Page 125 of Pietro
"Christ." Vittoria sinks into a chair. "No wonder she doesn't trust easily."
"But that means Declan has history with her," Nico continues, always thinking three steps ahead. "Personal history. He might not just want her for leverage."
The implication hangs in the air, thick and suffocating. Before I can respond—before I can put my fist through another wall—my phone buzzes.
"Finn?"
"I heard what happened." Finn O'Sullivan's voice carries urgency through the speaker. "Is it true? Declan has Nora?"
"How did you?—"
"I still have contacts. Listen, Pietro. Connor wants to help bring down Declan. He was looking for him but it was like chasing a ghost. No one knew where he was or what he was planning. He has left the Murphy's too."
"He will use her against Connor," I say, the pieces clicking together. "Revenge on both families now that he knows she was with us."
"Exactly. The question is whether he keeps her in Chicago or takes her back to Boston."
"If he moves her..." The thought of Nora being dragged across state lines, further from my reach, makes my trigger finger itch.
"I'm coming there," Finn says. It’s not a question. "Don't argue. She's my blood, even if Connor won't claim her. I'm going to help get her back."
Part of me wants to refuse. Finn O'Sullivan in my territory, in my compound—it goes against every instinct. But he helped Nora escape. He's the reason she found her way to me.
"You need someone to pick you up?"
"I can manage."
The line goes dead.
"Finn's cominghere?" Vittoria’s voice is a high, thin wire.
"To help." I pocket the phone. "Murphy and Declan aren't working together. That's our advantage."
"Or Declan's more dangerous because he's got nothing to lose," Nico counters.
While we wait for Finn, my family sprawls around the conference room table, mapping out scenarios. Liam coordinates with our soldiers, gathering intelligence on Declan's known locations. The table fills with maps, photographs, shipping manifests—anything that might give us an edge.
"He'll keep her close," I say, studying the Murphy family's known properties. "Declan's possessive. He won't trust anyone else with her."
"Unless he wants to hurt her." Vittoria's quiet words make my blood freeze. "You said he tried to kill her before."
"That was to keep her quiet. This is different. She's leverage now."
"Leverage for what?" Nico leans back in his chair, thinking out loud. "If Connor's not backing him, what's Declan's endgame?"
"Maybe..." Lorenzo’s jaw tightens. I can see the gears turning, see him choosing his next words like they're weapons. "Maybe it's not about leverage."
"Meaning?"
"They were together for three years. Engaged." Lorenzo meets my gaze steadily. "Maybe Declan wants her back. Not as a hostage, but as?—"
The crystal tumbler explodes against the wall before I realize I've thrown it. Whiskey drips down the wallpaper like amber blood.
"Don't."
Pietro, we have to consider all possibilities?—"
"He tried to KILL her." I'm on my feet, hands planted on the table, leaning into Lorenzo's space. "He betrayed her, used her, put his hands around her throat and tried to end her life. And you think he wants her back?"
