Page 63 of Breeding Justice

“I thought we were just going to kill him,” Justice said.

“I know, and that’s tempting—but he’s looking for an heir right now, right? That’s why he desperately wants the baby. And at the end of the day, when we kill him, someone from his cohort is going to want to take over his op. His op is SJ’s by right, so…we take over, we destroy him, and we protect our child.”

“Sounds easy,” Skylar said.

Zane chuckled under his breath. None of them said anything for a second.

“It won’t be easy,” I said. “But it’s what we have to do.”

Justice nodded. “I think you’re right. We can't give Vito time to regroup. We push the timeline by baiting him with something he can't resist—like Dante flipping on him." Her voice had that edge, a knife wrapped in velvet.

Skylar leaned back, arms crossed, a challenge in his gaze. "Yeah, because Dante's just itching to betray the mafia kingpin." His sarcasm broke the air, a reminder of the risk hanging over us.

“From your briefing, I understand that Dante isn’t in Vito’s pocket right now and their relationship is up in the air. Obviously, Dante’s dad probably won’t want to hear about this…which is why we have to use Dante. The prince, not the king. That’s the only way this works,” I said.

Hassan nodded, a slow, deliberate gesture. "You’re right. Dante needs to see something worth switching sides for. We can promise him influence in the Miami trade. That's the only angle he's going to buy." His calm presence was a counterbalance, the voice of reason when the stakes were high.

I let their words settle, taking in the mix of skepticism and resolve. This was who we were—a family bound by blood and necessity, driven by a cause that was bigger than any one of us. "We show him we mean business. We lay it all out and give Vito nowhere to hide."

For a moment, the only sound was SJ's contented munching, a stark contrast to the tension ready to explode. Then, as if on cue, the room hummed back to life, each of them lost in thought, planning, readying themselves for what came next. We were committed now, and there was no turning back.

“Okay,” I said. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

Zane dialed the burner phone, his fingers steady despite the tension crackling around us. The rest of us fell silent, each waiting for Dante to pick up, each breath held hostage by the stakes at play. I focused on the phone, ready to jump in and steer the conversation the second Zane needed backup. The clock was ticking, and every second felt like a countdown to a war we couldn't afford to lose.

“Moretti,” Zane said as soon as Dante picked up.

“Dr. Silva. Did you make it to Miami?”

“Almost. We’ve recovered the package,” Zane said. “Thank you for your help.”

Dante was quiet for a few seconds. “Why do I feel like you’re about to ask me for another favor?”

“Because you’re a perceptive man, Dante,” Zane replied, a smile in his voice. “We need you to set up another meeting with Vito.”

“Because the last one went so well?”

“We have leverage. We just want to broker a deal.”

Dante sighed. “I don’t know if he’ll give me the time of day. Not after what happened last time.”

“I’m sure you can talk some sense into him, Moretti. We can make it worth your while.”

"You think I want to get caught between two hurricanes?" Dante's voice came through, sharp and wary. "You Knives might be sharp, but Vito's a fucking storm."

Zane stayed calm, the cool surgeon even now. "We can control this. You've seen what we do in Miami. Imagine a cut of that,Dante. We control the ports down here…you do up there. My boss is prepared to offer you a deal that you’ll struggle to walk away from."

I watched Skylar's eyes roll, skepticism written all over his face, but he stayed quiet. Justice was less patient, her fingers tapping a rapid beat on the table. Hassan listened intently, his gaze fixed on the phone, absorbing every word.

I leaned in, my voice cutting through the doubt. "Help us, and you'll be the one left standing after the storm passes. We've got control over Miami's distribution—you want in, this is your shot."

Dante hesitated, his suspicion palpable. I could almost see him weighing the odds, balancing fear against ambition. "You better not be bluffing, Rivera. If Vito smells a trap, I'll sell you out before he even takes his next breath."

The threat hung heavy in the air, but the tension didn't crack us—it fused us. Justice met my eyes, her resolve a mirror of my own. Zane nodded, his practicality undiminished. Hassan offered a quiet understanding, the kind that went deeper than words.

We were all in now, no safety net, no way out but through. The phone clicked dead, and I looked around at my crew. Their faces were set with the kind of determination that would either save us or bring us crashing down. In that moment, the risk felt astangible as the blood we'd be spilling, but it was a risk we had to take.

The safehouse felt like the eye of a storm, quiet but charged with a danger we all sensed. I watched the crew, their focus as sharp as the weapons we'd soon be carrying. SJ sat on the floor, a fortress of wooden blocks his only concern. The rest of us had our minds on another kind of construction: the plan that would bring Vito crashing down.

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