Chapter 197 Not Very Smart

Chapter 197 Not Very Smart


Renzo’s POV

The place I chose wasn’t meant to be comfortable. It was meant to disappear.
Old industrial stretch, worn down and forgotten, far enough off anything useful that no one came through without a reason, close enough to move if I had to. Broken pavement, dead lights, buildings that had been left behind long enough to blend into nothing. It gave me distance, visibility, and control, and right now that was all that mattered.
We had been there long enough for things to settle into a rhythm. Engines off, doors shut, men positioned without drawing attention. No wasted movement, no talking, just quiet awareness. The kind of silence that lets you hear something before you see it.
Safe didn’t mean relaxed. Safe meant nothing had shown itself yet.
I stood near the side of the SUV, my attention moving across the open stretch ahead, not chasing motion but watching for disruption. You don’t look for what’s obvious. You look for what doesn’t belong.
A vehicle turned onto the road.
It didn’t hesitate the way it should have. Didn’t slow like someone unsure of where they were going. It came in clean, like the decision had already been made before it got here.
That was enough.
“Positions,” I said quietly.
My men shifted immediately, controlled and silent, sliding into place without breaking the illusion of an empty space. If the driver was watching, he needed to see nothing until it was too late to matter.
The vehicle rolled closer, tires grinding softly against the broken pavement, engine cutting once it came to a stop.
The door opened.
One man stepped out.
Alone.
Nothing flashy about him. Not built like someone looking for trouble, not soft either. Just a man who knew how to carry himself well enough to move without drawing attention.
But he didn’t belong here.
He shut the door behind him and looked around, not lost, not confused, but aware. Taking in the space. Measuring it.
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it, the brief flare of light cutting through the dim before fading again. He took a drag, slower this time, eyes moving across the buildings, the empty stretch, the quiet that didn’t sit right if you knew what to listen for.
Thinking. Putting it together.
I watched him for another second, letting him settle just enough to be sure.
Then I moved. A small motion of my hand was all it took.
Two of my men closed the distance fast and clean, one locking his arm back before he could react, the other stepping in behind him, controlling his movement before it turned into anything else.
The cigarette fell from his fingers as his body jerked in surprise.
“What the hell!” he screamed. 
No fight. No training showing through. Just instinct and shock.
I stepped forward, closing the space until I stood directly in front of him, watching his face as it hit him.
Not fear first.
Recognition. Of what he had just done.
“You followed us,” I said.
His eyes snapped to mine. For a second he thought about denying it. I saw it. Then he let it go.
“Yeah,” he said, voice tight. “I did.”
“Why,” I asked.
He exhaled sharply. “Because you didn’t belong there,” he said. “You moved different. Everyone else stayed. You didn’t. You were also at my bosses place. I saw you so I followed you.”
He noticed movement. Not meaning.
“That was enough for you,” I said.
Damn he had to be the stupidest man I've ever saw. Fuck.
“It was enough to check,” he replied and he shrugged his shoulders like he saw nothing wrong with what he done.
“Alone,” I added as I raised a brow, waiting on what he said next. I was actually amused.
He nodded once. “Yeah.”
“Stupid,” I said as I shook my head. My guys behind me was bent over laughing so hard.
A short breath left him, almost a laugh but without humor. “Yeah,” he muttered. “Figured that out.”
I studied him for a second, letting the silence stretch just enough to press on him.
“You’re one of them,” I said.
He didn’t deny it. “Yeah.” he said proudly like it was actually something to brag about. 
“Does he know you followed,” I asked as I'm getting curious now. I'm totally lost. I can't figure out why the hell he thought it was alright or safe to actually follow a convoy of vehicles alone.
“No,” he answered immediately. “He doesn’t know I left.” he sighed.
That came too fast to be a lie. I'm thinking now he realizes he messed up.
“So this was your move,” I said.
“Yeah.” 
I shifted slightly, watching him from a different angle.
“What did you see,” I asked.
“Enough to stay on you,” he said. “Not enough to know what I was walking into.”
He wasn’t informed. He wasn’t sent. He just made a decision he couldn’t walk back from.
I stepped closer, just enough to hold his focus fully.
“You should’ve kept driving,” I said.
His jaw tightened slightly. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “I see that now.”
I held his gaze for a second longer, then gave a small nod. That was all the decision it took. One of my men moved without needing to be told.
It was quick.
The body went still almost immediately.
Silence settled back over the space like nothing had happened.
I exhaled slowly, my eyes shifting past where he stood a second ago, back to the empty stretch ahead.
“That was him,” one of my men said quietly.
“Yes,” I replied.
No second tail.
No extra layer.
Just one man who saw something he shouldn’t have and followed it farther than he should.
I got on my phone instantly and reported back to Draco. I told him everything that had happened and let him know we were on our way back.