10. Cade
Chapter 10
Cade
The three of us are ready for battle when we reach Antonio’s home, knowing he is the last person to see her alive.
This is no longer about the babies or about Rafe and I being accepted, but about letting the girl we care so much for know we want her in our lives forever.
I fell for Lia quite early.
Obviously, Dante is head over heels in love with her. I have a feeling it’s been for much longer than he’ll admit—perhaps from the moment she first challenged him, or ran from him.
Whatever it is, she ignited something long dormant in his heart.
Rafe wants her too, albeit not as much as I do. But it won’t harm our relationship, because I know she’s slowly winning him over. Her kindness, her strength, her ability to see something others don't—it’s a magic few can resist, least of all Rafe, who guards his heart more fiercely than any treasure.
“Tell Antonio that Dante de Luca is here to see him,” Dante says to the security guard at the front gate to his home. His voice carries the authority of a man who has weight, even as an heir and not yet a leader.
The gate opens, and we drive up the winding road, which is flanked by landscaped gardens and manicured bushes all the way to Antonio’s mansion. It’s a display of old money and power. Although the home itself is an imposing structure with a symmetrical facade and looks a lot like Buckingham Palace. There’s even a central balcony with an ornate railing. Yet somehow I can’t ever see Antonio stepping onto it.
As we reach the door, it swings open to reveal Antonio himself, flanked by his security detail.
“De Luca,” he says, his curious tone as an edge of disdain. “To what do I owe this... intrusion?”
Dante doesn’t bother with pleasantries. “Where is she, Antonio? Where’s Lia?”
Antonio’s eyebrows rise. “Why would she be here?”
“Don’t play games,” Rafe interjects, his patience already thin. “We know she came here.”
“And how would you know that?” Antonio’s eyebrows raise because he knows there's only one way to know.
Dante steps forward, his voice low and dangerous. “And we also know Dominic was seen leaving your home at one-thirty this morning. Strange hour for a Syndicate visit, isn’t it?”
Antonio’s jaw tightens, a flicker of unease crossing his features before he masks it. “My dealings with your father are none of your concern. As for Lia, if she was here, she’s gone now. I don’t control her movements.”
“No?” Dante challenges. “You’ve only been trying to control her entire life. What did you do, Antonio? Threaten her?”
Antonio’s eyes flash. “You dare accuse me? You, who couldn't leave her alone and brought her smack bang into the middle of this world? She was safe until you three vultures swooped in and gave her a point of no return.” He turns to Rafe and points his finger. “You should never have given her the job in the club.”
Rafe scoffs. “She was brought back into this life well before her job at my club.”
The tension is palpable, each man coiled like a cobra, ready to strike. But before it can escalate further, Antonio’s phone rings. He glances at the screen, and something shifts in his expression.
"Hello." He listens intently. His next words send a chill through us. “She’s released her inheritance,” he says into the phone. “That’s a fucking disaster. Why didn’t you talk her out of it?”
Rafe and Dante stare bewildered at each other, and I feel my stomach drop.
“What have you done?” Dante demands, his composure cracking. “Is she running? Did you force her hand?”
Which means she is still alive.
Antonio ignores Dante. Still focused on his call, but his next words turn my blood cold.
“Don’t tell her where the tracker is,” Antonio says, his tone leaving no room for argument. Then he yells, "She told you what?"
In an instant, Dante has Antonio pinned against the wall, his forearm pressed against the older man’s throat. Rafe and I move in tandem, keeping the security guards at bay.
“A tracker?” Dante hisses, his face inches from Antonio’s. “You tagged her like an animal? Your own daughter?”
Antonio doesn’t flinch. “To protect her. Something you clearly can’t do. I did it the night she was nearly killed.”
“Save it,” I cut in, disgust roiling in my gut. “Tell us where the tracker says she is, Antonio. Now.”
He shrugs out of Dante's hold, then speaks into his phone. “I’ll speak to you later, Jove.” He disconnects the call and turns back to us, staring before his gaze lands on Dante. “Why couldn’t you leave her the fuck alone?”
“You’re blaming me?” Dante hisses.
“I know you stalked her from the moment you found out about her. I had to put measures in place because she was getting closer and closer to this world. Measures—”
“Measures?" Dante pauses. "Is that why you asked my father to marry Helena, because you thought I’d leave her alone if she was my stepsister,” Dante states.
Antonio doesn’t answer.
Dante smiles. “But I ruined your plan when I married her beforehand.”
“I warned you to leave her alone,” Antonio growls.
“And I told you that wouldn’t happen, despite where you tried to hide her in the world.”
“Will you two stop fucking fighting and realize you both want what is best for Lia.” Rafe’s voice lifts as he stands in between Antonio and Dante. “Now where the hell is she?”
Antonio’s chest rises and falls before he exhales deeply, and says, "Follow me."
We walk down the long hallway, our footsteps echoing on the white Italian marble tiles that cover the floor. The opulence is overwhelming. The artwork and sculpture adorning the walls and corners is a testament to Antonio’s power, wealth, and old school Italian taste.
Chiaroscuro figures gaze down at us from the walls, their stark contrasts of light and shadow mirroring the light clean home that clashes with the darkness of the family who owns it.
Antonio leads us into a large office, a room that breathes old-world authority. Wooden bookshelves line the walls. The scent of aged paper and fine cigars hangs in the air. He walks to an imposing mahogany desk.
“She’s very upset at the moment,” Antonio says, his voice full of concern. “She learned of her mother’s sacrifice and normally, I’d say there is nobody out there who is stronger than her, but she’s vulnerable right now. I know she was on a mission, and I no longer know if she wants to finish it, but there’s a chance she’ll make a mistake if she does.”
Dante’s eyebrow arches skeptically. “Finish it? You’re still alive.” His tone suggests he doubts every word Antonio is telling us.
A shadow crosses Antonio’s face—not fear, but of grim acceptance. “I suspect I’m now the last person on her list.”
Rafe growls, his patience evaporating. “Then where the hell is she?” His voice bounces off the book spines and the cold porcelain floor.
Antonio moves behind his desk. “If you let me get to my computer, I can give you an idea of her location.” He pauses, his fingers hovering over the keyboard. “Earlier today, she went to Dominic's house and then she went to see her father. I suspect she’s worked out exactly who he is.”
Dante leans in, his body tense, ready to intercept any potential threat. “And who is he? I thought he was an ex-mercenary.”
Antonio shakes his head as he takes a seat, his movements measured. The desk between them feels like a chessboard, each man positioning his pieces. “She’ll tell you.”
I know this isn’t my domain, nevertheless; I step forward, drawn by a nagging question. “Why did she leave, Antonio? She was here to kill you.”
His eyes meet mine, and in them, I see unexpected anguish. “And she will one day. I was prepared for it and I gave her the opportunity, but she never took it.”
The room falls silent as we absorb this. He must have handed her his weapon and asked her to do it. We saw the security footage. He knocked the gun from her hand and pointed his weapon at her.
Antonio’s fingers dance across the keyboard, his focus intense as he turns his computer to us. A map appears on the screen, a blue dot pulsating over nothing.
His chest rises and falls in a steady rhythm as he stares at the screen.
"Where is she?" Dante asks. His voice is low and menacing.
“She’s in the middle of the ocean,” Antonio chokes out. There’s turmoil in his gaze. His daughter is out of reach, her path so drastically different from the one he’d painstakingly planned.
“What?” Rafe and I exclaim in unison.
Dante doesn’t speak. Instead, he moves swiftly, circling the desk until he’s directly behind Antonio. He turns the screen back to him and, with a low voice edged with steel, he says, “She’s my wife, Antonio. Now tell me where the fuck she is so I can protect her and my children.”
Something in Dante’s tone makes Antonio twist on his chair. His eyes, usually so calculating, hold a glimmer of surprise. “Children?” he whispers. “Twins?”
Dante nods, a muscle in his jaw twitching. “Nobody told you?”
“No.” The word hangs in the air, heavy with implied connotations. The great Antonio Conti, surprised, his web of information suddenly revealed as incomplete.
A sardonic smile plays on Dante’s lips. “I’m surprised by that. I thought you’d know every single thing she did.”
Antonio’s gaze drifts back to the screen, to that solitary blue dot in a sea of digital green. “I knew she was pregnant, but...” He pauses. “Follow me.”
As we trail behind him, back through the hallway of Italian marble and Renaissance art, the dynamic has shifted. Antonio’s steps are quicker, but less measured.
He presses his palm against an invisible reader. The wall panel slides across, revealing a hidden room full of computers and a large screen that fills one wall of the room. He presses a button and the map from his office flickers to light on the wall. The blue dot flashing amid the ocean.
The ocean.
I swallow.
Antonio zooms in, and the coordinates appear beside the pulsing dot.
“She’s approximately two hundred nautical miles off the coast of Airlie Beach,” he says. “Moving at a steady speed. Most likely on a private yacht.”
Dante presses his hands on the table in front of the screen and leans in, his eyes locked on that digital beacon. “Whose yacht?”
“Unknown. But given her resources and contacts...” Antonio doesn’t finish the thought. He doesn’t need to. We all know Lia’s network extends far beyond what any of us fully grasp.
I watch Dante, seeing the internal war play out on his face. He straightens, decision made. “Send the coordinates to my phone.”
"I will if you tell me if you killed Eduardo's assassin," Antonio says.
Rafe and I stare at Dante and wait.
"What you should ask is why Eduardo Gallo wants my wife … and your daughter dead." Dante runs his tongue over his teeth as he tries to calm the rage building inside him. "And someone gave the assassin Lia's name just before he was eliminated. Now it's about time you fucking thanked me for protecting your daughter since she was sixteen years old."
Antonio swallows and sighs. His face contorts like he is trying to get the words out but is struggling. "I have something for you."
He opens a drawer, takes out a device and points it at the screen. Another dot flashes, this time it’s red and on land.
Antonio coughs. “Don’t tell her about this one.”