46. StrategySacrifice
Strategy or Sacrifice
Callum was dead. And I didn’t feel a single ounce of satisfaction.
I’d put men in the ground for less than what Callum had said to my wife.
I would have done much worse than a merciful bullet to the head if he’d had another minute to breathe.
Some men die too easily for the damage they’ve caused.
The only satisfaction I had was that I’d tortured him so brutally that suicide felt like his best option.
But there was no point dwelling on the dead. A dead enemy was straightforward. An enemy network like McKenna’s was not. Men like Callum were rarely the architects. His death meant nothing if the machine behind him was still moving.
Men’s voices droned in the background of my turbulent thoughts as I picked at the dried blood under my nails, tilting my head to one side to crack my aching bones.
I hadn’t slept last night. I’d held my wife all night, watching the grief on her face even as she dreamt.
I knew how to live with blood on my hands.
What I didn’t know how to live with was the image of Aria shattering into pieces before my eyes when Callum admitted what he’d done.
It sent me into a blind rage, and I needed him to pay for it.
Alessio blamed my lack of control at that moment for us never finding out who Callum truly was, but honestly, I didn’t give a shit. He was dead. That’s all that mattered.
We’d flown into Verona early this morning after Alessio called a meeting to discuss our next move against the Irish. I was running on adrenaline, fury, and silent murderous thoughts as Alessio, Gio, Fabi, and Max all tried to think with less violence and more logic.
The long mahogany table was covered with maps of Italy and Ireland, lists of ex-Leone soldiers our men needed to track down who were spying for McKenna, trading routes that could be used to plan an attack, and several safehouses.
“Before we reach out to allies, we need to know what sacrifices we are willing to make,” Fabi said from beside Alessio, who was standing at the head of the table with his hands planted on the surface.
Alessio's piercing blue eyes darted over all the different options that had been put forward, but from the tension in his jaw, he didn’t like any of them. None of us agreed. Being a mafia king was often about choosing which disaster you could survive better. But every option had consequences.
“I say we send McKenna Callum’s head so he knows exactly who he’s starting a war with,” I said, my tone calm and cold.
Externally, I appeared composed, but inside, I was calculating Sean McKenna’s demise.
Because every bruise on Aria’s life now felt personal, and until he was dead, Aria would always be looking over her shoulder, just like Aisling McKenna had.
“First, we should decide what to do with Aria,” Gio said, glancing towards me. I narrowed my eyes. “If the Irish can’t take her through deception, they’ll try to take her by force. We should move her to one of our safehouses in Sicily for the time being.”
“Or out of the country,” Max suggested. “Hide her somewhere they’d never think to look.”
“My wife is going nowhere without me,” I snapped. I would destroy every route out of Italy before I let another man decide where my wife belonged. There was only one answer. With me.
“It wouldn’t be for long,” Alessio added. “Just until we have a plan on how to deal with McKenna.”
“Aria isn’t leaving my side. She’s safest with me.”
“Whatever way you look at it, Sani, she needs to stay hidden. Preferably out of Rome, where most of McKenna’s men are operating.”
There was a knock on the door, causing all our heads to turn as Elle entered first with that sassy, defiant glare, followed by Olivia, who gave us all a bright smile, then Soraya with her eyes naturally cast down, and finally Aria.
Her blue eyes darted frantically around the room until they found mine, and she exhaled.
Alessio straightened up and folded his arms across his chest as he looked at his wife with confusion. “What’s this?”
“You called a strategy meeting without inviting your best strategists,” Elle retorted, placing her palms on the other end of the table and taking the same stance he’d just had.
He smirked but extended his hand, suggesting they all sit down.
Aria sat beside me, and I immediately placed my hand on her bouncing knee to soothe her.
“So what were you discussing?” Olivia asked.
Alessio’s eyes flicked to my wife. “Aria. And where she should go to keep her safe.”
“Well,” Elle clapped. “Good thing we got here just in time then. Considering this is about her and her future, how about we ask her where she feels safest?”
Alessio rolled his eyes but turned his attention to my wife. It was remarkable how tightly my sister had the mafia king wrapped around her little finger. He answered to no one but her.
Aria swallowed and glanced at me. “Wherever Sani is.”
I gave a small smile and squeezed her thigh.
“Rome isn’t safe for you,” Gio argued. “But you are more than welcome to stay here in Verona. We’ve doubled guards and security, and no one will be able to get to you from behind these walls.”
“But I will be able to go back to Rome eventually?”
“Of course. Once we have a plan in action and McKenna is no longer a threat.”
She nodded. “Okay. I feel comfortable with that.”
The tension in my shoulders eased slightly.
I would go back and forth from Rome until we had things under better control, but knowing she’d be here in my childhood home with my family’s protection felt like a weight had been lifted.
She wouldn’t be able to leave my family’s estate, but unfortunately, there was no version of safety in our world that didn’t mean giving up some freedom.
“So what about the Irish?”
“We have two options,” Alessio started. “Enter into negotiations that will cost us more than it will cost them, or go to war.”
“The problem with negotiating with McKenna is that we’ll be going into it on the back foot.
He holds all the power,” Fabi continued.
“He will make outrageous demands because if he agrees to accept Aria and Sani’s marriage, we will have entered into a marriage alliance with Ireland, breaking his promise to the Russians.
That means we are allied with an untrustworthy asshole we hate and have caused a war with the Bratva, which is not a good position to be in. ”
“So what you’re saying is we go to war regardless? Either against the Irish and the Russians, or just the Russians?”
“Aren’t we looking at this all wrong?” Elle interrupted. “Instead of trying to negotiate with McKenna, why aren’t we reaching out to the Russians? If we can get them to side with us, then we can go to war with the Irish and win. Problem solved.”
“Not problem solved,” Alessio sighed. “McKenna’s empire is as big as ours.
He controls the entire Irish criminal network.
He has strong allies in Boston just as we do in New York.
You’re right that whoever the Bratva sides with has the advantage in a war.
But that’s the issue. The Bratva are private, very traditional, and extremely selective about who they ally with.
They only form alliances through marriage. That’s why McKenna needs Aria.”
The room fell silent. The unspoken words echoed. The alliance would need someone else. And my family was deadset against marriage alliances for power. No woman in our family was traded like cattle. We married for love.
My gaze darted to my little sister before her quiet words even left her lips because I knew. Raya had that look on her face—stubborn and resolute. She’d already thought this through before she walked in. She’d already made peace with it.
“Use me then.”
“No!” I snapped, leaning forward in my chair to slam my hand on the table. Of course, she completely ignored my outburst and continued to hold Alessio’s gaze.
“Offer me to the Russian heir.”
“Not fucking happening,” I growled across the table.
“Sani’s right,” Gio interrupted. “Over my dead body.”
Elle and Olivia joined in, telling Raya that it was never going to happen and we’d find another way, all while Raya’s deadpan expression stayed fixed on Alessio. They were staring at each other in a way that made my stomach twist.
“The Russians want a marriage alliance. Sean has no one else. But we do,” she said in her quiet, calm tone that somehow caused all the louder voices in the room to fall silent. “Use me to forge a strong alliance, increase protection, and strengthen our position against the Irish.”
She spoke as if it was a strategy, but we all knew it was a sacrifice. I could not let my baby sister, my best friend, someone I have spent my life protecting, offer herself up as if it was a reasonable cost for my happiness.
“I would rather take a bullet than hand you over to the Russians!” I shouted, standing up from my chair. “It’s not happening, Raya. We do not sell our women!”
For the first time, she looked at me. Her big, hazel eyes were filled with quiet certainty.
I spent my life becoming a man people feared, yet the peace on her face made me feel powerless.
Like she had already decided to cross the invisible line we were all trying to keep her behind.
But it was Aria who made her gaze soften.
She reached across the table for Raya’s hand, the guilt already evident in her eyes.
“I cannot let you do this for me. Please, Raya. This family is already beginning to bleed to keep me safe. You can’t.”
“It’s my choice,” Raya said with a small smile. “I want to do this. If blood can buy us time and survival, then give them mine.”
“She has a point,” Fabi hesitated, especially when he received death glares from everyone else in the room. He raised his hands and shrugged. “It’s our best option.”
The worst part was that I could see the devastating logic in it. That still didn’t mean I’d allow it to happen.
“You’d have to be sure, Soraya,” Alessio said, lowering his voice to a soft tone. My eyes widened. “Once I put that offer to the Russians, there is no going back.”
Elle shot up out of her chair next. “Alessio! You can’t be serious!”
“It’s my choice, Elle,” Raya replied, placing her hand on our sister’s arm. “And honestly, I’m fine with it.” She looked at Gio and me. “You give the women in this family choices. This is mine.”
I sank back into my chair, my heart hammering like a war drum in my ears and my fists clenched. My chest felt so tight that I struggled to breathe properly. I felt caught between sacrificing my wife or my sister. I wasn’t willing to do either in any universe.
“I’m not agreeing to this right now,” Alessio said, with his hands on his hips. “We need to consider other options and see what else we can come up with. But unless Soraya changes her mind, it’s on the table.”
“Raya, a word,” I hissed through clenched teeth. “Now.”
I stormed out of the meeting room and paced the lobby until she appeared. I gripped her bicep and pulled her into the living room, away from soldiers’ and maids’ ears.
“You’re not doing this,” I growled, releasing her as she looked up at me with fire in her eyes that she rarely ever showed.
“You can’t stop me, Sani.”
“I can and I will. Do you know what the Bratva are like? They’re cold, heartless, and devoid of any fucking emotions. Robots, Raya.”
“So you are prepared to lead this family into a war we can’t win because I know you will never hand Aria over to them?
If we don’t persuade the Bratva to join us, we are all vulnerable.
This makes logical sense, Santino. I know your decisions are driven by your emotions, but mine are not.
I look at the bigger picture. And this is the only way we win. ”
I groaned, dragging my hands down my face and pacing.
“Get a grip of yourself, Sani,” she said sternly, which made me stop pacing and face her.
“If you act this upset and irrational, you’re only going to make Aria feel worse.
She already blames herself for everything that is happening.
She never asked for any of this. And neither did you.
You fell in love. So let me do this for you both and don’t feel bad about it, okay? ”
My head was shaking as I fought against the raging anger and guilt in my chest. “I can’t. I swore I’d always protect you.”
“And you have.” She smiled and grasped my shoulders.
“But now it’s time to let go and know that you taught me how to look after myself.
I’m fine with this, Sani. I’m ready for more.
” She shook my shoulders slightly, nearly knocking me off balance despite how small she was.
“I need more. And if that’s marriage to a Russian heir, then off to Russia I shall go. ”
I looked into her eyes and knew that even if I kept refusing, she’d find a way to make it happen herself.
Raya was proof that strength didn’t always look like violence.
She was too guarded and quiet for people to understand her properly, but I knew she was the kind of woman who would walk willingly into fire if it kept the flames from reaching the rest of us, and I hated that she made it sound more like love than tragedy.