ali

operations vault. The building-a legitimate corporate front that I had helped d

His hand hovered over his holstered weapon as

ce strained. His gaze dropped to the lapel of my jacket, searching fo

further u

ors. The rain was cold and sharp against my skin-painful, but also clarifying

up to the main terminal. The biometric scanner cast a

ore Comman

e, to make me feel valued while they stripped away everything that actua

e of paperwork had to be perfectly aligned. Omerta demanded a clean break, and I would give th

the heavy vault d

probably ran every red light between the banquet hall and here. Serena trailed behind him, l

r. The relief in his voice was palpable. He actually thought this was a tantrum-that I was

ing progress bar. "I am here o

e. "You are being irrational. I gave Serena the title because the Elders demanded

nish that

d onto the frosted glass wall-a web of money laundering fronts, shell companies, and car

l ciphers. These are my black-book contacts. I built this in

property, and they require my explicit authorization to us

those nodes control the entire western distribution

ver manifests. I gathered the freshly printed pages, stacked them

my voice deadpan. "I will no longer highlight your oper

a slam, but with a heavy, dead pressure, as if

make you a lieutenant. I will give you a fifty percent cut of the laundering profits. We can

f my blood and loyalty reduced to something to

s I had stayed awake washing blood out of my clothes so he would not have to explain the mess to the

t, protective-as if she were something precious to b

console beeped. A priority mess

. The most ruthless Cartel Bos

the arms negoti

keyboard. I am out. Direct a

he active communication channel di

r carefully manicured nails digging into the edges as her ey

ling. "Who the hell is Vitiello? I demand a new sec

-at her shaking hands and wide, terrified eyes-and then back at me. H

cartel ambushes, after near-misses with the FBI, after nights when we were sure we wouldn't live to see morning. That glass had t

rbage. Just like t

into the metal trash can. The glass shatter

my bottles of painkillers

arances," I said, zipping the bag shut with a harsh, final motion. "If

il popped up on the main screen. An au

s the primary target for t

t, strangled sob. "Ca

y shoulder. I did not

doors, my footsteps echoing in the silence-the sound of a woman final