Page 92 of Obsession & Oath

I barely hear the rest of her words. My thoughts keep circling back to Carmen. If what Teo said earlier was true—if they somehowknowabout us… If Lacruz is there…Carmen could be in serious danger.

Fuck. I was so fucking stupid.

I thought the one place Carmen would at least be safe was back with the Cartel. But now she was in danger, real, serious danger. And it was all my fucking fault.

The sound of Leon’s voice is distant, but I catch the last of his words as they filter back into my consciousness.

“...We’ll hit him hard before he gets too comfortable. The Rubio mansion set it ablaze. Lacruz included. Burn it all down.”

My stomach tightens, and something dark settles in my chest. I stand, every instinct screaming against what Leon is suggesting. I can’t let him do this. I can’t let him risk everything, especially not Carmen.

“No.” My voice cuts through the tension in the room, my hands gripping the edge of the table as I push myself to my feet. “You can’t do that.”

All eyes turn to me. Leon’s brow furrows in confusion. “What do you mean, ‘can’t’? We’ve got the intel. We hit them hard and fast, take out Lacruz, and cripple their operation. The Guild doesn’t get a better shot at this than now.”

I shake my head, frustration coursing through me. “There are innocent people in that house.”

The room goes quiet, like everyone’s holding their breath. Leon narrows his eyes, and it feels like the seconds stretch out longer and longer.

Finally, he speaks again. “TheCartelare in that house, Dante. People who have spent the last five months cutting us off at every fucking corner. I’ll give you a pass for speaking against me because you haven’t been around, but say something like that again….”

“What of their prisoners?”

“Mia is back. She’s safe.”

“What aboutCarmen?”

Leon’s eyes flicker with rage. “What the hell is this, Dante? The Rubio girl is none of our concern.”

I open my mouth to answer, but before I can speak, Mia cuts in.

“Leon, this plan is reckless. You’re talking about burning the Rubio mansion to the ground like it’s some kind of tactical strike, but Dante’s right, there are innocent lives in there.”

His jaw clenches, and his eyes narrow as he snaps back, “No one in that house is innocent. They’re all complicit in what happened to you. They all watched as you were taken. They’re all part of the problem.”

Mia doesn’t back down. She holds his gaze, her face calm and composed.

“I was taken. But that doesn’t mean we shouldstoopto their level, Leon.” Her voice tightens. “I know you’re angry, I know you want revenge, but I’m here. I’m okay. You can’t afford to lose your head over this.”

I watch the exchange, feeling a strange sense of admiration for Mia. She’s standing her ground, even in the face of Leon’s fury.

Leon’s nostrils flare with irritation. “You’re being naive. You have no idea what it’s been like here without you. They deserve to pay for it with their blood.”

“I’m not naive. I just don’t think we need to act so brutally, not when there are assets,people, still in there that might help us in the long run. We can hit them where it hurts without tearing everything down in a bloody, senseless mess.”

I take a deep breath, trying to center myself. “We don’t need to burn everything. We need to be smart. Target Lacruz and anyone else who’s a threat, but we can’t go blindly into this without thinking about the consequences.”

“And what consequences are those, Dante?” Leon asks with a glare that makes me want to tread very, very carefully.

“Nothing good comes from tearing people away from those they love,” I stare back at him. “The Cartel will retaliatepersonallyif we don’t get this right.”

“They made it personal when they took Mia,” Leon growls.

I want to laugh at him. “No,wemade it personal when we took Carmen. She never deserved to be thrown into this, and I will not sit here and pretend that condemning her to the same death as her bastard father is going to fly with me.”

“Why do you even care?”

My mouth slams shut, my heart pounding in my chest as I try to come up with a response that would appease him. But my hesitation stretches too long. Something flashes in Leon’s eyes, and he staggers back a step.

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