When I talked to Remo next time, my suspicions were confirmed. Despite his played disappointment over my refusal to answer to his demand, eagerness rang in his voice. He had more planned. He loved his audience’s reaction more than the game itself. Maybe he’d lose interest in his game and Serafina if we didn’t play the game by his rules, if we acted level headed.

We didn’t have many other options at this point.

Samuel approached me a couple of days after the call, and I could tell from his expression that he hadn’t accepted my decision like Danilo and Pietro had. “Can we talk?” he asked, an edge to his voice.

“Of course,” I said and followed him toward my make-shift office in a former guest bedroom. Now that I had to do most of my business from Minneapolis and not Chicago, I needed an office. I’d returned to Chicago only twice since Serafina’s kidnapping. Val, too, mainly stayed in Minneapolis with the kids to support Ines.

I closed the door and turned to Samuel.

His blond hair had grown, brushing his ears, and he hadn’t shaved in a couple of days, so a dark-blond stubble covered his chin and cheeks. Despite his lack of sleep and refusal to rest, his shot wound had healed surprisingly well.

“We need to attack Las Vegas. Every day that Serafina stays with that asshole, he destroys another part of her. We can’t just sit back and wait.” His tone set my teeth on edge but I cut him slack.

“Between Las Vegas and us wait many hundreds of Remo’s loyal followers, men willing to die for him. They’re between us and Serafina, and even if we reach Las Vegas without any of them finding out, which is unlikely considering we need an army to walk into Vegas, we’ll be in Remo’s terrain. He knows Las Vegas, and our informants tell us it’s close to impossible to get past the security measures of the Falcone mansion. That is, if Serafina is even still there. Dozens would die.”

“I don’t give a fuck. They can all die as long as I get Fina back,” Samuel snarled.

“But I can’t send my men into a death mission that’s bound to fail. They have families. They trust in me to make wise choices and not act out of emotionality.”

Samuel brought his face close to mine, his eyes burning with anger. “I bet you’d be the first to walk into Vegas with a fucking army if Anna was there and you wouldn’t give a flying fuck if every man died.”

I cared about Serafina and about Ines, Pietro, and Samuel, but I had to admit my love for my children and Val was on another level, and I couldn’t deny that my reaction to Anna’s kidnapping would have been less restrained. If it would have saved her? I doubted it.

Samuel nodded as if I’d answered his question then he turned around and stalked away.

“Fuck!” I snarled, my control slipping. I wanted to walk into Vegas and rip Remo’s balls off and feed them to him. I wanted to show him that I could do every atrocity he had committed even if I usually chose less flashy forms of torture.

The Outfit was becoming more and more torn by the day, between the people who supported my cautious approach, wary of a war at another front, after all, we were surrounded by enemies. But there were also the others, many of them from the younger generation who screamed for blood, who wanted to walk into Vegas with blazing guns. Samuel was one of them, Danilo too, even if he wasn’t as vocal about it.

“When can we return to Chicago?” Leonas asked as we sat at the breakfast table a couple of days later.

Val gave him an understanding smile.

I’d considered sending Val and our children back to Chicago and staying in Minneapolis by myself. After all, their presence wasn’t required but I wanted them close. I needed to know they were safe. “I don’t know,” I said. “But hopefully soon.”

Leonas pushed his food around on his plate. “I miss my friends.”

“How about we play basketball?”

There was a basketball hoop in the driveway. Leonas sometimes played with Rocco and Riccardo back at home and I had played for a while when I was a teenager. Leonas’ eyes widened with eagerness and he nodded.

Anna frowned then looked down at her plate. After breakfast, I took her aside. “Why don’t we take a look at the new online gallery of the Met?”

Anna grinned. She’d wanted to visit the Metropolitan Museum and the Museum of Modern Art for a while now but as they were both in New York that wasn’t an option. Luckily, both museums had good online presence. Anna hugged my middle, and I touched her head. “Thank you, Daddy.”

Val kissed my cheek. “I know you’re busy but I’m so glad you try to make time for them. This is a difficult time for them as well.”

“I know,” I said quietly. I wished my children didn’t have to witness so much of the stark brutality of mob life.

Pietro called me around midday. I’d already played with Leonas, showered, and managed to sit down with Anna for an hour. She was still pressed up to my side, staring down at the laptop when my phone rang.

“Pietro, any news?” I’d told him I’d meet him, Samuel and Danilo in the evening.

“Samuel and a few of our soldiers have set out to Vegas to save Fina,” he said.

Tension shot through my body. “What?”

The fury in my voice made Anna look up with wide eyes. I gave her a tight smile and gently untangled myself from her before I stood.

“I didn’t know. One of the soldiers, he asked informed me just now. I can’t reach him or any of the men with him.”

“Goddamnit, Pietro. That’s a suicide mission! They won’t return alive, much less with Serafina. Remo will be furious over this new infringement of his territory!”

Pietro didn’t say anything for almost a minute and I was trying to get a grip on my rising anger and worry. If Samuel got killed trying to save Fina and if she was killed by Remo to pay us back… Ines wouldn’t survive that.

“Fuck!” I growled, realizing too late how close Anna stood.

I tried not to curse in front of her but had failed repeatedly these last few weeks. I lowered my phone slightly. “Go find your mother. Tell her I need to head out to your uncle and aunt.”

“Okay,” Anna said hesitantly but didn’t move. I touched her cheek and gave her a strained smile.

Finally, she turned and left the living room in search of Val.

“Ines doesn’t know yet,” Pietro said quietly. “I didn’t tell anyone but you now.”

“Good. I’ll inform Danilo. He needs to come over ASAP.” Danilo had only left for Indianapolis yesterday but this new development required his presence.

“I’m coming over now. We need to consider what to do.”

Pietro made a small affirming noise. I hung up and closed my eyes. My God, Samuel. Remo would tear him apart piece by piece and record it for all of us to see. Maybe he’d even do it in a live video and force us all to watch or he’d kill Serafina as well.

We didn’t hear anything from Samuel or any of his companions nor could we reach them—until the next day, when a beaten but alive Samuel and a badly tortured and dead Outfit soldier were delivered to our outpost near Camorra territory.

I called Pietro the moment I got the news then headed over to their mansion. Danilo was already there when I arrived. He hadn’t bothered with a suit like he usually did when he met me. This time he was in casual chinos and a white shirt. He like Pietro looked as if they hadn’t slept at all. I had been in the safehouse until way past midnight and hardly slept two hours, so I knew I didn’t look any better.