Six Months Contract With The Mafia God

Dimitri felt rage beginning to build in his chest.

”If The Covenant touches her....” Dimitri started.

”Then you go to war,” Antonio interrupted. ”Which is exactly what they want. Because war with you means you’re distracted. War with you means you’re not focusing on the larger threat. War with you means they can continue building their Prometheus equivalent while you’re busy avenging your woman.”

”So what would you have me do?” Dimitri asked coldly. ”Leave her in New York? Abandon her?”

”No,” Antonio said. ”I’m telling you to be aware. To understand that having her here is a statement of power. It’s a declaration that you don’t fear The Covenant. And it’s an invitation for them to prove that your fear is justified.”

”About Isabella and Dante,” Dimitri said, shifting the conversation. ”You said you’d help Lorenzo if he asked.”

”Yes,” Antonio confirmed. ”Because despite my concerns about The Covenant’s involvement, I won’t allow Dante to operate freely in Rome without consequences. If Lorenzo asks for my assistance, I’ll give it.”

”Even though Dante has Covenant backing?” Dimitri asked.

”Especially because of that,” Antonio said. ”Because going against The Covenant’s assets shows them that Rome isn’t their playground. That we have the capability and the will to defy them.”

Antonio turned to face his son.

”But we settle this carefully,” Antonio said. ”We gather intelligence. We understand what The Covenant wants from this situation. We figure out whether Isabella is a pawn or an asset. And then we move when we’re certain of our objectives.”

”Not tonight,” Dimitri said.

”Not tonight,” Antonio agreed. ”Lorenzo will want to raid the villa. You’ll convince him otherwise. You’ll explain that patience gives us better odds.”

”And if he refuses?” Dimitri asked.

”Then he’ll raid the villa, lose people, and still not get Isabella back,” Antonio said. ”And he’ll learn a valuable lesson about the cost of acting in rage instead of strategy.”

Dimitri stood.

”I need to get back to Eve,” Dimitri said. ”She’s waiting at the penthouse.”

”Sit down,” Antonio commanded.

The tone in Antonio’s voice made it clear this wasn’t a suggestion. Dimitri sat.

”You’re taking this American woman back to New York,” Antonio said. ”You’re taking her back to your territory where you can control the variables. You’re taking her back where The Covenant’s reach is weaker.”

”That’s the plan,” Dimitri said.

”No,” Antonio said sharply. ”You need to be very careful about what you do. Because if you’re not careful, if you let your feelings for this woman cloud your judgment, you’ll end up exactly like me.”

”What do you mean?” Dimitri asked, though he already knew.

”I mean you’ll fall in love with a woman, and then I’ll have to watch as The Covenant uses her against you the same way they used your mother against me,” Antonio said.”

Dimitri felt something dangerous move through him.

”Then I guess I’ll have to make sure it doesn’t happen,” Dimitri said coldly. ”Because I’m not you, Father. I won’t sacrifice the woman I love to the game. I won’t let power and strategy supersede protection and loyalty.”

”That’s a noble sentiment,” Antonio said. ”But nobility gets people killed.”

”And cowardice gets people killed too,” Dimitri shot back. ”You let them kill Mother because you were too busy playing the political game. You let The Covenant destroy your family because you were more interested in your empire than protecting what mattered.”

Antonio’s expression hardened.

”I won’t repeat your mistakes,” Dimitri continued. ”I won’t bring Eve to Rome and then treat her like a pawn. I won’t sacrifice her to your wars or to The Covenant’s games. I’ll protect her. And if that means going to war with everyone...including you, then that’s what I’ll do.”

He stood again.

”I’m leaving,” Dimitri said. ”Eve is waiting.”

”If you walk out of here with that American,” Antonio said, his voice absolutely cold, ”if you take her back to New York knowing what you know about The Covenant’s interest in her, then you’re a fool. And I won’t have a fool for a son.”

Dimitri stopped at the door.

He turned back to face his father.

”I’m not your son right now,” Dimitri said. ”Right now, I’m a man who loves a woman. And that man is going back to her. That man is going to hold her. That man is going to make sure that nothing...not you, not The Covenant, not the entire world, touches her.”

”That’s not how power works,” Antonio said.

”No,” Dimitri agreed. ”But that’s how love works. And for once in my life, I’m choosing love over power.”

Dimitri opened the door.

”Dimitri,” Antonio called out, and there was something almost like regret in his voice.

Dimitri turned back.

”Don’t make the same mistakes I made,” Antonio said quietly. ”Don’t think love is enough to protect you. Don’t think that caring for someone more than yourself makes you strong. It doesn’t. It makes you vulnerable. And The Covenant will exploit that vulnerability.”

Dimitri looked at his father...really looked at him, and saw a man who’d spent years fighting a war to avenge a woman he’d loved but hadn’t protected well enough.

”Maybe,” Dimitri said. ”But at least I’ll know I tried. At least I’ll know I didn’t let fear stop me from fighting for what matters.”

He left the study.

Antonio remained at the window, looking out at Rome, understanding that his son was right and that was the worst possible outcome.

***

POV: EVE

Eve stood at the floor-to-ceiling window of Dimitri’s Rome penthouse, looking out at the city spread below her.

Rome at sunset was like nothing she’d ever seen.

The sky was painted in shades of amber and rose gold. The terracotta roofs caught the fading light and glowed like embers. The ancient city...older than empires, older than nations, older than most of human civilization....stretched out in all directions, eternal and indifferent and utterly beautiful.

In her hand, she held a glass of wine.

Not the expensive stuff that Dimitri had opened for dinner, he’d taken her to a restaurant in the heart of Rome where politicians and businessmen and people who wielded real power gathered. It had been exquisite and intense and filled with political conversations she only half understood.

This wine was simpler. Something she’d found in the kitchen. Something that tasted like comfort.