Chapter 7 Marco
MARCO
I slam the car door and stalk up the steps to Antonio's home, fury coursing through my veins.
The call from my street captain still echoes in my mind. "Boss, thought you should know that Miss Monti was having lunch with a Fed yesterday. Tall guy, expensive suit. She took his card."
“And I’m only hearing about it now!”
“Uh… well… it took until today to make him.”
I wanted to fucking kill him.
Where was Roman and why wasn’t he on this?
Then I remembered I’d told him I’d deal with Gabriella.
This is what I get for not putting Roman on her and letting someone else follow her around.
I guess I wasn’t surprised to learn the Fed was Blackwood.
After all, last year, he’d been feeding Isabella information that implicated me in her mother’s murder.
Turned out the killer was someone who worked for me, but thank fuck, Leo and Isabella knew it hadn’t been from my order.
After that, Blackwood seemed to fade away.
Until now.
Fuck.
Antonio's security recognizes me immediately, stepping aside without question.
I find Antonio in his study, papers spread across his desk.
When he glances up, he looks at me in confusion. "Marco? I wasn't expecting you."
“I wasn’t planning on coming.” I feel a little bad that I’ve made him think he’s forgotten a meeting considering how much else he forgets these days. “Your daughter is meeting with the Feds.”
Antonio's face hardens. "That's a serious accusation."
"It's not an accusation. It's a fact. One of my men saw her with that fucker Agent Blackwood yesterday." I plant my hands on his desk. "The same Blackwood who was talking to Leo’s daughter." This Blackwood seems to think Mafia daughters are the inroad to bringing us down.
Antonio sighs, rubbing his temple. "Perhaps there's an explanation."
"An explanation?" My voice rises despite my efforts to control it. "She's meeting with federal agents! You know what we do to people who talk to Feds."
"She's my daughter, Marco." His voice carries the weight of his position, reminding me who I'm speaking with. "Not some street soldier."
I jerk away, pacing the room to contain my frustration. "Your affection for her is blinding you. She thinks I'm trying to take over your territory. Now she's looking for allies to stop me, even if it means the FBI."
Antonio stands, and I’m glad to see he’s his old self today, even though, as an elder, it means he’ll put me in place if necessary. "Gabriella is impulsive, but loyal. She wouldn't betray family."
"She believes she's protecting your family from me. Your condition is getting worse, Antonio. She's desperate and making dangerous choices."
I don’t want to betray him, but if I have to go to the others in La Corona to stop all this, I will.
His shoulders slump slightly. "I'll speak with her."
"That's not enough. She needs to understand what she's risking, not just for herself, but for all of us."
Antonio's eyes meet mine. "I won't have her harmed, Marco. Not even by you."
"I'm not here to harm her. I'm trying to protect her as well as you."
Antonio's skeptical expression irks me. After everything I've done for him, after all the loyalty I've shown, he still doubts my intentions.
“And you,” he states.
“Yes, and me. She's playing with fire. If she feeds Feds anything, even accidentally, they’ll use it to destroy us all."
“She’s a lawyer, Marco. She knows how to deal with law enforcement.”
I roll my eyes. “Are you willing to take that risk? Even if she gets you immunity, that doesn’t protect Dom or Leo. It’s not just me she’s risking here. It’s all of us.”
"I'll talk to her. Make her understand."
I shake my head. "I don't think you will. You're too indulgent with her."
"What would you have me do?"
I need her out of here. Not just for all our safety, but for my sanity.
For time and space so that she'll leave my psyche.
Fucking her was the biggest mistake of my life.
Somehow, it tied me to her and I need to break the bond.
"Send her to Luca. At least until—”
The door swings open, and Gabriella freezes in the threshold, her eyes darting between her father and me, her eyes filled with fury.
"Until what, Marco? Until you've completely taken over my father's business?" She steps into the room, closing the door behind her like she’s another Don.
Antonio sighs. "Gabriella, please—"
"No. I want to hear what Don Calabresi has to say about me. To my face this time."
The fire in her eyes stirs something primal in me. Anger, yes, but something else too.
The thing I've been fighting since the moment I first tasted her lips in my library.
"I have no problem telling you what I think to your face. You're playing a dangerous game, Princess," I say, keeping my voice low. "Meeting with a federal agent in public? Do you have any idea what kind of target you've painted on your back?"
She lifts her chin, but I don’t miss the flash of worry in her eyes. "I didn't tell him anything."
"It doesn't matter what you told him!" My control slips. "Being seen with Blackwood is enough to raise questions. Questions that could get you killed."
"By you?" Her eyes narrow.
"By anyone who thinks you might be talking." I step closer and regret it when her perfume wraps around me. "La Corona has rules about people who snitch. Rules that even your father can't protect you from."
Antonio steps toward us. "That's enough, both of you."
"No, it's not," I continue, my eyes locked on Gabriella. "You think you're protecting your father? You're endangering him. Endangering all of us. Blackwood isn't interested in helping you. He's using you to get to La Corona."
"You don't know what—"
"I know exactly what I'm talking about." I cut her off. "If you put me in jail, your father’s business is as good as gone. He’s definitely dead.”
Gabriella's eyes widen, her body tensing. "Are you threatening my father?"
"I'm stating facts. This isn't a game, Gabriella. La Corona has maintained peace for generations because together, we're strong. The moment other families, the Russians, the Italians—any of them—if they sense vulnerability—"
"Enough!" Antonio's voice cracks through the room like thunder.
I turn, startled by the authority in his tone.
It’s been awhile since I’ve seen the full force of Antonio.
"Marco isn't threatening me," he says to Gabriella. "He's been protecting me. Protecting us."
Her cheeks flush. "I saw the papers in his office. The reports on our businesses."
"Reports he's been compiling to help me manage the problems that have been cropping up." The admission is difficult for him.
I've never heard him acknowledge his need for my assistance so directly.
Gabriella shakes her head. "You don't understand—"
"I understand more than you think." Antonio walks toward us.
"My mind may be failing, but I still know who my allies are.
Marco has been covering my mistakes. Redirecting questions when I forget details in meetings.
Managing our territory's problems quietly so the other families don't realize what's happening. "
Gabriella's expression shifts from defiance to confusion. "Why wouldn't you tell me?"
"Because it’s not anyone’s business. I asked Marco not to reveal our agreement. I have my pride."
I watch as Gabriella processes this.
Maybe now, she can leave me the fuck alone.
Antonio places a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "Marco could have used my condition to take everything from us. Instead, he's sacrificed to preserve our family's standing."
She glances at me, her eyes scrutinizing me like she doesn’t believe it.
"I would never betray Antonio. I'm insulted that you think I would," I say. "He was there for me when no one else was. When everyone else thought I was too young, too inexperienced to lead, he believed in me."
Before she can say anything, I finish. "I'm trying to protect you, too. Even from yourself."
“Don’t pretend that you care about me.”
It’s not pretend, I want to tell her, but of course, I don’t. “I care about Antonio.”
"If what you're saying is true…" She crosses her arms defensively. "Why were you discussing taking over our territory with Roman?"
Antonio looks at me questioningly. At first, I’m worried he’s wondering how she’d be in a position to overhear me talking to Roman. I can only imagine she’d been waiting outside my office planning another one of her sexcapades, as she called them.
Instead, I go with answering her question.
“I don’t know what you overheard, but it wasn’t about taking over your family’s territory.
If I were to guess, I’d say that what you overheard was Roman asking what would happen if Luca never returned.
I said we would run it until your father decided what to do next.
" I clench my jaw, irritated that I'm defending myself against accusations that should never have existed. "Not take it over. Protect it."
She shakes her head slightly, not fully buying it. "And I'm supposed to just believe that?"
I look at Antonio.
He should be dealing with her, not me.
But he doesn’t chime in.
The larger than life man I saw a moment ago appears tired, weary.
I speak to him next. “This isn't working. We need a solution, one that keeps all of us safe."
"Marco," Antonio starts, but I cut him off.
"Your daughter is a liability right now. The FBI is circling, La Corona is watching, and she's drawing attention to exactly what we're trying to hide." I level my gaze at Antonio. "She needs to leave New York. Immediately."
"What?" Gabriella's voice rises in indignation.
"Luca's villa in Italy. It's remote, secure, and far from Blackwood's reach." I picture it, the sprawling estate nestled among vineyards, miles from any prying eyes. Miles from me. "She stays there until this blows over."
"You can't just ship me off like some problem to be handled!" Her eyes flash with anger. "I'm not a child!"
"Then stop acting like one." The words spew out in frustration. “You’re impulsive, selfish, and fail to follow directions. Doesn’t that sound childish to you?”