Chapter 176 Watching Her

Chapter 176 Watching Her
Marco stood in the doorway of Dante's office Wednesday morning, watching his brother type slowly at the computer, double-checking numbers he'd already checked twice before.

"You don't have to do this," Marco said quietly.

"I know I don't." Dante didn't look up. "I'm doing it anyway."

"I could still find the money myself. Given time."

"You don't have time," Dante said. "Garza's not going to wait around while you scrape together a debt this size on your own. Every day it sits open is another day he's got leverage over you." He finally looked up. "Sit down, Marco. Let me finish this properly."

Marco sat, hands folded tight in his lap, watching his brother work through the transfer with the same careful precision he brought to everything.

"Full amount," Dante said, more to himself than to Marco, confirming the number one last time. "Through the legitimate account, so there's no question later about whether it actually happened."

"And if he doesn't accept it. If he still thinks he's owed something else."

"Then we'll know that too," Dante said. "But I'd rather give him a clean way out first, before assuming the worst."

He hit send, the transfer confirmation blinked onto the screen a moment later, simple and unremarkable for something that had cost so much anxious circling to finally arrive at.

"It's done," Dante said.

Marco let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet," Dante said. "Let's see what he actually does with it first."



The confirmation came back within the hour. Three words, nothing more.

Debt received. Closed.

Cade read it over Dante's shoulder, frowning. "That's it?"

"That's it," Dante said, setting the phone down slowly.

"No pushback, no last threat." Cade rubbed his jaw. "That doesn't sound like the same man who called Marco two days ago demanding information instead of money."

"No," Dante agreed. "It doesn't."

Marco, still sitting across from them, looked between the two men uncertainly. "Maybe he actually just wanted the money."

"Maybe," Dante said, though his tone made it clear he didn't believe that for a second.

~~

Renzo heard about it in the back office that afternoon, looking up from his folders when Lyra relayed the news. "Closed, just like that," Lyra said, setting down her coffee. "No conditions, no follow-up."

Renzo's frown deepened. "That's not how men like Garza operate, not after losing a fight the way he did Friday."

"That's what Cade said too."

"Because it's true." Renzo pushed his borrowed glasses up his nose, thinking. "Garza doesn't let go of leverage that easily unless he's already got something else lined up."

"So what does that mean."

"It means we shouldn't relax," Renzo said. "Whatever's coming next, it's probably not going to look like the last thing."



Three days passed without incident, the clubhouse settled into something that almost resembled normal, the licensing research inching forward, Marco keeping close to Dante rather than disappearing off on his own the way he used to. Cade started sleeping through full nights again for the first time in weeks.

Lyra was walking back from the boutique location she'd been quietly scouting near the edge of downtown, a building with good light and a reasonable price that she hadn't mentioned to anyone yet, when she noticed a car parked across the street from the property.

Nothing unusual about a parked car, except it had been there the last two times she'd come to look at the building too.

She mentioned it to Cade that evening, keeping her voice light so as not to sound paranoid. "Probably nothing," she said. "It just seemed odd, seeing the same car three separate visits."

Cade's expression sharpened immediately despite her tone. "What color."

"Dark blue. Sedan, I think."

"You're sure it's the same car."

"I noticed the dent on the back bumper," Lyra said. "Same dent, same spot, all three times."

Cade was quiet for a moment, something working behind his eyes. "Where's this building."

"Near downtown. I hadn't told anyone yet, I wanted to make sure it was worth mentioning before..."

"Lyra." His voice was careful but firm. "You need to tell me every time you go somewhere like that from now on, not after, before."

"I know." She looked at him, understanding settling in slowly. "You think it's connected."

"I don't know," Cade admitted. "But three visits, same car, right after Garza goes quiet without a real reason? That's not a coincidence I want to ignore."



Renzo confirmed it the next day, staking out the boutique location himself from a discreet distance while Lyra went to check on the paperwork with the landlord.

The dark sedan showed up twenty minutes into the watch, parking in the same spot, a single figure inside not moving, not doing anything except sitting.

Renzo photographed the plate and brought it straight to Dante. "Someone's watching her," he said, setting the photo on the desk. "Not the club. Her, specifically."

Dante studied the image, his jaw tightening. "Run the plate."

"Already did. Comes back registered to a shell company, same pattern as some of the paperwork we found connected to Garza's operation months back."

The room went quiet. "He's not gone," Cade said, low. "The debt closing was just cover. He's shifting focus."

"To Lyra," Dante said, something hard entering his voice.

"She's the Director of Operations now," Renzo said. "Public paperwork, public role. If Garza's smart, and he clearly is, he'd see that as the club's new weak point. Someone visible, someone connected to both Cade and Dante, someone who hasn't been in this world as long as the rest of us."

Cade's hands curled into fists at his sides. "I told her the exposure was real. I didn't think it would happen this fast."

"We don't know his intentions yet," Dante said, though his own tension betrayed how seriously he was taking it.

"Watching isn't the same as acting, but we don't wait to find out which one this is."