I stood and straightened my shoulders. “Does he know who I am? That I’m his father?”
Antonio and Kate looked at each other before Kate shook her head.
“Good.” I straightened my jacket. “Then Layla and I can tell him together…after I go get her.”
“Dante, wait.” Antonio rushed toward me and grabbed my elbow.
I jerked out of his hold. “No! I am fucking done waiting. Yes, I know I have a son. Yes, I know this shit is deeper than I ever could have imagined. But right now, the only thing that matters is getting Layla back. Once she’s here, I’ll deal with everything else. Even though there’s a fuck-load of people in this room who think they know everything, that they know all the answers, you don’t. The only person who can give me the answers I need is Layla, and I’m going to get her. Now.”
The gloomy, sullen look on his face, which usually only showed extreme confidence, sent a feeling of unease straight down my spine, settling in my gut. “What are you not telling me?”
He glanced at Kate as if she had to give him permission to answer.
I grabbed his shoulders, fed up with having to fucking drag every goddamn answer out of the lot of them. “What the fuck are you not telling me?”
“The drugs, Dante. Layla is convinced she’s beyond help.”
I took a step back. “What does that mean?”
“She thinks the only way for Matteo to stop with his vendetta against you is if she was no longer a weapon he could use.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Are you saying what I think you are?”
Antonio didn’t answer. He just looked at me, knowing his silence was answer enough. I heard Kate suck in a breath, Lucio and my father cursing in the background. But I only had one thought, one action, one reality…I was going to kill my brother.
Anger grabbed hold of every bone, rage flooding through my veins like a toxin. It was unstoppable, my wrath. The need to tear human flesh the fuck apart. All I saw was her face, red slowly moving down and clouding my vision, my fists clenched and ready to destroy.
I swung my arm, sweeping it through the air just before my knuckles connected against bone. My brother’s head snapped to the side, the entire scene playing off in slow motion. Blood from his mouth splattered against the wall, the ringing in my ears blocking out every other sound.
Antonio had sent Layla back to Matteo, back to the devil who forced the poison through her veins. And for that, he had to die. My brother, my blood needed to pay for taking her away from me. For sending her to her ultimate demise.
I pulled my arm back, the bones in my hand screaming with an ache to destroy. But someone grabbed my shoulder while two more arms wrapped around my waist, dragging me backward. Slowly, the sound of reality returned, and I heard Lucio’s voice.
“Stop! Dante, stop.”
But all I saw was Antonio’s blood, and I wanted more. My anger demanded it.
“Dante!” This time it was my dad. “Stop this, for God’s sake.” His voice lacked the confidence it always carried. He was pleading, begging. “Dante, he is your brother.”
I froze, no longer fighting against the arms that kept me back. The sound of my own heartbeat echoed between my ears, the red in my vision slowly subsiding. But my fury was still red hot.
Lucio let go when I stilled, my deathly stare still pinned on Antonio nursing a bleeding lip. “I will never forgive you for this. Do you hear me? Never.”
My dad stepped in front of me, blocking my view of the brother I now hated with every breath I took.
“Son, listen to me. We will get her back. Remember our leverage.”
My gaze cut to my father’s. “Castello?”
“Yes. We still have the means to save her. We just need to figure out the best way to do it. But you need to calm down. If we have any chance of getting Layla back alive, you need a clear head.”
For a moment, the anger that seared the inside of my veins subsided. My dad was right. Killing my brother and losing myself to anger was not going to save Layla. It wasn’t going to help anyone.
Dad glanced over his shoulder at Antonio. “Get cleaned up, then meet us back here.” He looked at Lucio. “Go get Rafe, then show him and Kate to one of the guest bedrooms. Let them settle in. Also, make sure security is doubled around them. I have a feeling Matteo’s strategy is about to change.”
My eyebrows slanted down in question. “Why do you think that?”
“Castello already has the container, and I’m pretty sure Matteo and his father will hear about it any minute now.”