Page 133 of Fallen Rook

He tricked me. He trapped me. Betrayed me on the deepest fucking level.

“Tom?”

“What do you want me to say?” A surge of anger zinged through his eyes. “I tried to see you as collateral, but when push came to shove, I chose to put my own career on the line to save you. So make it worth my while,” he croaked, his voice soft and pleading. “I chose you, Enzo. Now it is time you choose me.”

I closed my eyes. Took a ragged breath. Opened them.

“No.”

“No?” He sneered. “Well, you don’t have a choice. You’re in my custody.” His face smoothed into a hard mask again. “You’ll have an anklet that will be activated if you wander two miles from your apartment to ensure you don’t do anything stupid. Like getting yourself into more trouble.”

“I do have a choice,” I countered, forcing myself to stay glued to the chair, knowing people at his office were watching us through the glass. “I can go back to headquarters, get re-arrested, and have my lawyer bail me out.”

“You won’t do that,” he snarled. “The FBI will raid your operation any day now. It’s over, Enzo. The Camorra’s done. I’m talking life without parole. For everyone.”

I dropped my head into my palms, groaning. When I looked back up, I was trembling all over.

“You’re offering me a new life where you can flaunt me around as your boy toy without being embarrassed in front of your colleagues? Is that it?”

“You don’t want to marry Katya.” A muscle jumped in his jaw.

“Tom, you’re sacrificing my family without asking for permission…”

I couldn’t believe he was doing this to me. Couldn’t believe he’d gotten me fucking arrested for extortion so he could extort me and make me sign a plea deal.

And I couldn’t believe it was really over. The Camorra. My family. Everything I’d ever known.

“Butterfl—”

“Don’t fucking call me that!” I screamed.

“Enzo,” he corrected himself, “the train’s in motion. I can’t stop it, even if I wanted to. I’ve risked a lot to get this deal for you. I’d be lying if I said I don’t want you to take it—I want you to be happy, free, and mine. All three of those things can happen. All you have to do is let them.”

“Yours?” I spluttered, jumping to my feet. I could no longer keep it together. This was the moment I truly lost my shit. “You want me to be yours? You’re ruining my fucking family!”

He shook his head. “No. They’re ruining themselves. They are getting what they deserve.”

“They raised me,” I roared. “And you’re taking them away.”

“If it weren’t me, it would be someone else. I did everything I could—”

“Forget fucking you, I could never even look at you again without wanting to vomit.”

He stared down at his shoes, swallowed hard, and didn’t say anything.

“Do you get what you did?” I shrieked. “Do you get how you ruined everything?”

“All I wanted was to save you.”

“Well, you haven’t saved me, and now I no longer want anything to do with you.”

“I figured you wouldn’t,” he said quietly. “And still, saving you and not having you seemed the better option than having you and watching you get locked up for life.”

The weight of his words hammered down on me all at once. Luca was going to prison, forever. Achilles, too. Me, as well, since I wasn’t going to let them face whatever it was the FBI would throw our way alone. I’d never do that to them.

Our lives, our legacy, our loves, our families, the children, Mama, Lila, Sofia, Tierney…

I bent over, the pain transcending the physical. The world dimmed, washed with cloudy, murky white dots of panic. I staggered backward.