Chapter 125 The fallout begins

Chapter 125 The fallout begins
Gryan's Pov 

The TV in my office wouldn't shut up about Senator Blackwood. Every single channel had his face plastered across the screen with words like "CORRUPT POLITICIAN ARRESTED" and "MAFIA TIES EXPOSED" flashing underneath. I sat there watching it all unfold and thinking maybe this was good for us because Blackwood was finally getting what he deserved.

Then he opened his mouth during his testimony.

"The Junkies mafia family threatened me," Blackwood said on live television, looking right into the camera like some kind of victim. "They forced me into criminal activity. I had no choice but to comply with their demands or risk my life and the lives of my family."

I stood up so quickly that my chair fell backward.

"That lying piece of garbage," I said to the empty room.

My phone started ringing immediately. It was Braydon.

"You watching this?" he asked.

"Yeah I'm watching this snake try to drag us down with him," I said. "He's making us the scapegoats for everything."

"Get to the house now," Braydon said. "We need to talk about this before the FBI shows up at our doors."

I grabbed my jacket and headed out. The drive to Braydon's place felt longer than usual because my mind kept running through all the ways this could go wrong. Blackwood just gave the FBI exactly what they needed to come after us directly. Before, they were jacking and waiting, but now they had probable cause and a senator pointing his finger right at us.

When I got to the house, Evelyn was already there, looking stressed. Braydon was pacing back and forth in the living room like a caged animal.

"This is bad," Evelyn said as soon as I walked in. "Really bad."

"I know," I said, sitting down on the couch. "Blackwood just painted a target on our backs."

Braydon stopped pacing and looked at both of us. "We need to get our lawyers ready because the FBI is going to be all over us now. They'll want to question everyone, search everything, and find any reason to bring charges."

"What do we tell the lawyers?" I asked.

"The truth," Braydon said. "That Blackwood is lying to save himself. We never threatened him. He came to us for help and we provided a service. That's it."

Evelyn shook her head. "Do you really think anyone is going to believe that? A senator just went on national television and named us specifically. The public is going to eat this up and the FBI is going to use it as justification to tear us apart."

She was right and we all knew it. This wasn't just about what actually happened anymore because it was about what people believed happened, and right now, everyone believed we were the villains.

"What about the other families?" I asked. "Are they going to back us up?"

Braydon laughed but there was no humor in it. "The other families are already distancing themselves from us. I got three calls this morning from people I thought were allies telling me they can't be associated with us right now. We're toxic Gyran and nobody wants to touch us."

That hit harder than I expected because we spent years building relationships with other families and now they were all running away like we had some kind of disease. The Valentinos, with whom we just signed a peace treaty, were probably regretting it already.

"So we're on our own," I said.

"Looks like it," Braydon said, sitting down across from me. "But we've been in worse situations."

"Have we though?" Evelyn asked. "Because I can't think of a time when we had the FBI, the media, and every other mafia family against us all at once."

She had a point. This felt different from the usual turf wars or business disputes we dealt with because this was existential. If the FBI built a case against us based on Blackwood's testimony we could all end up in prison for a long time.

"We need to control the narrative," I said, thinking out loud. "Right now Blackwood is the only one talking. We need to get our side of the story out there."

"How?" Braydon asked. "We can't exactly go on TV and defend ourselves without admitting we're part of a mafia family."

"No but our lawyers can," I said. "They can put out statements saying Blackwood is making false accusations and that we plan to fight any charges that come our way. We need to make people question his credibility."

Evelyn nodded slowly. "That could work but it's not going to be enough. The FBI doesn't care about public opinion and they're going to come after us hard regardless of what statements we put out."

"Then we prepare for war," Braydon said. "A legal war. We get the best lawyers money can buy and we make sure every single one of our operations is clean or hidden so well they'll never find it. No loose ends, no witnesses, nothing they can use against us."

I thought about all the people in our organization and wondered how many of them would stay loyal when the pressure really came down, because it was easy to be loyal when things were good, but when the FBI started offering deals and threatening prison time, loyalty got a lot harder to maintain.

"We should talk to everyone," I said. "Make sure they know what's coming and that we'll take care of them if they keep their mouths shut."

"Already planning on it," Braydon said. "I'm calling a meeting tomorrow with all the senior members. We need everyone on the same page."

My phone buzzed and I looked down to see a news alert. "FBI OPENS FORMAL INVESTIGATION INTO JUNKIES MAFIA FAMILY."

"Well that didn't take long," I said, showing them the screen.

Braydon cursed under his breath and Evelyn closed her eyes like she was trying to make it all disappear.

"This is really happening," she said quietly.

"Yeah," I said. "It is."

We sat there in silence for a moment, and the weight of everything pressed down on us because this wasn't just about business anymore or territory or money but about survival, and I wasn't sure we were ready for what was coming.