Chapter 31
Shadows of Yesterday
The morning light comes softly through the curtains.
Lucius opens his eyes and notices that the space beside him is empty.
He sits up in bed, his eyes searching the room until they land on Tessa.
She is already done with her shower, her damp hair hanging over her shoulders.
After what happens between them last night, she looks different today.
There is a quiet peace about her, and she looks beautiful, almost like an angel.
She looks so fragile, yet she is still standing.
Lucius looks at her for a moment before speaking.
"Come here," he says in a low, warm voice.
Tessa walks over to the bed, and Lucius taps the mattress, telling her to sit beside him.
As soon as she sits down, he leans in and gives her a soft, lingering kiss on her forehead.
A small smile appears on Tessa's lips. "I feel a bit better today," she whispers, looking at him.
"The way you hold me last night... it keeps the bad dreams away."
Lucius looks deep into her eyes, his expression turning serious as he strokes her cheek.
"Are you in pain? From last night." A faint blush runs across her face at the question.
She looks down shyly and murmurs, "Yes, but... its normal."
Right at that moment, the phone on the bedside table rings loudly, breaking the quiet.
Lucius picks it up and answers with a short, "Hello."
Victor's cold voice comes from the other side.
"I get some inside information from the sniper we catch last night."
Keeping his eyes fixed onto Tessa, Lucius replies, "Tell the others and our hackers what you find. I will talk to you later."
Victor never wastes time, we are getting closer.
He cuts the call, puts the phone back down, and turns his full attention back to Tessa.
"Do you know my age, sweetheart?" he asks quietly.
Tessa blinks, completely surprised by the question.
"No. Why? Is there a problem?" Lucius pauses for a moment, letting the silence hang between them.
"I am eleven years older than you." Tessa does not step back or look away.
Instead, she places her warm hand gently on his cheek and looks at him.
"For me, age does not matter, Lucius. We do everything last night."
Lucius does not say anything more, but the tension in his shoulders melts.
He gets up from the bed wearing only his boxers, walks over to Alex's wardrobe, and pulls out a pair of dark sweatpants.
She doesn't care about the gap. She chooses me anyway.
As he pulls the sweatpants on, he turns back to look at Tessa.
She is already getting up from the mattress, clearly not wanting to be left behind alone in the room.
He walks over, checking to see if she is ready, and then wraps his arm gently around her waist to support her.
I won't leave her side today. "Let's go see the others together," he murmurs softly against her hair.
Tessa gives him a quiet smile, leaning into his warmth as he opens the heavy wooden door, and they step out of the bedroom together to join everyone in the living room.
The shared space is thick with tension as they walk in.
Alex is sitting at the glass table staring at his laptop, Emily and Olivia are right beside him checking the data, and Teajun is on his phone coordinating the main system.
Alex looks up as Lucius and Tessa approach, instantly turning the laptop screen toward them so they can see the fresh files that Victor has just sent over.
"The sniper talks," Alex says his voice deadly serious as he points to the screen.
"We have the exact location of Gambino's Jersey base."
Alex taps his fingers against the table, tracking the lines of data scrolling on the monitor.
Olivia leans closer, her eyes scanning the names and addresses Victor has extracted.
Given her background as a literature professor, she has a sharp eye for reading between the lines, recognizing hidden patterns and connections in coded messages that others completely miss.
Right beside her, Emily is studying the layout of the Jersey base with a focused look.
Before this, Emily used to arrange high-profile parties for dangerous businessmen and mafia figures, a job where Victor has personally taught her how to spot building security flaws, hidden exits, and guard routines while keeping a calm face.
Lucius keeps his hand firmly on Tessa’s waist, feeling her body stiffen slightly as the reality of the upcoming raid fills the room.
Alex looks up from the screen, his gaze shifting from the monitor to his brother.
"With what Victor finds and the security patterns Emily is picking up, we can bypass their outer watch entirely," Alex explains, his voice low and steady.
Teajun finally ends his call, stepping over to the glass table with a grim expression on his face.
We are going to dismantle Gambino piece by piece.
The heavy front door of the penthouse opens with a sharp click, and Victor steps inside.
He keeps the security gate locked behind him, a habit that everyone in the room understands without a word.
He is completely covered in blood, his expensive suit ruined from the messy interrogation.
Victor wipes his hands and looks straight at Lucius, his face flat and showing no emotion.
"I leave the sniper's dead body in the basement of your mansion," Victor says, his deep voice cutting through the quiet room.
"I will get rid of it properly later." Lucius gives him a firm nod, not bothered by the news at all.
"Its okay, Victor," Lucius replies quietly.
He does what has to be done to get the answers.
Alex taps the table, getting Victor's attention to look at the screen.
"We just find out about their new base in Jersey City," Alex explains, pulling up the digital grid.
Emily leans closer, her eyes scanning the area on the screen.
"Looking at the layout, this place could be located right next to that local software company," she adds, her past experience with high-profile mafia properties helping her spot the location patterns instantly.
Before anyone can say anything else, Teajun speaks up from the corner of the room.
The Korean doctor is a lifetime single guy who always manages to keep a casual tone, even when discussing dangerous missions.
He takes a huge bite out of his burger, chews quickly, and points his finger at the screen.
"Hmm... yeah," Teajun mutters, swallowing his food.
"Just call the hackers right now and tell them to take control of the local CCTV cameras. Once the cameras are down, I can go in and fit the bombs myself. That’s it, bro."
He then looks over at Victor, seeing the dried blood staining the fabric of his suit.
"Go get some rest, Victor. You already do enough heavy work for today." We need him sharp for what comes next.
Victor gives a silent nod and turns to walk toward the bathroom to wash off the dried blood.
As soon as the bathroom door closes, Emily looks over at Olivia, realizing they have a practical problem to solve.
Because of the chaos at the big businessman's birthday party the night before, everyone has to rush straight to Alex's penthouse in a hurry.
Nobody has been given any time to stop by Lucius's mansion to pick up extra clothes or daily supplies.
Olivia quickly walks over to the wardrobe, searching through the shelves until she pulls out a casual t-shirt and a pair of half pants for Victor to wear.
We are all trapped in our party clothes, running a war from a living room.
A little while later, Victor comes out of the bathroom, freshly showered and wearing the casual clothes Olivia has found for him.
He does not waste any time and walks right back to the table, his mind still fully locked on the mission.
"Jersey City might not be that simple," Victor says his voice flat as he looks at the screen.
"Gambino is smart. There could easily be two or three different bases hidden in that area, not just one."
Teajun chews his food, his fingers already typing on his phone.
He dials their lead hacker and speaks into the receiver, making it clear that he only needs one trusted person to go with him to secure the area.
He has no intention of bringing Alex, Lucius, or Victor into a stealth operation.
Lucius leans against the table, considering Teajun's strategy.
He knows how their teams work, and he does not want to make a mistake.
"Call the second base," Lucius orders in a serious voice.
"Take only one man from there. If Victor is right and there are three bases, you can take five or six men in total. That means only two people for each base. If you take more men, Alessio Gambino's guards will see you."
He pauses, looking at the map. "Go check the area first. Let's see what is there. When it gets dark, Victor can go and kidnap one of their guys for news."
We must move like ghosts, or they will catch us.
About half an hour later, a message pops up on Teajun’s phone.
The hackers have finally found the details that Emily and Alex are looking for near the software company.
The message confirms that there are actually two enemy bases.
The first base is hidden underground, right beneath a busy local restaurant.
The second base is a penthouse, located about a twenty-minute motorcycle ride away from that restaurant.
Normal people live on most floors of that penthouse, but the hacker’s spot suspicious men moving around strictly on the third floor.
The message also gives a specific warning: every single one of Alessio Gambino's men has an 'OG' or 'AG' logo stitched onto their clothes.
The main hacker manages to gather all this dangerous information quietly, and Alessio does not get any news about it.
With the targets clear, the team needs to decide their next move.
Teajun plans to go to the restaurant base himself to plant the special bombs.
They decide to blast the underground area late at night so that normal customers and innocent citizens will not get hurt.
It is going to be a loud, clear message to Alessio to show him exactly what happens when he touches the wrong people.
Right then, Kai, the younger brother of their main hacker and a talented junior member of the team, speaks up from his station.
"Alessio is sitting all the way in Italy and operating everything from there," Kai reveals, adjusting his computer screen.
Lucius frowns, his face turning dark at the news.
He looks at the team, wondering how they can attack an enemy who is hiding in another country.
"Then what should we do?" Lucius asks his deep voice dropping into a serious rumble.
"How do we get access to him? How do we finish this?"
Kai gives a small, confident smile to calm the heavy tension in the room.
"For the next two or three days, just relax and eat properly like Teajun does," Kai says, trying to make the situation a bit lighter.
"Our team will make special bombs within three days—bombs that no scanner can ever detect. Don't worry so much, Lucius. Tessa sister will be completely safe here with us. Leave the rest of the work to our hacker network. You all just need to watch out for one thing.
Make sure no strange or suspicious people are hanging around this penthouse."
The room grows quiet as everyone thinks about Kai's words.
It means they have to wait for three days before taking their revenge.
Teajun sits down at the table and carefully saves all the maps and hacker data onto his secure device, preparing himself for the mission ahead.
They all know this quiet peace inside the penthouse is only for a short time, and a dangerous storm is coming.
Enjoy the calm for these three days, Alessio, because when our bombs are ready, your world in Jersey City will burn to ashes.
~