Page 51 of Coerced Queen

“You heard me.”I square my shoulders.“I’m going to take Elena.”

“Jesus.”He puts a hand on his brow and turns in a circle as he digests my meaning.Facing me again, he asks, “Are you out of your fucking mind?”

“No.”I hold his gaze, my heart thumping between my ribs but my voice remaining even.“Saverio gave up on finding out how big Raphael’s arsenal is, didn’t he?That’s why he came up with this ridiculous plan of offering himself as bait instead of planning an attack that he can actually win.”

Dante doesn’t reply, giving me the answer with his silence.After a beat, he says, “No intelligent man will go into a war unprepared.If we don’t know what we’re facing, we’ll be going in blind.That’s why Sav had to change tactics.Raphael is biding his time.Like Sav, he’s in the dark.He doesn’t know how much resistance to expect from us.

“He’s careful for now, but sooner rather than later, he’s going to grow impatient.He’s going to manage to buy intel on how weak our defenses are or, more likely, he’s going to torture one of us until he gets the information he wants.Whatever the case, he’s not going to wait much longer before he finishes what he started.”

“I’m going to get that damn inventory so that we know exactly what we’re up against, and then we’re going to do a series of well-planned guerrilla attacks that will force them to use maximum arms while we save ours.We’re going to snatch away Raphael’s wife and his unborn child right from under his nose before all of this happens.That’s the sword we’ll hold over his head.”

“He’ll come for you,” Dante says, shaking his head.“He’ll kidnap you in exchange for his wife.”

“Not if his wife tells the world she came to us willingly.”

“What are you talking about?”

“If Elena makes a video that states she ran to Sav to escape her husband, Raphael will never live down the humiliation.”

“True,” he says with a question in his eyes, scrutinizing me.

“We show Raphael the video and tell him we’ll release it if he comes after us.If that video gets out, he’ll be the laughingstock of New York City.The cartels won’t have confidence in a man who loses his own wife to his enemy.”

“He’ll kill Elena if he ever finds her.”

“Then we better make sure we win.”

“Or all of us are dead.”

“We’re dead anyway.You said yourself it’s only a matter of time.So what can it hurt to try?”

He stomps to the window, staring out for a second before turning back to me.“You won’t be dead if…”

“If you and Saverio sacrifice yourselves?”

“You’re a mother.You have a child to think about.”

“Iamthinking about my child.That’s exactly why I’m doing this.If I don’t, Claire will never be safe.There will always be another Raphael who’s too greedy for money and power.I’m not an expert in your business, but I’ve been here long enough to know one thing.The only way of surviving this kind of life is to be stronger and cleverer than everyone else.”He opens his mouth, but I don’t give him a chance to speak.“But I’m also thinking about you, the men and their families, and Saverio.”I add in a softer tone, “Maybe I’m also thinking about myself for once, and I don’t want to live the rest of my life as a widow.”

“Anya,” he says with frustration.

“It’s a good plan, Dante.It can work.”I advance on him.“Admit it.”

Dragging a hand over his head, he blows out a long breath.“Say you manage to pull off all that shit, why would Elena agree to do something like that?Why would she make a video to humiliate her husband in front of the whole world?”

“Because I have something she wants.”I add quietly, “Desperately.”

“Fuck, Anya.I don’t know.”

“I’ll get the inventory and the video.That’s a good starting point, right?Once that’s done, we can take it from there.”

“No.”He studies me with a solemn expression.“When Elena disappears, it’ll be too late already.Raphael will hit back.By then, our strategy has to be in place.Even better if we can strike in the midst of the chaos when he finds out Elena is gone, long before he’s had time to digest his wife’s betrayal.”

“Then you and Saverio have your work cut out for you.I’ll handle the inventory and Elena.”

He doesn’t sound convinced.“How?”

“Don’t worry about the how.I’ll manage.Just do the rest.”

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