Calli is going to be there, and I refuse to put her in any kind of danger. Ever.
“The cars will be here in thirty minutes,” Nico points out.
“And what about the girls?” I already know that Isla is meeting me there along with her parents. But what about the others?
What about Calli?
“They’re arriving separately. They’re getting ready with Selene and Cassandra,” Seb informs me.
“And what are we doing while they’re left like sitting ducks?”
“You need to chill, man,” Nico suggests, making my blood damn near boil over.
“Chill? Are you fucking shitting me, Cirillo? You’re about to send your mother, your sister, everyone else you fucking love into the middle of an Italian war,” I boom.
“It’s not going to come to that. What we’re doing is getting them to safety.”
“Then put them on a fucking airplane and get them the fuck out of here. Some secret location for a party isn’t good enough.”
“You need to get your head in the game, or you’ll be the one who’s not a part of this,” Theo warns.
“I’ll fucking be there. It’s my job,” I seethe.
Tension ripples around the room, the air turning toxic and dangerous as Theo and I continue to stare at each other, neither of us willing to back down.
A phone ringing finally cuts through the atmosphere before Theo pulls his phone from his pocket and lifts it to his ear.
“Yeah, Boss. We’re ready.”
Damien says something on the other end, but I can’t make out his words.
“The girls?” Theo asks. “Good. Yeah. Okay.” He glances at Nico. “Yeah, we’ve got it.”
Without saying goodbye, Theo hangs up and drops his phone back into his pocket.
“Everything is good to go. We head to the hotel, we go inside to meet our girls, who have been seen going inside to get ready.”
“Where are they now?” I ask, hating how panicked I sound.
Theo’s eyes narrow on me, suspicion swimming in their dark depths. But for the first time, I don’t give a shit if he sees more than I want him to.
“Heading toward the venue. The hotel is having renovations done. There’s a lot of coming and going from the underground car park.”
Ripping his eyes from mine, he turns to Nico and begins a hushed conversation with him.
A hand lands on my shoulder, and I’m dragged back.
“Nico’s right, you need to chill, Bro. You’re beginning to look a little neurotic,” Alex says quietly so his words don’t carry.
“Do not tell me that you’re okay with this,” I beg.
“Bro, I—”
“No,” I hiss. “Don’t fucking ‘Bro’ me. We can’t let her walk into the middle of this.”
“Oh, so now you admit you care,” he teases me.
“Of course I fucking care. I fucking lo—” I cut myself off before I spill words that have no right falling from my lips. “We need them all safe. We shouldn’t be throwing them to the wolves.”