For me.
The door opens and Dante enters without knocking, his face grim. He looks worse than Leo. There’s blood dripping from a cut above his eye, and his glasses are askew and cracked. His shirt is torn and singed at the shoulder, and he’s favoring his left side like his ribs hurt. He must have been closer to the blast than we were. But he’s walking and functioning, his eyes sharp despite the obvious pain.
“You okay, Dante?” I ask, wondering how the hell he’s even standing.
Dante nods, wincing at the movement. “Alicia is going to kill me when she finds out,” he says, looking much older. “Or Leo. Or both.”
“Will your wife still kill me if I offer you a three week all expenses paid vacation and the girls are shipped to your parents?” Leo asks.
Dante sighs. “It’s a start.”
He looks between Leo and me, and I can see the concern in his eyes even through my shock.
“Brief us,” Leo says without moving from his position in front of me. “What the fuck happened?”
Dante runs a hand through his hair, looking exhausted. “There was a bomb attached to the car,” he says. “It was remotely detonated. This wasn’t a homemade bomb, Leo. This was legit. Someone knew exactly which car we’d be taking and when we’d be leaving.”
“Another traitor,” Leo says dangerously. It makes me shiver.
“Maybe,” Dante says, but he sounds uncertain. “But Leo, this bomb…it’s not Connor’s style.”
Leo’s head snaps up. “What?”
“The Brennans use bullets, not bombs,” Dante explains, pulling out his phone and scrolling through something. “They’re old school. This is sophisticated. This is?—”
“Like the Corsican intel from before,” Leo finishes, his voice going even colder.
My stomach drops. The Corsicans. The ones who helped Connor’s man Zima betray Leo. The ones who’ve been lurking in the background of this whole mess.
“Wait,” I say hoarsely before I clear my throat. “If it’s not my father, then who?—”
“Someone who wants you dead,” Dante says bluntly, and I flinch at the words. “Not captured. Not rescued. Dead.”
The reality of that sinks in slowly. Someone tried to kill me. Not take me back to my father or use me as leverage. Kill me.
“But why?” I ask, looking between Leo and Dante. “What do I have to do with the Corsicans? I don’t even know who they are.”
“That’s what we’re going to find out,” Leo says, and when he looks at me, there’s a protectiveness in his eyes that makes my breath catch. “But first, we’re going to make sure you’re safe. Dante, I want every entrance to this property locked down. Double the guards. No one gets in or out without my explicit permission.”
“Already done,” Dante says. “And I’ve called Dr. Jones to check Emma over.”
“I’m fine,” I protest, but Leo’s already shaking his head.
“You’re getting checked out,” he says firmly. “Non-negotiable.”
I want to argue, but I can see the set of his jaw and the fear still lurking in his eyes so I just nod and let him take care of me.
Because someone just tried to kill me.
For the first time since Leo took me, I realize that staying with him might actually be the safest place I can be.
17
LEO
I’m preparing for war.
I don’t tell Emma that’s what I’m doing or explain why I’ve doubled the guards on the property, why I’m installing new surveillance equipment at every entrance, and why I’ve called in favors from allied families to have eyes on every major route into and out of Long Island.