Chapter 38 #2
Lucius walked past him without blinking. "Ignore it."
The three men stepped into the room, their heavy boots stepping directly over the scattered banknotes as they moved toward the leather chairs in the centre. Lucius, Teajun, and Victor sat down, closing the distance between them.
The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly, turning incredibly heavy and suffocating quiet. The silence was so absolute, so thick with dark gravity, that if anyone's heart rate spiked even slightly, the rhythmic, panicked thudding would be loud enough for all of them to hear.
At that exact moment, Alex burst into the room. He didn’t sit down. "First, I need your signature, Lucius," he said bluntly, sliding a document across the desk. The pen scratched against the paper, and Alex snatched it back. "Right. Okay, bye." With that, he vanished as quickly as he had arrived.
Teajun leaned forward, the casual air completely gone from his posture.
"I heard it last night while I was working late at the hospital. I was in the corridor when I saw five men talking about an illicit organ-dealing ring. One of them was our doctor. They handed him a briefcase bursting with cash. Two of them left immediately, but the remaining three stayed behind,
discussing the drug overdoses. They are intentionally administering expired medicine, planning to resell the good stock here and to other hospitals. And the worst part? They are using the entire hospital infrastructure to launder their dirty money."
Lucius didn't move. His focus narrowed, locking onto two specific details: the drugs and the clean money.
Victor spoke up next, his voice cutting through the heavy air. "Now my turn."
"Go ahead," Lucius commanded.
"Those two we locked in the basement—the girl was talking to the bloke," Victor explained.
"She told him their main motive is simply to keep Tessa alive. Then she called him a fucking gay idiot and warned him not to bleed information about their businesses, the casino, the bars, or the hotel. She claimed they are already two steps ahead of us.
She also mentioned a mole—a man who joined our ranks as a bodyguard. But when she gave him his pay out, that fucking brat killed him."
Lucius’s eyes darkened with cold fury. "Keep them completely isolated. Those two absolute bastards will sing soon enough. They have more information to give."
Teajun rubbed his temples, anxiety creeping into his voice. "This means someone is inside our base. Someone is working against us, and we have no idea who it is."
"Who could it be?" Victor muttered, looking at Lucius.
Lucius leaned back, his mind working fast. "Why don't we shift the pressure? We send a man into their base. Into their house."
"According to what I dug up on the internet, Alessio has a sister," Victor noted.
Teajun let out a low, casual whistle. "A honey traps."
"By whom?" Lucius asked, his gaze fixed on Victor.
Teajun’s voice didn’t waver, pressing until the intelligence was ironclad. "We need to confirm the sister exists first."
"Fine," Lucius conceded, his voice dropping an octave. "If he has a sister, who is going?"
"I’ll go," Victor said without an ounce of hesitation.
Teajun’s expression hardened a sharp warning in his eyes. "If you go through with a honey trap, what about Emily?"
"Work is work," Victor replied coldly. "Who is going to tell her? I am already prepared to sacrifice my personal life for this mission."
"Are you certain?" Teajun pressed, searching his friend's face.
"Only you, Lucius, Alex, and our hacker brothers will know about it," Victor said flatly. "So how on earth is she going to find out? Unless one of you tells her."
Teajun sank back, feeling an immense, heavy low settle deep in his chest.
The dark plotting and fierce arguments dragged on, the hours bleeding away until the clock on the wall struck exactly 7:00 p.m.
Alex walked back into the study, stopping dead in his tracks as a sharp curse escaped his lips. "Fuck. Are you serious? This raw cash has been lying all over the floor since this morning, and the room still hasn't been locked down? What the hell are you lot doing with this monopoly money?"
Lucius ignored the complaint, casually catching Alex up on everything they had discussed. The moment Alex heard about Victor's plan for the honey trap, his fist slammed against the wooden table with a deafening thud.
"Are you serious? Are you fucking serious?" Alex shouted, his face flushing with anger. "Don't try to joke with me. Puff—your loyalty is feeding your stupidity, am I right?"
"No," Victor shot back, unbothered. "It’s just a mission. I am simply doing what Lucius did before for his father’s personal reasons."
Alex exhaled sharply, forcing himself to calm down. He handed a fresh sheet of paper to Lucius. Lucius scanned the dates, a thoughtful hum escaping his throat. "Next month. 22 May 2026. Hmm… You will have to handle this event, Alex. I can't."
As Lucius set the paper down on the desk, his tablet lit up. A secure line was buzzing from Kai and Kael. Lucius grabbed the device, stepping out of the suffocating tension of the study and into the quiet hallway. He accepted the video call. "Hello."
"Lucius, we have Grandma here," Kai said urgently on the screen. "Can you talk to her?"
"Yes. Pass the phone to her."
An elderly woman's face filled the screen. "Hello. What's your name?"
"My name is Lucius Blackwood," he replied politely.
Hearing the surname, the grandmother’s face puckered into a confused, suspicious frown. Lucius caught the shift instantly and softened his tone. "Grandma, do you want to speak with Tessa?"
The transformation was instant. Pure joy washed over the old woman's face, her eyes lighting up. "Oh, yes! Give her the phone, please."
Lucius strode quietly down the corridor and pushed open the bedroom door where Tessa was resting. He approached the bed gently. "Hey, Tessa. Your grandma is on a video call."
Tessa bolted upright, taking the tablet from his hands. "Hi, Grandma! How are you? How is Uncle Joseph?"
The grandmother’s eyes welled with tears at the sound of her voice. She held them back with maximum effort, offering a trembling smile. "We are both good. How are you, my sweetheart?"
"I am good," Tessa whispered her voice thick with emotion. They exchanged words of pure love, the bond of fifteen lost years melting away in seconds. Tessa was on the verge of tears when her grandmother gently cleared her throat.
"Okay, sweetheart, I must go. I have a lot of work to do," the old woman said warmly.
"These two boys arrived at my house, and I need to take care of them. They are the first people to come here and treat me like a normal person, not just an old grandma. They make me feel like I’m not old enough to retire from my work yet. They haven't asked about money or family drama at all. So,
yes, I need to look after them."
The call ended, the screen going black.
Overjoyed and overwhelmed, Tessa threw herself off the bed. She jumped straight at Lucius. He caught her effortlessly mid-air, wrapping his arms around her waist as he pulled her into a deep, desperate kiss that stole the last of her breath.
Back in the study, oblivious to the warmth in the bedroom, Alex and Teajun exchanged a heavy look.
"Right, fine," Teajun muttered, a lethal chill settling over the room. "We go with Victor’s decision. Uncork the trap. Let's see how long it takes for Alessio's sister to bleed."
~