Chapter 69 Chapter 69
Chapter 69
Dante’s POV
Snow kept falling. Soft flakes sticking to my bare shoulders, melting fast against the heat rolling off my skin. Thirty men stood in front of me like statues. Black gear soaked dark from the cold. Rifles low but ready. Dogs quiet now, sitting at heel behind the gate. The alarm still wailed inside the house, faint through the open door, but nobody moved to kill it. All eyes on me.
I paced once. Slow. Gun still in my hand. Finger off the trigger but close enough that they all noticed. “Who the hell let a woman walk out of this house without my permission?”
Silence. Thick. Heavy.
One of the newer guys—tall kid, maybe twenty-five, face still soft—stepped forward half a step. Then dropped. Right knee hit the snow first. Then the other. Head bowed. “Boss. She left through the side gate. Said you gave the okay. We checked the log. She had a passcode entry from last night. Thought it was cleared.”
Two more dropped. Then five. Then the rest. All of them on their knees in the snow. Like soldiers in some old war movie. Knees sinking into white. Heads down. Breath fogging in front of their faces.
It looked ridiculous. Felt worse. Like I was running a fucking military regime instead of a family operation. But that’s what this life did. Turned men into machines. Turned mistakes into blood debts.
I stopped pacing. Looked down at them. “You thought. You didn’t check. You didn’t call. You didn’t wake me. You let a stranger walk out with God knows what in her purse.”
The tall kid lifted his head just enough. “We fucked up, sir. Punish us. Whatever you want.”
I laughed once. Short. No humor. “Oh, you’ll get punished. All of you. Extra shifts. No pay for a month. Training drills till you puke. And if I find out any of you took a bribe or a blowjob to look the other way, I’ll bury you myself.”
They didn’t argue. Just stayed down. Snow piling on their shoulders now.
I turned away. Couldn’t look at them anymore. Chest tight. Head pounding. The flash drive gone. Nuclear files. Contacts. Everything that could end us or save us. Gone because I let my dick do the thinking.
Footsteps crunched behind me. Nikolai. He walked up quiet. Jacket zipped. Face calm like always. But his eyes were sharp.
“Tech backup’s running,” he said low. “Tried integrating the mirror drive. Won’t sync clean. Password wall’s still up. I can brute-force it, but it’ll take days. And even then… not a hundred percent. A good tech guy could still pull fragments. Enough to know what we had. Enough to sell.”
My fist clenched. Gun creaked in my grip. “Fragments. That’s all it takes. One name. One number. One blueprint line. And we’re fucked.”
Nikolai put a hand on my shoulder. Light. Steady. “Don’t beat yourself up. Plates were full. You needed a release. Not a sin. Not a problem. Happens.”
I shrugged him off. “Shouldn’t have happened.”
Enzo’s SUV rolled through the gate then. Black. Tinted. Engine growled low before he killed it. Door opened. He stepped out. Coat open. Snow already melting on his boots.
“Girls are quiet,” he said walking up. “Too quiet. Acting dumb. Like they’ve been bought. Paid to forget. We can squeeze them the old way—fists, water, dark rooms—but if we want fast and clean, no suspicion, we need an insider. Someone they trust. Someone already in the circle.”
I nodded once. Tight. “Then find one.”
Enzo glanced at the men still kneeling. Raised an eyebrow. “What the hell’s this?”
“Consequences,” I said.
He snorted. “You’re so sensitive lately. How’d that happen? She slip something in your drink?”
I shook my head. “No. I’m always careful.”
Nina’s voice came then. Small. From behind Nana. She’d been quiet the whole time. Standing there in her thin nightie. Arms wrapped tight. Snow dusting her hair like sugar. Lips blue from cold.
“She can drug you through skin,” she said. “Or even while giving you a blow job. Transdermal. Fast acting. No taste. No smell. You wouldn’t feel it till too late.”
Every head turned.
Thirty men. Nikolai. Enzo. Nana. All eyes on her.
She didn’t flinch. Just lifted her chin a little. “Medical school. Pharmacology. I know what I’m talking about.”
Silence stretched. Snow kept falling. Alarm finally cut off inside. Someone must have killed it.
Enzo broke first. Laughed low. “Little doctor’s got teeth.”
Nikolai looked at me. Question in his eyes. Not judgment. Just checking.
I stared at Nina. Snow melting on her lashes. Making them clump. Her nightie clung where it got wet from the flakes. Outline of her body clear. Nipples hard from cold. Legs shaking but planted firm.
She didn’t look away.
I felt something shift. Not anger. Not lust. Something heavier. Respect? Maybe. Or fear. That she knew more than I wanted her to.
I holstered the gun slow. Clicked the safety back on.
“Get up,” I told the men. “Punishment starts tonight. Extra rounds. No sleep. Move.”
They stood. Slow. Snow falling off their knees. Walked off without a word. Dogs barked once as they passed.
I turned to Nikolai. “Keep on the drive. I want every fragment you can pull.”
He nodded. Walked toward the house.
Enzo clapped my shoulder once. “We’ll find the girl. And the drive. Breathe, brother.”
“I can see you’re being stubborn and being a smart ass these few days Nina” I said just simply tired of everything and then to make matters worse . Deep down , I knew that she has a point and he might actually be right. This is unlike me
“I’m trying to help and besides you should see a doctor …” before Nina couldn’t finish talking . Enzo smirked
“I know how you can help kitten “ he said with a wicked green on his face as if he was up to no good.