28

Dante stepped out of the blacked-out SUV, his eyes immediately scanning the area. He was right in front of the Safe House—a non-descript warehouse on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by old shipping containers and rusted fences.

It wasn't one of his primary locations, but it was secure enough for dealing with unknown variables like the men who sought to be members of his gang and prisoners taken from any operation.

Marcel was already waiting near the entrance, standing rigidly as he watched Dante approach.

"You sure this isn't a waste of my time?" Dante asked, rolling his shoulders and gritting his teeth against the slight headache on the side of his head. Gregor would have a lot to pay for causing him such discomfort.

"I don't think it is," Marcel replied, dipping his hand into his pockets. He held out a small unmarked USB drive. "See for yourself."

Dante didn't take it immediately. His fingers twitched slightly as he eyed the device. "Where did he get this?"

"The man says he works under Petrova's financial team," Marcel explained, relating to him what they'd been told. "He claims the information in it was wiped from their servers before they could cover their tracks. He managed to upload it to this drive first."

Dante finally took the drive. "And you trust him?"

Marcel scoffed. "I don't trust anyone, Boss. But the data checks out—at least, the parts we were able to verify. It just seemed believable."

Dante raised an eyebrow, mulling his words over. If the information was real, this was bigger than some low-level grunt trying to defect.

"Still, I wouldn't just believe it without testing it myself. Bring me a laptop."

\---

Inside, the warehouse office was dimly lit, a single desk lamp casting flickering shadows on the walls. Dante inserted the USB and waited as the files loaded.

Rows of numbers, transactions, offshore accounts, and coded payments flashed on the screen. Interest piqued, he stopped scrolling fast and actually began to read through the numbers and names.

Some of these numbers matched bribes he suspected but never had proof of. Others hinted at new weapons shipments that he wasn't sure he would have use of, but it felt empowering to know so much about Petrova's finances now.

But most interesting of all was one of the accounts that led back to one of Dante's own allies, a city official who was supposed to have nothing to do with Petrova. It seemed like someone had been lying.

Dante took a deep breath. So this was real. The man who had brought this to him was called Jayden Cruz, but he had never heard of him.

He probably wasn't someone very important to Petrova, but if he could get his hands on all this, then he was important enough. However, he wondered how he had done so without getting caught, because this seemed to be high-profile information.

Dante leaned back, running a hand through his hair. He hated coincidences. "This could be a setup," he muttered. "A well-calculated move from Petrova."

Marcel shrugged and leaned across the desk. "Maybe. But if he's lying, we'll find out soon enough."

Dante nodded firmly. "Oh, we sure will." He snapped the laptop shut and stood. "Bring him in."

Jayden Cruz put up no resistance as he was led inside by two of Dante's men. Finally, he got what he wanted: an audience with the boss himself, a chance to prove himself loyal and finally be a part of them. He glanced around until he saw Dante, the famed viper of the Mafia world.

Dante motioned to the seat opposite him, not missing the way Jayden's eyes flicked around as he assessed his environment. He was observant—that was good, or dangerous.

Dante didn't speak at first, just leaned against the desk, arms crossed, watching him. The man had a look about him that Dante swore he had seen somewhere else. The feeling got stronger when he met the man's amber eyes but no name popped up so he pushed it aside.

Finally, Dante broke the silence. "You claim you worked for Caius. So tell me—why betray him now?"

Jayden smiled confidently. "Because Caius's empire is crumbling, and I don't go down with sinking ships."

Dante tapped a finger against the laptop. "This file you brought me—must have taken a huge risk to get it. Why do you still have your head attached to your shoulders? No one walks away from Caius with this kind of information and gets away with it."

Jayden chuckled, shrugging. "Let's just say... I was careful. He doesn't know it's missing."

Dante's blue eyes darkened. "You're lying."