Chapter 127: 127 ~ Jace
I left early.
Typically I would have checked on Mira but I had a lot to do today.
The enemy was too many heads on one body, and I wasn’t foolish enough to believe I could cut them all down at once. Nope.
Charging head-on would’ve been suicide, and suicide wasn’t in my nature.
Divide and isolate. That was how you killed an empire. Not with bullets first, but with suspicion.
I sat in my new LA office, the blinds were half drawn and the shadows cutting the room into stripes. The cigar burning low between my fingers wasn’t for pleasure. I was smoking for the first time in a long while and it was for pacing my thoughts, for keeping my temper still while I replayed each name in my head.
Enzo.
Ricardo.
Giulietta
Massimo.
Each one was a cancer feeding on my family’s legacy. Each one requiring a different blade.
Enzo was the weakest link. Ambitious, arrogant, and reckless. The kind of man who believed fearlessness was strength, when in reality it was the fastest path to an early grave. Take him out, and Ricardo would stagger. Discredit Giulietta, and she’d be stripped of every ounce of influence she had clawed from my father’s mistakes.
As for Ricardo himself, the man was dangerousbut even the sharpest knife snapped when struck the right way. And Massimo? He was last. Always last. Because I wanted him to taste what it felt like to lose everything before I ended him.
The sound of the door opening broke my thoughts. I didn’t move until I smelled the faint whiff of gunpowder and leather. My man, Luca, slipping inside. He knew better than to announce himself.
He was not Tomas. I had asked Tomas to handle New York and some other locations. He was human too and I believed he would be overwhelmed if I put the burden of this plan on his shoulders too.
"Boss," Lucas said quietly, dropping a folder on my desk. "It’s done. The papers are clean - watermarks, signatures, the works. No one’s going to question them."
I tapped ash into the tray and pulled the folder toward me. Inside were forged contracts and account statements that would make Enzo look like he’d been funneling money into Massimo’s hands behind Ricardo’s back. Neat, damning numbers. A few names of shell companies that looked just real enough to pass scrutiny.
"Good," I said, flipping through. "But clean isn’t enough. It needs dirt. Smudges. Imperfections that make it believable. Ricardo’s too smart to buy perfect. He’ll smell a lie if it shines too much."
They were family so I knew them well enough.
Luca gave a quick nod. "I’ll have our guy rough them up, add the right creases."
I nodded.
"Do that. And when you hand them off, make sure it doesn’t look like a handoff. I want Ricardo to find them. Make him think someone inside his circle was sloppy."
"Yes, Boss."
He started to leave, but I stopped him. "And the whisper?"
Luca smirked faintly. "Already in motion. One of our plants in Ricardo’s crew told him he overheard Enzo talking to Massimo’s men. Casual, like he wasn’t sure he should repeat it. Just enough to dig under the old man’s skin."
Perfect. Whispers were better than shouts. A man could argue against hard evidence, but he couldn’t argue against the gnawing doubt that came from a rumor. Doubt spread like rot. And it ate through walls and foundations until everything collapsed on its own.
"Good," I said again, closing the folder. "You can leave."
When he left, I leaned back, staring at the ceiling. The office was quiet, but my thoughts weren’t.
Mira’s voice echoed, sharp as a blade. Good. Now you know how it feels.
I had walked away from her last night because if I hadn’t, I would’ve kissed her until one of us broke. She didn’t and couldn’t understand that the rage between us was the same fire I used to keep myself alive. I loved her to death but the sting of her betrayal still burnt in my chest.
For the first time I was blindsided. The realization dawned on me that she could have easily taken me down. She had that much power.
Still, she haunted me. The press of her lips. The way her eyes burned when she called me out. The way she whispered Italian curses when she thought I couldn’t hear. She was already under my skin, tangled in my blood. And Massimo circling her like a vulture only sharpened my rage. He wanted to use her to unmake me. I’d burn him to ash before I let him.
Deciding to snap out of my thoughts, I face the computer in front of me and worked, distracting myself from the thoughts of the woman who owned my heart. I knew she must have been mad that I didn’t take her call but she’d be alright.
The phone buzzed. I dragged it closer, thinking it was Mira again.
Luca’s voice came through instead. It was sharp and efficient. "Ricardo has the papers. Picked them up about an hour ago. And from what I hear, he’s already asking questions."
A thin smile cut across my face. Faster than I expected. Good.
"Let him stew," I said. "Don’t push. The more he thinks he uncovered it himself, the deeper he’ll believe it."
"Yes, Boss."
I ended the call, closing my fist over the phone until the plastic creaked. One move down. The first domino tipped. Soon enough, Enzo would be dangling like fresh meat, and Ricardo would be blind with grief and rage. That was when I’d strike hardest.
But I wasn’t naïve. Every move I made, Mira would feel the ripples. Unless I hid it from her. She hated my ruthlessness, hated that I made decisions in blood and steel.
She had never watched me kill anyone. I kept her in the dark from this life. Now I wasn’t sure she would be left out of all the chaos that was about to ensue. She needed to understand that violence, bloodshed and the likes were the only language men like Ricardo and Massimo respected.
I believed she would never try to stand in my way, no matter how stubborn she could get.
I closed my eyes, forcing the thought away. She wouldn’t. She couldn’t.
Still, the weight pressed against my chest like a warning.
Divide and isolate. It worked on enemies. But what happened when the divide came between me and her? What if she gave in to Massimo and all this was just part of a bigger plan? She had blindsided me before, what if she did it again?
I shoved the thoughts down and stood, grinding out the cigar in the tray. There was no room for weakness. Not now.
The empire was rotting, but by the time I was finished, everyone would know exactly who the last man standing was.
~
By morning, the video of the confrontation between father and son had reached my phone.
I watched with a smirk as they argued. It was so fulfilling to watch them argue.
The seed of doubt had been sown and it was stirring up more than enough chaos.
Now I needed to make the next move.
The elevator doors opened into the living room of my penthouse. I had slept out of the house for obvious reasons. I was avoiding her.
But standing right by the floor to ceiling window that overlooked the city was my wife.
She turned as soon as my feet hit the ground.
"Where the hell have you been, Romano?" She was fuming.
"Out."
"You didn’t even take my calls."
"You called once."
She arched a brow. "Why didn’t you return it?"
"I was busy."
"Jace, I don’t understand what’s going on with you." She sounded exasperated.
"Look around Mira. We’re in the middle of something bigger than us and I really do not have the time for any sentimental bullshit!" My voice thundered through the room.
She flinched, eyes shining with unshed tears.
It felt like everything went still and in that moment the guilt seeped into my heart and settled like a heavy weight.
Mira stormed towards the stairs, obviously heading to her room to cry.
In quick strides, I got there before her and held her hand.
"Let me go!"
I pulled her into a tight embrace even as she tried to break out of my hold.
Letting my palm rub over her back, I soothed her gently until she stayed still. When her chest heaved, I knew she was crying so I just let her stay in my arms and let it out.
To be honest, I was tired of being cold towards her. I couldn’t keep up the act anymore.
"I’m sorry, mia cara." I whispered, planting a kiss in the middle of head and coincidentally sniffing the scent of her strawberry shampoo.
"You hurt me." She whimpered, looking up at me.
Seeing her bloodshot eyes and tearstained face did something to my heart.
"I know. Forgive me."
Raising her chin up, I leaned down and covered her soft lips with mine.