“Leave,” I said coldly.

Danilo jerked, shock flashing across his unshaven face. “You can’t be serious, Dante. You can’t let them go.”

I understood Danilo’s anger, his need for vengeance, but neither he nor I could get what we wanted, not today, maybe never.

“Set me free,” Serafina said again.

“Leave.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. Not for that.” I’d allowed a girl to be given to a monster many years ago, a monster she hadn’t chosen. Aria had survived. Serafina had chosen her own monster, her fate. She was no longer my responsibility. Many in the Outfit would be outraged by my decision but it was my last gift toward my niece.

Serafina and Remo left.

Anna, Leonas, and Val would be safer now.

A sense of finality, of utter shock hung in the room.

“How could you do this?” Danilo roared, contempt twisting his face.

“You left her at the mercy of a monster. You should have never let her go,” Samuel agreed.

Pietro didn’t say anything, but his expression held the same accusation I saw on theirs.

“She chose him over us. She asked me to leave.”

“You should have forced her to stay. You should have put a bullet through Falcone’s fucking head, or let me do it if you didn’t have the courage to do it,” Danilo muttered. Samuel nodded, leaning against the wall because he was still weak from the tranquilizer.

“Careful,” I said quietly. “I can assure you I won’t hesitate to put a bullet into your head if you ever disrespect me again, Danilo.”

Danilo swallowed hard. He was young, driven by rage and wounded pride—a dangerous combination. “You promised I’d get my revenge for what was taken from me. You promised I’d be the one to kill Falcone, but today you let him go. You let our enemy walk out of our territory. That’s betrayal of the Outfit. The Camorra would have been weaker without Remo Falcone.”

“The Camorra would have sought retribution.”

“And now they won’t?” Samuel asked sharply. “We tortured the bastard to within an inch of his life. The Falcone’s will attack our territory again.”

“Possibly, but they have more to lose now.”

“You mean my daughter and grandchildren,” Pietro said quietly. “What I wonder is if you would have let Anna walk away with a Falcone if it was her in Fina’s stead?”

“Right now, Fina is under Remo’s control. His power over her is too strong to break. She would have resented each of us if we’d killed the father of her children. We would have had a potential spy in our own rows. And you saw what she did. She shot at Danilo. She betrayed the Outfit for Remo. She drugged her own twin. If I’d stuck to the rules, I would have had to declare her a traitor and then subject her to your judgment, Pietro. Your men would have expected you to punish her for what she did, or you would have lost their respect.”

“I would have stepped down from my position as Underboss then. Samuel could have taken over.”

“Then it would have been his task to punish his twin.”

Samuel and Pietro exchanged a look. Neither of them would have ever hurt Serafina, nor would I. Yet, our world was a harsh one, with even harsher consequences if you broke the rules.

“I couldn’t allow that. I need you. The Outfit needs to be strong.”

“We would have been stronger with Remo dead,” Danilo said bitterly. “You took our revenge from us.”

“You got revenge. You tortured him for two days.”

“And what good was that? The fucker didn’t cry, didn’t beg for his fucking life once. I bet he’s laughing at us now,” Samuel said.

Pietro stepped up to me. “You still didn’t answer my question, Dante. Would you have let Anna go if she loved the enemy?”

I wasn’t sure.

Pietro shook his head. “I lost my daughter today. I won’t ever get her back.”

I touched his shoulder. “You don’t know that. Remo Falcone is a monster. She’ll realize it eventually.”

Danilo scoffed. “Aren’t we all?”

I sent him a hard look. On any other day, he would have been dead by now, but emotions were still running high.

“I won’t have a war at two fronts. The Camorra and Famiglia only cooperate loosely right now, but if they both attack with full force we’ll have a hard time holding them off.”

We walked into the hall where Pietro grabbed his coat and motioned for Samuel to follow him.

“Where are you going?”

“I have to tell Ines that our daughter is gone, that you gave her up without good reason.”

“I’m heading back home. Or do you need me for anything else?” Danilo asked, his voice clipped and eyes hard. “I have a duty to the Outfit to fulfill after all.”

“No,” I said, fighting to keep my own emotions in check.

Danilo left without another word, and Samuel and Pietro followed shortly after. I ran a hand through my hair, my eyes following the trail of blood on the floor that Remo had left behind. Was this the best for the Outfit? I believed so. Remo had given his life for his brother. What would he do for his children?

I had thought about the way he had looked at Serafina when he called her angel. In some twisted way, he cared for her and he would for the twins as well. He had something to lose now, and it would make him more restrained. Since Luca had kids, he’d held back with rash actions too.

But even if it wasn’t the best solution for the Outfit, it was the choice that would keep my children and Val safe. I’d always choose them over the Outfit. One day Leonas would take over but I had to make sure he was protected until then.

Grabbing my keys and coat, I headed to my car and drove back to the mansion, knowing full well I’d be greeted with chaos.

A door slammed shut, and I sat up in bed where I’d been reading, unable to fall asleep while Dante was in the safehouse torturing Remo. I slipped out of bed and slid a bathrobe on. I walked closer when a female cry rang out: Ines.

I froze on the staircase at the scene playing out before my eyes. Ines was clutching Pietro’s shirt, shaking her head. Her hair was a mess and her face frantic.

Sofia, Anna, and Leonas crept down the steps but hovered close to me, obviously as confused as I felt.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

Samuel shot me a glare. “Dante let Remo go!”

I headed downstairs. “Why would he do that?”

The door opened and Dante stepped in, looking as if had come straight from a battlefield.

“Ask him,” Samuel spat.

Dante narrowed his eyes.

Ines staggered toward Dante, accusation looming on her face. “You handed my daughter over to the man who raped her?”

“Ines,” Dante said in a voice meant to placate her, his gaze briefly darting to the children. “Serafina chose him. She helped him.”

Ines raised her arm and struck Dante across the face. Leonas gasped beside me. Anna and Sofia watched with open-mouthed shock and my own body seized up with horror.

Pietro quickly grabbed her wrist and pulled her against him, but his expression was full of fury toward Dante as well. “She’s confused! You should have stopped her. You stole my daughter from me. You took her away.”