Hypoxia. Not opening the chute in time.” At Hudson’s words, Izzy grabbed a pen from the desk and launched it across the room. Hesnatched it before it hit his face. “We’ll be fine.” He mumbled under his breath and asked her, “That better?”

“Then what happens?” I knew Alessandro didn’t want to share details that’d make me worry, but I needed reassurances he’d be fine and that the mysterious League group really did have it all covered.

“The League will enter from the sea as we drop in from above.” Constantine repeated what he’d already said but with smaller words this time. “They have overwatch—guys on snipers with a view into the compound—set up as well. Not to mention a drone overhead to keep a watch out. There are four towers we’ll hit first so we can safely move in without drawing fire.”

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