CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR (ELI'S POV)

The silence between us stretched endlessly, the air was filled with a suffocating slice as we stared at each other. It was so thick that it could be cut through with a blade.

Luca didn’t blink. He didn’t move. He just stood there, waiting.

And then, he spoke.

"Explain."

One word. One command and it was enough to break me.

I told him everything.

The words spilled out of me like a dam breaking, I told him who I was, why I had come here, the missions, the lies, the truth I had spent so long denying.

I didn’t try to soften it.

I didn’t make excuses.

I just let it all out.

And when I was done, I braced myself for what was coming. I had expected him to be furious— Luca should have been furious. He should have grabbed his gun, pressed it against my skull, and pulled the trigger without a second thought.

But instead he sighed.

Not in anger.

Not in shock.

But like he had just been proven right.

And then, he said the one thing I never expected to hear.

"I’ve known for weeks."

My stomach dropped.

“What?” My voice came out quietly.

Luca didn’t look away. “I knew the second you walked in here that you weren’t just some disgraced soldier that had been sold to us. That story was very stretchy.” His lips tilted upward slightly. “You were too clean. Too put together. You had discipline, training.” He tilted his head. “I figured you were either a cop or something worse so I ran a background check and it turns out that I was right.”

My chest was aching. I had spent so long trying to keep my cover intact, and yet he has always known. The entire fucking time.

I swallowed hard. “Then why the hell haven’t you killed me?”

Luca's expression didn’t change. “Because it would have been a waste.”

A waste?

I felt like I was missing something.

Luca stepped closer, his voice lowering. “Tell me something, Elias.” 

He knew my name. I wasn't surprised at this point. A shiver went down my spine at the way he pronounced my name with his Italian accent, I could get used to this

“Since you got here, have you given the FBI any valuable intel?” he asked.

I opened my mouth then closed it. I began to think back to every message and every call that I had made then I realized that I hadn't.

I had sent updates, sure. But nothing useful. Nothing that would put Luca or Matteo in danger and possibly bring them done.

I had subconsciously withheld information.

I had protected them.

I had protected this life.

Luca’s smirk widened as he saw the answer on my face. “That’s why.”

My throat was dry. “You—you made me kill those people as punishment, didn’t you?”

He didn’t deny it.

“You infiltrated us. I wasn’t about to let that slide.” His fingers brushed my chin, tilting my head up. “But you didn’t betray us. And that? That means you belong to us now.”

His words sent a shiver through me.

I belonged to them.

The realization clawed at my ribs.

Luca stepped back. “Come on. We need to tell Matteo.”

And just like that, my moment of relief was gone.

Because if there was one person who would want me dead for this, it was him.

***

Matteo was sitting in the dimly lit lounge, sipping whiskey like it was the only thing keeping him from snapping someone's neck. He had a deadly look on his face.

When we walked in, his eyes flicked up to me first and narrowed then went to Luca.

And he knew that something was wrong.

I saw it in the way his grip tightened around the glass.

“What the fuck is going on?” His voice was low, but there was a dangerous edge to it.

Luca didn’t hesitate. “Eli’s been working for the FBI.”

Matteo stilled.

The silence that followed was deadly.

I could see the exact moment the words sank in.

His breath left him in a slow, controlled exhale. His eyes darkened, the warmth that had been growing between us in the past few weeks was snuffed out in an instant.

And then, suddenly—

The glass shattered in his grip.

I flinched, but Matteo barely noticed.

His gaze burned into me, filled with a rage that was bone-deep. I didn’t move. Didn’t speak.

Because I understood.

Matteo hated the feds because they had taken his family. They ruined his childhood and made him an orphan. They had ruined his life.

And now he had let one into his bed.

I was the thing he hated most in this world.

And he wanted me dead.

Before I could even react, he was on me.

One second I was standing, the next, my back hit the wall with a brutal force, knocking the air out of my lungs.

Matteo’s hand wrapped around my throat, squeezing just enough to make me hear my heartbeat in my ears.

His voice was low and lethal as he spoke. “You.” His fingers tightened. “Fucking. Liar.”

I gasped for air. “Matteo—”

“I should kill you.” His grip didn’t loosen. “I should put a bullet in your skull and dump your body in the fucking ocean.”

Luca leaned against the bar, completely unbothered. “You could. But you won’t.”

Matteo’s head snapped toward him, fury covering every inch of his face. “Give me one good fucking reason why I shouldn’t.”

Luca smirked. “Because I have a better idea.”

Matteo didn’t look convinced, but he let go of my throat with a harsh shove, making me stumble forward.

I coughed, sucking in lungfuls of air as I tried to steady myself.

“What idea?” Matteo spat.

Luca took his time, swirling the whiskey in his glass then, he met Matteo’s gaze.

“If Eli really belongs to us now,” he said smoothly, “then he needs to prove it.”

Matteo crossed his arms. “And how the fuck is he supposed to do that? Hasn't he done it previously?”

A slow, dangerous smile crept up Luca's beautiful face. “He’s going to kill his boss.”

The room went silent.

My blood ran cold in my veins.

Matteo’s eyebrows lifted slightly, and then, slowly his usual smirk formed on his lips.

“You know what?” he murmured. “I like that idea.”

He turned back to me, eyes gleaming with something dark. “You want us to trust you?” he asked. “Then you’re going to prove it. You’re going to put a bullet in the guy who sent you here in the first place.”

I felt like I had been punched in the gut.

They wanted me to kill my boss.

The man who had trained me. The man who had taken me in when I was just a lost kid trying to survive.

The man who had just sentenced me to death.

I should have felt torn. I should have felt guilt.

But instead, I felt nothing because he had already abandoned me and these men… they had claimed me instead.

Luca stepped closer, tilting my chin up with two fingers. His voice was soft, but commanding.

“Are you going to do it?”

A long pause stretched between us.

And then I nodded.

“Yes.”