MATTEO POV
Marcus Ricci sat at the head of the conference table like a king on his throne. Sixty years old, gray hair slicked back, eyes that had seen every betrayal and violence this city could offer.
Around him sat eight senior members of the family. Captains. Soldiers. Men who'd built their lives on loyalty and blood.
I walked into the room at exactly 8 PM. Every eye turned toward me.
The temperature dropped ten degrees.
"Sit down, Matteo." Marcus didn't look at me. He was reading something on his tablet.
I sat in my usual chair. Three seats down from the head. Close enough to matter. Far enough to show respect.
Marcus set down his tablet. Finally looked at me.
"You've been protecting a Moretti," he said. No preamble. No warm-up. "Dominic Moretti's daughter. A woman whose father is currently in federal custody testifying against our family. Explain yourself."
The room went silent. Everyone waited.
I'd prepared for this. I knew exactly what Marcus would say. How he'd frame it. What he'd demand.
"The girl is an asset," I said calmly. "She's brilliant with numbers and negotiations. Her intelligence is valuable. More valuable than collecting on a three-million-dollar debt that's politically complicated."
"Politically complicated." Marcus repeated my words slowly. Testing them. "Her father is a federal witness. Anyone connected to the Morettis will be viewed with suspicion by authorities. You're compromising yourself and this family by associating with her."
"She has no connection to her father's testimony," I said. "She didn't know he was cooperating with the feds. She's clean."
"Clean." Marcus laughed. It wasn't a pleasant sound. "No one is clean in our world, Matteo. You know that better than anyone."
Tony Benedetto spoke up from across the table. He was Marcus's right hand, fifty-five years old, built like a tank.
"The enforcer is going soft," Tony said. "Keeping a pretty girl instead of collecting. Making excuses about her being an asset. We all see what this really is."
My jaw tightened. "What is it, Tony?"
"You're thinking with the wrong head."
Several men around the table smirked. They thought this was about sex. About me wanting Sienna in my bed.
They had no idea.
"I haven't touched her," I said quietly. "She's working for me. Analyzing operations. Finding inefficiencies. She's already identified problems in three divisions that are costing us forty thousand a month."
Marcus raised an eyebrow. "In one day?"
"In six hours."
That got their attention. Forty thousand a month was real money. Over a year, that was nearly half a million in savings.
"So hire an accountant," Tony said. "We don't need to keep a Moretti under protection to do basic bookkeeping."
"She's not basic," I said. "She speaks three languages. She understands complex negotiations. She reads people. She can sit in rooms with our enemies and make them believe she's harmless while she collects everything we need."
Marcus leaned forward. "And you trust her to do this?"
"I'm monitoring everything she does. She has no contact with the outside world. She's isolated and controlled. If she tries anything, I'll know immediately."
"And if she's playing you?" Tony asked. "If she's smarter than you think and feeding information to the feds?"
"Then she dies." I said it simply. Factually. Like it was already decided.
The room relaxed slightly. They needed to hear that I was still capable of making hard choices.
"Her father abandoned her," I continued. "Left her to face his debts alone. She hates him. She wants nothing to do with him. Using her against our enemies is poetic justice."
Marcus studied me for a long moment. "You're asking me to trust that you can control this situation."
"Yes."
"And if I decide she's too much of a risk? If I order you to eliminate the problem?"
The question hung in the air like smoke.
I met his eyes. "Then we'd have a problem."
Tony stood up. "Are you threatening—"
"Sit down, Tony." Marcus didn't raise his voice. He didn't need to.
Tony sat.
Marcus never broke eye contact with me. "You're telling me that this girl matters more than family loyalty."
"I'm telling you that she's valuable. That losing her would be a waste of an extraordinary resource. And that I'm asking for time to prove it."
"How much time?"
"Three months. Give me three months. If she doesn't prove her value by then, I'll handle it myself."
Marcus leaned back in his chair. Thinking. Calculating.
"Two months," he said finally. "You have two months to make her indispensable. If she's not worth keeping by then, she goes. Understood?"
"Understood."
"And Matteo?" Marcus's voice dropped. "Don't make me regret trusting you on this. Because if she becomes a problem, if she compromises this family in any way, I won't ask you to fix it. I'll do it myself. And you won't stop me."
It was a threat and a warning and a promise all at once.
"She won't be a problem," I said.
The meeting continued for another hour. Business updates. Territory reports. Plans for expansion. I participated like normal but my mind was somewhere else.
I was thinking about Sienna sitting in that house by the ocean. Working through financial reports. Probably wondering if I was coming back.
Probably wondering if I'd chosen family over her.
When the meeting finally ended, I stood to leave.
"Matteo. Wait."
My sister Caterina caught me in the hallway. She'd been sitting quietly during the meeting, taking notes like she always did. People underestimated her because she was beautiful and quiet. They forgot she was smarter than most of them combined.
"What are you doing?" she asked quietly. Her dark eyes searched my face.
"My job."
"Don't lie to me. Marcus isn't stupid. If he decides she's a liability, he'll have her killed. And you won't be able to stop him."
I knew that. I'd known it the moment I decided to keep Sienna alive.
"I'm not going to let that happen."
Caterina stepped closer. She was the only person who could look at me without fear. The only person who'd ever seen past the enforcer to the brother underneath.
"You care about her," she said. Not a question.
I didn't answer immediately. Caterina would know if I lied. She always did.
"I find her interesting."
"Interesting." She shook her head. "You're risking everything for someone you find interesting?"
"I'm using her to take down Richard Zhao. That's strategic, not emotional."
"And when she figures out what you're really doing? When she learns the truth about her father and Zhao's involvement? What happens then?"
I'd thought about that. Every scenario played out in my head during the drive back from the Hamptons.
"She'll understand that I protected her. That I gave her value when she had nothing."
"Or she'll hate you for lying to her. For using her without her consent."
Caterina touched my arm. "If you're planning to use her against Zhao, you need to tell her what she's actually up against. Lies between you are going to destroy everything."
I pulled away. "She's not ready for the truth."
"When will she be ready? When Zhao makes a move against her? When she's in danger and doesn't understand why? When she realizes you've been manipulating her from the beginning?"
"I'm protecting her."
"By lying to her?"
"By keeping her alive."
Caterina's expression shifted to something between understanding and sadness. "Matteo, you've spent fourteen years building walls so high that no one can reach you. This girl walks into your office for one day and suddenly you're risking your position in the family. Don't tell me this is just strategy."
She was right. I knew she was right.
But admitting that Sienna Moretti had gotten under my skin in less than forty-eight hours felt impossible.
"I need to go," I said.
"Where?"
"Back to the Hamptons. I told her I'd be back in the morning."
"You're driving two hours each way to check on an asset?"
I didn't answer.
Caterina sighed. "Be careful. Whatever you think you're doing, whatever you think you're controlling, feelings don't follow strategy. They destroy it."
I left without responding.
But as I drove back toward the Hamptons, her words circled in my head.
Lies between you are going to destroy everything.
Maybe she was right. Maybe I needed to tell Sienna the truth about her father. About Zhao. About everything.
Or maybe the truth would make her run. Would make her hate me. Would destroy the fragile trust we were building.
My phone buzzed. Text message from Sienna.
Be careful.
Two words. Simple. But they landed in my chest like something heavy.
She was worried about me. A woman I'd threatened. A woman I'd isolated and controlled. A woman who should hate me.
She was worried about me.
I started typing a response. Then deleted it. Tried again. Deleted it again.
What was I supposed to say? That I was fine? That she didn't need to worry?
That her concern meant more to me than it should?
I put the phone down without responding.
Two hours later, I pulled up to the estate. The house was dark except for one window on the second floor.
Sienna's room.
She was still awake.
I sat in the car for a moment, staring at that lit window.
Caterina's words echoed in my head.
Lies between you are going to destroy everything.
But the truth might destroy her.
And somewhere between the lies and the truth, I was starting to care more about protecting her than protecting myself.
That was the most dangerous thing of all.