I shove my hand into my pants pocket for my cell phone.
Jace hovers and watches my every move as I unlock my phone, open the app for my bank, and review my checking account balance.
“He must have hacked my account,” I say, glancing at Jace.
I can’t deny the lump-sum payment or the deduction for the airline, neither of which I did.
“That’s convenient,” Jace growls. He pins me with his stare. “You should know, I’m not letting you kidnap my daughter. I’ve secured the compound with additional guards and will have men watching your every move.”
I’d expect nothing less from a mafia don.
“Luka wants this to tear us apart, make sure that you don’t trust me. He’s rattling you,” I say, trying to reason with him. “He wants revenge for you killing his father.”
“And what about you?” He tilts his head, his gaze never leaving mine. “Is that what you want, revenge? A child for a child.”
“I want my son back, but I know that isn’t an option. And unlike you, Jace, I’m not a monster. I wouldn’t hurt Astrid.”
I should blame Jace. After all, he’s the responsible party for destroying my life and murdering my family. Austin and John are dead because of the fire that he ordered. But my marriage with John wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t anything close to ideal. I loved Austin, though.
“I didn’t mean to hurt your family,” Jace says. “They were a casualty of war.”
Easy for him to say. “A war that my family should never have been a part of,” I remind him. “How can you promise to keep Astrid safe when you’re still fighting with Don Caruso? He won’t ever stop chasing after you.”
It’s not that I want to tear Astrid away from her father. It’s that I want to keep her safe. Fleeing to a foreign country, moving halfway across the world, where I’ll be isolated from the few people who I know, it’s not what I want. But I will do whatever’s necessary to keep her alive.
And if Luka continues to threaten us, what other choice is there?
“You’re right. I have to put an end to his reign,” Jace says.
“How do you plan on doing that?” I ask.
He brushes past me, ignoring my question. Jace opens the office door, four of his men stand at the entrance to the office, awaiting his orders.
“Markus and Vincent, I want you both guarding Olivia. Matteo, get the Capos brought down to the war room and the soldiers ready. We’re going to war.”
“What?” I shriek.
Did I hear him correctly?
“Jace, no. This is what he wants. He had to suspect that you’d investigate my financial records. Why else purchase plane tickets?”
“Take her upstairs,” Jace orders one of his men. “And grab her phone. I don’t want any loose ends or leaks.”
Markus grabs my arm and pulls me away from Jace, leading me back up the stairwell. He snatches my cell phone, shoving it into his pocket.
Jace and several of his men pile into another room down the hallway, slamming the door behind them.
I shiver and yank my arm out of Markus’s grip. “You don’t have to manhandle me. I can walk up the stairs myself.”
He leads me into Jace’s bedroom. “We’ll be outside your door,” Markus says, warning me that if I try to leave, I won’t get far.
“Right.”
Where would I go? Men like Jace and Luka have infinite resources to track me down.
At least there isn’t a guard blocking my way into the nursery. I check on Astrid. She’s thankfully still sound asleep. I shut off the baby monitor, unplug it, and open the door, tossing it into the hallway with a loud thud.
I shut the door before Markus or Vincent can object.