25. Dante
Chapter 25
Dante
I tighten my grip on the door handle as I approach the back room of the Prince’s Guild casino. The weight of it is almost unbearable. I pause, take a long breath, and try to center myself.
There’s work to do.
I push the door open and step inside. The usual hum of voices fades as the men look up at me, their faces stoic.
Rocco sits at the far end of the table, his eyes hard as he murmurs something to the guy next to him. Teo stands by a map on the wall, his gaze distant, while the screen beside him does something impressive and analytical.
I don’t look directly at Teo, not trusting myself to keep my emotions in check. Instead, I focus on the map, pretending to care about the Guild’s logistics and the moves we need to make in the next few weeks.
Teo doesn’t seem fooled. He watches me for a moment, his dark eyes sharp. “You wanna spit it out? Or do you need a couple more minutes?”
“Asshole,” I mutter.
Teo raises an eyebrow, leaning against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. “You want me to be a real asshole? I can tell you why I think you’re about to ask me what you’re about to ask me.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I say flatly.
He doesn’t push further on that, waiting for me to fill the silence like he knows I will.
“Have you heard anything?”
“You’re going to have to be a little more specific.”
“The bullet wound,” I bite out, then glance around to make sure no one is paying attention. “How bad was it?”
Despite his earlier goading, the smirk falls from Teo’s face as he sighs.
“We haven’t heard anything. If she was admitted anywhere, I might have been able to pick up something, but…” he gestures to his computer screen absently. “It’s equally likely they have professional medical care in the mansion, so...”
No news didn’t mean bad news; it just tightened the coil of guilt and worry in my stomach.
“You’re asking me the wrong question, anyway,” Teo finishes with a pointed look.
I have to restrain myself from rolling my eyes. “Enlighten me.”
“Thought you might be interested in who fired the first shot.”
“What do you mean?”
He doesn’t seem to want to say it out loud, content in just waiting for me to figure it out for myself.
“It wasn’t us, was it?” It’s not even really a question.
Fuck. The weight of it hits me like a punch to the gut. The Cartel. They were trying to kill her. That thought, that realization, sends a chill down my spine.
Teo meets my gaze, his expression grave. “I’m saying it wasn’t me. It wasn’t you. Rocco and Leon were so focused on getting Mia out…our men didn’t arrive until after she fell.”
I swallow hard, feeling like I can’t breathe. I try to keep my composure, but the fury is bubbling beneath the surface. I can’t stop the thoughts of Carmen alone with them, hurt, vulnerable, and at their mercy.
Teo gives me a long look before breaking the silence, his voice quieter now. “You need to get your shit together, Dante.”
I look at him, struggling to keep the tumult of emotion in check. “Why would Rubio…that’s his daughter .”
“You can’t think of a single reason the Cartel might be questioning her loyalties?”
No. There’s no way. He couldn’t possibly know…
Before I can respond to Teo, the door slams open.
“All right, everyone sit your asses down,” Leon barks as he strides up to the table. But it’s not the demand in his voice that captures everyone’s attention; it’s the woman in his shadow.
Mia looks, thankfully, so much better, no longer the disheveled, bloodied woman I saw in that warehouse. Her wounds have been tended to, and the bruises on her face have faded, but not enough to erase the remnants of the hell she’s been through.
Ever the overprotective husband, Leon watches her like a hawk as she moves toward the head of the table. Ignoring the stares, she takes her seat as if she’d never left it. Fiery red hair curls over her shoulder. She exudes an almost unnatural sense of control.
She clears her throat. “I have information.”
The words are simple, but they hit the room like a shot. Even Leon, who’s been glued to her side, steps back just enough to allow her to take the lead.
“I spent months in that house,” she continues. “In that time, I gathered intel. Learned things. Things about the layout of the Rubio mansion, about its security, the routines of the men who work for him.”
Her eyes flicker over to me for a brief moment, and I notice the subtle change in her gaze. It’s almost as if she’s measuring me, seeing how I’ll react.
“I believe I have a strong lead on what their next moves will be. Reinforcements from Cancún arrived only days before I left.”
Something akin to dread begins to pool in my stomach.
There’s a beat of silence before Leon speaks up. “Mia, you don’t have to do this now.”
“I’m not waiting. Time is precious. If we don’t act quickly, they’ll move before we can. And I need to be part of this now. I’m ready.”
I glance at Leon, who’s still hovering behind his wife, his protective instincts barely concealed. He may not want her to jump back into this world, but it’s clear that he’s not about to stop her.
I give her a slow nod. “We’re listening, Red.”
Her eyes meet mine as she delivers the news, “The reinforcements from Cancún include Hernando Lacruz.”
The name hits the room like a bomb. Teo’s jaw tightens, and Rocco’s hand grips the edge of the table. The others shift uneasily, their faces darkening.
For everyone else in the room, the mention of Hernando Lacruz is a major problem. The man’s reputation precedes him, a ruthless ally to the Cartel and one of Amos Rubio’s most powerful enforcers.
His arrival signals bad news for the Guild—more blood, more danger, more devastation. The thought of facing him in battle is enough to make anyone’s stomach churn.
But for me?
Hernando Lacruz is the man Carmen was supposed to marry.
The realization hits me like a punch to the gut. My mind spins, and for a moment, the rest of the room disappears. I can’t stop the wave of panic that crashes over me.
If Lacruz is coming, he’s coming for her.
“Dante.” Her voice is soft, quiet in the chaos and uproar around us.
When I look up at her, I’m stunned by her expression.
Mia knows.
She knows why Lacruz is here. She knows that Carmen is his intended bride.
And after my reaction, she knows exactly who Carmen is to me.
Despite her bruises, the ruin that has been her life for the past months while I’ve been playing Italian don an ocean away, I’m absolutely floored by the sympathy in her expression.
She was torn away from the person she loved, too.
Leon’s voice cuts through the uproar, trying to regain control of the meeting, trying to steer it back on course.
“We need to focus on the bigger picture,” he barks. “Mia, is there a chance we can negotiate with Lacruz?”
Mia glances away from me casually, like nothing happened.
“Perhaps. But if the Cartel has already made him an offer, it would be difficult. He has no loyalty to us, and Lacruz is a serious player. We can’t afford to underestimate him.”
I barely hear the rest of her words. My thoughts keep circling back to Carmen. If what Teo said earlier was true—if they somehow know about 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. “The Cartel are 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 about Carmen? ”
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 should stoop to 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 retaliate personally if we don’t get this right.”
“They made it personal when they took Mia,” Leon growls.
I want to laugh at him. “No, we made 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.
“Fucking hell, Dante. Please tell me you didn’t.”
I can feel the eyes of everyone around me, making me want to itch under my very skin.
The only person I can stand to look at is Mia, who offers me a very small, very tentative smile.
I nod once at her before clearing my throat. “Carmen Rubio is her own fucking person. I will not let you kill her.”