Page 68 of Little Nightmare

“A syndicate?” I asked. “Comprising of what? Assassins, would be made men, disloyal captains, what?”

“They come from several families, overseas and here, ones who were maybe overlooked, forgotten, or mistreated. They call themselves the La Nebbia.”

I knew that name. I knew it because ofher. “You only see what you want to see.”

“Yes,” Dante rasped. “They don’t use force, they use smarts and seduction as their weapons to infiltrate elite families and tie themselves to them, gaining protection, bloodlines, influence, and power.”

My stomach sank. Numb, I kept listening. “Ace here should be familiar with them or with one of them at least.”

“How?” Ivan asked. “You never got to that part.”

My throat burned like I’d poured sand down it as I answered. “Because I was their first target.”

People started whispering around the room. I held up my hand.

“Let him speak,” King demanded.

I dropped my hand to my side in defeat. “There really isn’t a lot to say. I thought I was in love. She betrayed me as a few of you already know. I’m assuming it’s the same girl who made me think I could leave all of this behind only to scar the memory of her all over my chest, all because I was going to walk away from the De Lange family—the very family she wanted to be a part of.” I shook my head. “It was a lie. All if it. That’s all you need to know.”

“No,” Dante said, shaking his head. “It’s not. Because you’re directly tied to the next target, or should I say the failed target.”

My blood ran cold. “Who?”

“Raven,” Dante whispered. “Louis worked for them—his mission was to get close and marry her by any means possible.”

“Shit.” I ran my hands through my hair. “She lo—” I stopped myself. “She loved him for what he did. She respected him. He was her friend!”

“I know,” Dante agreed. “And now it seems like they’re still trying to access her by any means possible. At least we can put a face to the enemy. You’re all on high alert.”

King pushed away from the wall. “Junior, Ash, spread the word to the rest of the bosses. Maksim, when you go back to Seattle you know what to do, make sure the Petrov family is ready to fight and no new hires for the next six months.”

Maksim gave him a calculated look. “Shall I go through the list of new hires in the past week and kill them all?”

“Not necessary.” Chase spoke up. “I’ll access some files for Phoenix later; we should be able to hack the system with Sergio’s help.”

“Already on it.” Sergio held up his phone. “I’ll go through all the new hires for the family and get back to you guys just to be on the safe side.”

Nixon shared a look with Phoenix. “No dating.”

Everyone jerked up their heads.

Nixon rolled his eyes and looked heavenward. “I’m not talking about anyone in here you’re all married, you dipshits. I mean none of the kids, the cousins, nobody can date, the easiest way to get in would be through marriage or a contract, nobody dates. Period.”

Ash nodded. “Makes sense.”

It did.

I almost cracked a smile. “Who gets to tell Tempest?”

“Not it.” Ash and Junior said in unison while both pointing at Maksim.

He shrugged. “I’ll spar. I’ve been on the plane for too many hours.”

King sighed. “Now that it’s settled, you all know what to do. They’ll act quietly. Be on alert, let everyone know, trust nobody. I don’t care if it’s an ancient nona who wants her cat rescued fromthe scary tall tree in her own backyard and offers chocolate chip cookies. Don’t fall for it.”

Ivan laughed. “Did we just become the mafia version of telling all our men not to take candy from strangers? Because I think we did.”

Nobody seemed amused.

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