Page 138 of Made for Sinners

The second her Uber pinged on the tracker I’d installed on her phone—discreetly, of course—I leaned back in my chair, exhaled through my nose, and muttered, “She’s really doing it.”

Rafe glanced up from the folder he was reading across the table, one brow raised. “Doing what?”

I didn’t answer right away. I was too busy watching the little blue dot on my screen move steadily away from the penthouse. She’d changed her name in the app to “Mrs. Smith.” Cute.

“Emilia’s going out,” I said finally, setting my phone down with a quiet thud. “To the bar.”

Luca, who was lounging on the couch with a drink in one hand and his feet on the coffee table like he didn’t give a shit about the family legacy, snorted. “Again? Didn’t she learn her lesson the last time she tried to sneak out?”

“This time she didn’t sneak,” I said, smirking. “She told me. With sass.”

Rafe leaned forward, elbows on his knees, his expression more serious. “You’re letting her go alone?”

“She’s not alone,” I said, already texting one of my men. “Leo’’s guy is tailing her. And I’ll be meeting her there.”

Rafe raised a brow. “You’re going to a bar?”

“I have a date,” I said, standing and adjusting my cuffs. “With my wife.”

Luca laughed. “How the mighty have fallen.”

I didn’t bother denying it. I just buttoned my jacket and checked my watch—still on my wrist, for now.

We were in the war room, tucked away in the Conti estate, the walls lined with maps and monitors and enough firepower to start a small war. The air was thick with tension, the kind that came from too many secrets and not enough time.

“Back to business,” Rafe said, flipping a page. “Valentina sent over the last wire transfer. Rocco moved the money through a shell company in Prague. The Russians were waiting.”

“Romanov?” I asked.

“Not directly,” Luca said. “But someone close. A lieutenant. They’re keeping their hands clean.”

I nodded, jaw tight. “They won’t stay clean for long.”

“There’s fallout,” Rafe added. “Some of the older guys are pissed. They think you moved too fast. Too public.”

“Good,” I said. “Let them be pissed.”

“They’re talking about loyalty,” Luca said. “About blood.”

“Rocco lost the right to call himself family the second he sold us out,” I said, my voice flat. “Anyone who disagrees can get fucked.”

Luca raised his glass. “To the family.”

I ignored him.

“They’re going to retaliate,” Rafe said. “The Russians. You know that, right?”

I nodded. “Let them try.”

“You think Valentina’s enough to keep them off our backs?”

“She’s close to Nikolai,” I said. “And Nikolai’s the only one Aleksander listens to. If she says back off, they’ll back off.”

“For now,” Luca muttered.

“That’s all I need,” I said. “Time.”

Rafe studied me for a moment, then nodded. “What’s your next move?”

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