Chapter 34 Leo
LEO
The house is in ruins. I taste blood in the back of my throat as I climb over the rubble to escape from the east, my ribs aching with every breath after hours of fighting Kenji and the army he led to our gates.
Smoke rolls from the remains of the once-towering structure, thick and oily, leaving black streaks on the pristine white walls.
Flames still lick the far end of the corridor, and glass crunches under my shoes as I step over what used to be a sconce. It’s too quiet now. Too still.
The ambush is over. We lost. And still, what cuts deepest is the way things ended with Sora. I never realized what a hold she had on me until the truth came to light.
But now that I know it was all an act, that every innocent glance, every soft touch was an act—just like that perfect mask she wears in public—I feel utterly crushed.
I let her in. She brought down all my defenses, and just like her family obliterated mine, Sora’s betrayal has completely gutted me.
I don’t know who’s still alive.
I’ve lost track of our losses, the number of men lying dead because we were taken completely by surprise.
I should run—if I want to survive. But I can’t leave until I find my brothers. Until I know their fates.
“Leo!”
I spin toward the sound of my name, my heart stalling in my chest. A silhouette lumbers through the smoke—broad shoulders, thick arms, face streaked with soot and blood. Relief crashes through me like a tidal wave.
“Miko,” I breathe.
My brother grabs me in a rough embrace, his hand clutching the back of my neck like he’s afraid I’ll vanish. For a moment, neither of us speaks.
“They killed him,” Miko says, voice low and gravelly. “I watched it happen. I couldn’t get to him in time. Our father’s gone.”
I close my eyes, the relief I feel a stark contrast to the heavy truth he just delivered.
I should be sad because, despite everything, Augusta was my father, but I was so intensely scared he was going to say one of my brothers’ names, I can only feel glad he didn’t. “Where are Gio and the twins?” I ask. “Are they okay?”
Miko doesn’t answer right away. His expression darkens. “They’re alive,” he answers ambiguously, and my stomach sinks. Because he didn’t say they’re alright. “Come on,” he mutters, nodding toward the east wing. “We have to move. The house isn’t safe anymore.”
We make our way through the wreckage, ducking falling beams and skirting pools of blood.
I try not to think about the bodies. I try not to think about how easily the front gate was breached, how quickly our defenses collapsed.
When we reach the hallway leading to what’s left of Raf’s apartment, I see them.
Raf is sitting on the ground, his eyes blank, his face pale, lips bloodied. Sandro crouches next to him, murmuring something low and steady.
Gio stands behind them, flanked by two of our surviving guards. Relief hits me all over again at the sight of my family alive. Damaged—but alive.
“Leo!” Gio rushes forward and pulls me into a tight hug. “You’re okay. We thought—”
“It would take more than this to kill me,” I rasp.
“We need to go. Now,” Miko says. “This place is compromised. If they’re regrouping, they’ll come back to finish what they started.”
“The yacht,” I say without thinking.
They all look at me.
“It’s stocked. Defensible. We’ll see them coming and can get away on the water.”
Miko nods. “Yeah. Good.”
We don’t waste time. Raf doesn’t speak a word as we help him to his feet. He holds on to Sandro’s shoulder like it’s the only thing keeping him upright. The scarf is still clutched in his hand.
By the time we reach the docks, my body is screaming. Blood coats my arm from a shallow cut I hadn’t noticed.
The yacht gleams in the moonlight like salvation, the last untouched remnant of our empire, and we board in silence.
It doesn’t take much time to gather our small remaining force in the yacht’s main cabin, everyone grim and bruised.
The black water of Lake Michigan groans beneath us, steady and deep, as the yacht stays moored to the boatyard dock, ready to set sail at a moment’s notice. It feels wrong, being here.
This boat was always a symbol of wealth, family, indulgence. Now it’s our hideout. Our only haven.
Miko’s the first to speak. “We lost more than the house,” he mutters, staring out at the water like it might swallow him whole. “The don is dead,” he confirms for everyone to hear.
Gio only nods, his expression solemn. Across from me, Sandro swallows hard and reaches over to steady Raf, who’s crumbling.
Raf’s always been the clever, sharp-tongued one, ever ready with a quick response. But right now, he looks like an empty shell.
“Where’s Genevieve?” I ask, realizing for the first time that my brother’s wife is missing, and a ball of ice forms in my stomach at the look of agony that flits across my baby brother’s face.
“They… slit her throat.” Raf’s voice cracks, thick with grief. “I couldn’t get to her in time, and they just… they didn’t even hesitate.”
Sandro says nothing.
He just keeps a hand on Raf’s shoulder as he keeps him upright.
My heart aches for Raf. I might not have seen what it was that Raf liked so much about Genevieve, but it kills me to see him in such pain, knowing his loss is similar to the one I’m suffering—only his wife was ripped from him against her will. And she’s gone. Permanently.
“I’m sorry, Raf,” I murmur, swallowing the lump in my throat as I share a glance with Miko.
His expression is just as dour, his blue eyes sharp with regret—as if the fact that he couldn’t stop this attack single-handedly makes it all his fault. We’re all a mess. Bloodstained, burned, and barely breathing. But at least we’re together.
Most of us, anyway. I sit forward, leaning my elbows on the table as I brace my forehead against my hands, thumbs digging into my temples.
My throat tightens as the guilt rushes in. I’ve failed my brothers so completely.
I failed my family, my father most of all. And while our relationship was built on contention and resentment, while he and I couldn’t seem to see eye to eye on almost anything, I hate that my last words to him were ones of spite.
“I fought with him,” I say quietly. “Father. Our last words were a fight. I told him I was walking away. I told him I didn’t want the empire.”
Nobody speaks. The silence is a judgment I deserve.
“I was going to leave with her,” I continue, teeth grinding.
“Leo—” Gio starts, but I shake my head.
“No. Don’t. I was ready to walk out on all of you. I knew from the start not to trust the Tanakas. I tried to make him see reason, and then I fell for the same deception, the same lies. I left us completely vulnerable.”
Miko turns from the window.
He’s bleeding from the shoulder, patched with a torn shirt, but he meets my eyes with steel.
“You couldn’t have stopped this. None of us could.
You think a few extra minutes would’ve turned the tide?
Leo, they came for blood. They had a plan.
You didn’t cause this, Leo. We’ve had issues with the Yakuza for decades.
I think only the don truly believed a marriage could fix that. ”
“He thought we could use them. But all this time, they’ve been manipulating us. The timing,” I say, jaw clenched. “The way they got through… It was coordinated. They knew when to strike.” My hands curl into fists. “Sora left right before the attack.”
Miko straightens, his spine stiffening as his brows press into a deep frown.
“She went to see her family. No warning. No explanation.”
Gio hesitates. “You think she was in on it?”
My heart twists. “Kenji said so. Said she knew. That she was waiting for him to come tell her I was dead.” The pain is raw. I can’t hide it. “I loved her,” I admit quietly. “Somehow… I fell in love with her. And she sold us out.”
Gio looks away. Sandro curses under his breath.
But Miko studies me in silence. Then, finally, he speaks. “I don’t buy it.”
I lift my gaze.
“I saw the way she looked at you. That wasn’t fake. Whatever Kenji said… I don’t think she was part of it. Maybe she ran. Maybe she made a mistake. But I don’t think she meant for this to happen.”
I shake my head. “She left.”
Miko finally breaks the tension. “Or maybe she was trying to stop it. Did you think about that?”
I blink, saying nothing.
Because I want to believe him, and I’m afraid of what it’ll mean if I do.
Sora’s words ring in my ears, turning my blood to ice as I consider them with Miko’s point in mind.
“They never cared about me, not really. But I care about you. I came back to warn you.” What if Sora wasn’t lying?
What if her family tricked her just like they did us?
“Cazzo,” I mutter, combing my fingers through my hair.
“What?” Miko asks.
“She came back,” I state as the bigger picture slams into me like a semi truck. “She told me her family were holding her against her will but she came back, hoping to warn us.”
“Wait, when was this?” Gio asks, frowning.
“Not long before I ran into Miko.” My stomach drops as I consider my final words to her.
“I told her I’d kill her if I ever saw her again.
” I can’t believe I did that. I can’t believe I just left her there.
Even if she did betray us… I never should have left her vulnerable. I should’ve made sure she was safe.
A knock at the cabin door jerks all our heads up. One of our men—Marco—steps inside, face pale, eyes wide.
“What is it?” Miko asks.
Marco swallows. “The Bratva. They’ve got Sora.”
The room goes still.
It feels as though the ground is spinning around me, and I grip the table with white knuckles as I jump to my feet. “What?
“The Russians. They took her. One of our scouts saw it. They were dragging her toward the back of the property. I left Alfonzo to track their movement, but from the looks of it… whatever they had planned for her was not friendly.”
The air leaves my lungs like I’ve been sucker-punched.
I feel Miko’s eyes on me. “Leo—”
“I left her,” I whisper. “I just left her there.”
No one speaks.
“Where are they now?” I ask hoarsely.
Marco checks his phone for an update and gives me a crossroads in the old warehouse district the Russians used to control before we pushed them back a few years ago.
“I’m going to get her,” I state, my feet carrying me toward the door before I even know I’m moving.
“Leo—”
“Don’t try to stop me.”
Miko steps forward, calm but firm. “We’re not stopping you. But we’re coming too.”
My brothers nod, even Raf, whose eyes still shine with grief. “We don’t leave family behind.”
Something cracks in my chest. Sora might have betrayed me, or she might not have. Either way, I won’t let them kill her.
Not while I’m still breathing.