Page 91 of Deception & Desire

“I lie to youall the time,dingus,” Issy groans. “Snap out of it. We need you firing on all cylinders here, not throwing yourself on a suicide mission trying to climb a flight of stairs, all right?”

No one speaks to me like Issy. No one has ever had the death wish, honestly. Yet it’s her words that temper the near-endless pit of rage that has consumed me since the moment I found out Mia was missing.

Sensing the shift in mood, Dante takes a bold step closer. “Leon, listen. You need to know what happened at the casino.”

I close my eyes, grit my teeth, and exhale. “Tell me.”

Everyone around me visibly relaxes. The doctor coughs awkwardly and makes his escape. Dante starts speaking once the door is firmly closed.

“It was chaos after Max shot you. He wasn’t working alone. The Cartel had servers planted as operatives. They were waiting for his signal. As soon as you hit the ground, they went straight for her.”

He steps closer, as if he can block my escape if I try again to race out of the room.

“Mia fought like hell,” Dante continues, his voice softening. “She was holding her own until they overwhelmed her. I saw them dragging her out just as reinforcements arrived. By the time we pushed the Cartel back, they were gone. Max included.”

“Max…” I growl, the betrayal cutting deeper than the bullet ever could.

“We tracked him all the way back to a compound in Long Island. That’s where all of Rubio’s forces seem to be regrouping,” Teo says. “But we have other problems, Leon.”

I fix my gaze on him, already dreading his next words. “Spit it out.”

“Max didn’t just betray us by aligning with the Cartel,” Teo begins, his voice grim. “He’s been feeding us lies for months, severely inflating the damage we’ve done to Amos Rubio’s network. The Cartel isn’t as weak as we thought.”

I let his words sink in, a slow burn of rage building in my chest. “How badly did he twist it?”

“Badly,” Teo says bluntly. “All those supply lines Dante thought we’d taken out? Most are still running. The smuggling routes we thought were torched? Fully operational.”

Dante runs a hand down his face, the realization hitting him just as hard. “That son of a bitch.”

“And it gets worse,” Teo cuts in, his voice tightening. “The attack at the casino was just the beginning. Max coordinated simultaneous strikes on both of our families—the Guild and the Prince’s Hand.”

I’m going to murder that traitorous bastard with my bare hands.

“My warehouses were hit last night, and my men are still fighting to take them back. Four of your casinos in Manhattan were robbed mercilessly. We’ve both been crippled.”

I grip the edge of the bed, my knuckles whitening.

“Rubio’s playing this perfectly,” I mutter. “And I let his crown jester into my fucking court.”

“No one is blaming you, Leon.” Isabella’s voice is softer than the others, but it doesn’t take the sting away.

Teo leans back, his eyes sharp and calculating. “But we need to be smart about this right now. We regroup, dig in, focus on recovery?—”

“No.”

His dark eyes flash with surprise.

“We don’t dig in. We don’t wait.” I sit up straighter, ignoring the stabbing pain in my chest. “We hit Amos Rubio where it hurts. Now. Before he can consolidate his gains.”

“You’re serious,” Dante says, arching a brow.

“Dead serious,” I snap. “Rubio thinks he’s crippled us, which means he’s overconfident. He’ll be celebrating his victory, holed up in that mansion of his. If we wait, he’ll regroup and come for us again, this time with everything he’s got.”

Teo shakes his head. “We’re spread thin, Leon. We’ve got manpower issues, supply issues. And let’s not forget you just got shot.”

I glare at him. “Rubio took my wife. I’m not giving him time to gloat.”

“You’re thinking emotionally,” Teo counters, his voice low and steady. “This isn’t just about Mia. It’s about the survival of the entire Italian empire in New York. You can’t throw what’s left of us at him without a plan.”

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