~Matteo POV~
Lucas found me at the operations table at six in the morning with a map spread across it and three reports I had not finished reading yet.
He pulled out the chair across from me and sat down without being invited, which at this point I had stopped noting as unusual. It was simply how Lucas operated when the situation had moved past formality.
"Armand hit the Del Pieros' outer perimeter last night," he said. "Word came in an hour ago. Three confirmed dead on their side, two more unaccounted for. Their inner forces are pulling back toward the secondary compound to manage whatever he has planned next."
"Which means they are pulling away from us," I said.
"For now," Lucas said. "That window closes the moment Rodrigo stabilizes his position or the moment Armand stops being the more immediate problem." He looked at the map. "We have a few hours at most."
