Chapter 24
DANTE
Rain slams against the warehouse roof overhead while the entire crew works in near silence, everybody taking their jobs a little too seriously today.
Nobody’s lingering near the loading docks joking around anymore. Every few seconds, someone’s eyes drift toward the darker corners of the warehouse like they’re waiting for somebody to be standing there watching them.
Paranoia’s spreading through the family fast.
And honestly?
They have every reason for it.
I stand near the center table with Viktor and a few of Gabriel’s top men while maps and shipping routes are spread across the metal surface beneath the dim warehouse lights.
“Brooklyn routes are compromised,” one of the older men mutters while rubbing a hand across his jaw. “We should reroute through Queens until we figure out who’s feeding them information.”
“And look weak?” Viktor scoffs immediately. “Absolutely fucking not.”
I stay quiet, leaning one hand against the edge of the table while my eyes move across the warehouse instead.
Everybody suddenly looks suspicious now.
That’s the problem once betrayal gets introduced into a family. It spreads like mold in the walls until nobody trusts anybody anymore.
The side entrance suddenly opens behind us, and almost every head in the warehouse turns automatically.
Leigh walks in wearing black from head to toe.
A long dark coat with black slacks, with her usual pair of red-bottomed shoes.
The atmosphere shifts the second she steps into the warehouse.
A year ago, half of these men looked at her like Gabriel’s spoiled daughter playing dress-up around the business.
Now they just move out of her way without being asked.
My eyes lock onto hers immediately across the warehouse, and for a second, neither of us says anything.
Last night slams straight back into my head the second I look at her.
Her underneath me.
Her hands gripping my shoulders.
The way she looked at me when I first pressed into her.
Then just like that, her expression hardens again.
“Took you long enough,” Viktor says casually.
Leigh shrugs her coat off her shoulders slightly as she walks closer to the table. “Sorry. Our father decided to make breakfast uncomfortable this morning.”
A few of the men around us shift awkwardly.
Viktor snorts quietly while sliding one of the maps toward her.“Did he give you another inspirational speech about family values today?”
Leigh releases a low chuckle, “Something like that.”
My jaw tightens slightly at the mention of Gabriel already getting inside her head this early in the morning.
Not that he ever really stops.
Leigh glances down over the maps spread across the table while the rest of the warehouse keeps moving around us in tense silence.
“Father thinks the mole’s close to us,” she says finally while tracing one of the Brooklyn routes with her finger. “Close enough to know our plans immediately after we make them.”
Viktor lets out a dry laugh. “That narrows it down to basically everybody in this building.”
“It narrows it down to the people he actually trusts,” she corrects.
“Who’s on his list?” Viktor asks.
Leigh answers without hesitation. “Marco.” She looks over at him. “You, because apparently you’re ‘too emotional.’”
Viktor immediately rolls his eyes. “Shocking.”
“And.. Dante.” She turns her head my way, taking a small glance at me. “Though he’s loyal.. he’s not family.”
A few of the men glance toward me automatically after that.
I ignore them.
“What about you?” Viktor asks, keeping his eyes slightly narrowed.
Leigh’s eyes slowly move to him again. “He included me too.”
I didn’t expect Gabriel to openly suspect his own daughter.
Leigh doesn’t seem bothered by it though.
Or maybe she’s just gotten better at hiding shit over the last year.
“He told me to find the rat quietly,” she continues while crossing her arms lightly over her chest. “But I know it’s not you guys specifically. You’re all entirely too loyal. Family or not.”
Leigh shifts slightly against the table afterward, eyes slowly moving around the warehouse again.
“I’m questioning everyone here,” she says. “I don’t care how long they’ve worked for us.”
One of the men near the back shifts awkwardly. “You really think one of us is stupid enough to betray Gabriel?”
Leigh’s eyes settle onto him immediately.
“I know you’re not talking to me,” she says while pushing herself fully upright and stepping toward him.
The guy instinctively moves toward her too, clearly offended enough to forget who he’s speaking to for a second.
I immediately start stepping forward, but Viktor’s arm shoots out in front of me to stop me.
He shakes his head once.
Why the fuck is he telling me no?
Then I realize almost immediately that he stopped me because Leigh isn’t backing away.
Not even slightly.
The guys shoulders square up instinctively like he’s trying to intimidate her in front of the rest of the warehouse.
Huge fucking mistake.
I take another step, but Viktor blocks me. Then whispers, “Do you want this whole fucking place to know that you two are a thing?”
My eyes widen.
He nods, “I didn’t think so. Chill the fuck out.”
Leigh just stares at him while the lights above us flicker faintly.
Everyone nearby slowly stops what they’re doing to watch.
“You seem nervous,” she says quietly.
The guy scoffs immediately. “I’m not nervous.”
Her eyes drag across his face slowly. “Then why are you sweating?”
Embarrassment flashes across his face before irritation takes back over.
“You walk in here acting like you’re our fucking boss or something,” he snaps. “Questioning everybody like you’re some fucking interrogator.”
The warehouse goes completely silent.
She just stares at him for a second while crossing her arms loosely over her chest. Then she smiles slightly.
“A year ago,” she says calmly, “you wouldn’t have spoken to me like that.”
The guy scoffs, trying to save face now that the entire warehouse is watching him. “A year ago, you weren’t walking around here acting like you own the fucking place.”
Leigh tilts her head slightly. “Interesting.”
“What’s interesting?”
“The fact you’re getting this defensive. Got something to hide?”
“I’m not defensive!” He looks around nervously. “And no, I’m not hiding shit.”
“No?” she asks quietly. “Then why do you look like you’re about to shit yourself in front of everyone here?”
A few people nearby let out quiet laughs under their breath.
The guy notices immediately and his face darkens.
“I’ve worked for this family for six fucking years,” he snaps. “I don’t need to prove loyalty to you.
Leigh’s eyebrow raises slightly. “Six years?” she repeats quietly. “Then you should know better than anybody here what happens to people who lie to Gabriel.”
The guy’s jaw tightens hard enough I can see the muscle twitch.
“I’m not lying.”
“Mm,” she hums quietly before taking a slow step back and pointing toward the guy with her finger, silently signaling Viktor to grab him.
The second Leigh gives the signal, he grabs the guy by the back of the neck and slams him face-first against the metal table hard enough to rattle everything sitting on top of it.
The warehouse erupts immediately after that.
A few guys step back. Others move closer.
Everybody suddenly starts talking over each other while the storm outside pounds harder against the roof overhead.
“I didn’t fucking do anything!” the guy snaps while struggling beneath Viktor’s grip.
“You’re acting pretty guilty for someone who didn’t do anything,” Viktor growls.
The guy tries shoving himself upright again, but Viktor just forces him harder against the table.
Leigh slowly walks closer, black heels echoing sharply against the concrete floor while everybody in the warehouse watches her.
“I’m starting to think we’ve found our mole.” She tilts her head to the side.
The guy breathes heavily against the metal table. “Get the fuck off me.”
Leigh slowly crouches down in front of him, one elbow resting loosely against her knee while she studies his face.
“I believe you,” she says quietly.
The guy blinks rapidly, clearly thrown off by that answer. “What?”
“I don’t think you intended to betray us originally.”
He struggles against Viktor’s grip, but managing to slightly raise his head from the table.
Leigh keeps her eyes locked onto him. “I think somebody got to you first. I’m assuming you were blackmailed into handing the information over.”
The guy’s breathing picks up.
“There it is,” she murmurs almost to herself.
Fear flashes across his face. He knows that he’s been caught.
“Who threatened you?” she asks softly.
“Nobody.”
Leigh leans a little closer. “You’re sweating through your shirt and you almost pissed yourself when I mentioned blackmail.” Her head tilts slightly. “You’re scared of something, or someone.”
The guy squeezes his eyes shut briefly.
And that’s when I know she’s got him.
Viktor notices too and grips the guys neck tighter. “Who approached you?”
“Nobody approached me,” he mutters quickly.
“Wrong answer,” Leigh says calmly.
He squirms some more and then says: “You don’t understand.”
After a few seconds of silence, Leigh takes a breath. “Then explain it to me,” she says quietly.
The guy swallows hard before finally looking up at her fully for the first time since Viktor slammed him against the table.
“They know where my sister lives. They threatened her. I- I couldn’t let them just-”
“Stop.” She abruptly says.
Viktor’s jaw tightens beside me while Leigh stays crouched in front of him, eyes narrowed slightly like she’s piecing things together in real time.
“How long have they been threatening you?” she asks.
“A few months.”
“And you never thought to tell anybody?” She seconds.
The guy laughs bitterly, though it sounds shaky as hell. “Tell Gabriel Genovese that I was feeding information to someone to save my sister? I’d be dead before the conversation was even finished.”
Nobody argues with that as Leigh slowly rises back to her feet.
The warehouse stays eerily quiet around us besides the storm hammering against the roof.
Finally, her eyes shift toward Viktor before settling back onto the man pinned against the table.
“Who was it?” she asks.
The guy stays quiet.
Leigh releases a slow breath through her nose before motioning slightly with her hand. “Let him up.”
Viktor’s brows furrow instantly. “Everleigh-”
“Let him up.” She repeats.
There’s something in her voice that makes even Viktor listen without arguing further.
Reluctantly, he releases the guy and steps back.
The man immediately straightens himself, rubbing shakily at his neck while trying to catch his breath.
Leigh watches him carefully the entire time.
“We can help you,” she says quietly. “Nobody here understands the value of family more than I do.” She tilts her head slightly. “Just tell me who threatened you and this all ends here.”
The guy’s demeanor shifts almost instantly after that, like he’s slightly more comfortable than he was before.
He shakes his head weakly before finally speaking.
“It.. it was the feds.” He swallows hard. “Some guy named Faris.”
My jaw tightens instantly.
But years of training force my expression to stay neutral.
Nobody here besides Leigh and Viktor knows who I work for outside of Gabriel.
Still, my pulse pounds hard enough that I swear I can hear it.
Leigh’s eyes shift toward me for half a second, studying my expressions.
After a moment, she calmly reaches into her coat pocket and pulls out a gun that was hidden inside, and shoots the guy directly in the head.
The gunshot explodes through the warehouse and he drops instantly.
Blood sprays across the concrete floor while several of our workers visibly jolt backward in shock.
Even Viktor stumbles half a step. “What the fuck, Everleigh?”
She ignores him completely.
The gun stays loosely in her hand while she slowly turns toward the rest of the warehouse workers staring at her in stunned silence.
“As you can see,” she says calmly, “I value family very highly.”
She motions the gun slightly toward the body bleeding out across the floor.
“He put my family at risk.” Her eyes slowly move over everybody watching her. “So let this be a warning to anybody else thinking about fucking with us.”
Leigh lowers the gun afterward before grabbing her coat off the nearby table.
“Don’t.”
Nobody says a word.
Nobody even fucking moves.
Then she turns and walks away from us toward the office corridor without another glance back while the storm continues raging outside and blood slowly spreads across the warehouse floor behind her.