CHAPTER 65: The devil you know

CHAPTER 65: The devil you know
CHAPTER 65
LUCAS

I kept throwing staggering blows across Diego’s face, each one fueled by the fire of his betrayal playing on a loop in my mind. My fists were clenched tight, and I didn’t stop even when his mouth began to swell and blood poured out in thick streams.

“I understand your anger. You’re free to do whatever you want to me,” Diego gasped, his voice strained and broken. He groaned as he winced in pain. “But you need to know... if you kill me... you’ll never find out the truth.”

I glared down at him, my rage boiling over. “What truth?” I shouted, my voice sharp with fury. “What truth could possibly be more important than the fact that you betrayed me? You let my wife escape! Tell me, Diego! Tell me what the hell you're talking about!”

“Lucas, get a hold of yourself, man,” Riccardo cut in, his voice firm. I spun around and shot him a deadly look.

“What do you mean I should get a hold of myself?” I growled. “You do realize we're in this mess because of this idiot, right?”

Riccardo stepped forward quickly and grabbed my arm, pulling me away from Diego. “Relax. Just breathe. We’ve got him now, don’t we? He’s not going anywhere.”

My chest rose and fell with heavy, angry breaths as I stepped back. Diego lay crumpled on the ground, coughing up blood and barely able to lift his head. I turned to him slowly.

“I spoke to Brandon,” he said hoarsely.

“Who the hell is Brandon?” I snapped, narrowing my eyes. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Diego spat blood again and tried to wipe his mouth. “Brandon was her boyfriend.”

His words hit me like a freight train. I froze, stunned. My heart thundered in my chest. “How do you know that? Who told you that? Where did you get his contact?”

He didn’t flinch. “Brandon and I... we were childhood friends back in the States. When she asked me for help to escape, she gave me a number. I recognized it. It was him.”

I stormed toward him again, grabbed him by the collar, and yanked him up until we were eye to eye. “What did you tell him? What exactly did you say to this Brandon? Speak now, or I swear I’ll blow your damn head off.”

Riccardo rushed over, grabbing my arm. “Lucas! Calm your fucking nerves down!”

With a deep breath, I shoved Diego away from me. He collapsed weakly to the ground, groaning in pain. I started pacing, trying to contain the storm raging inside me.

“This anger of yours isn’t helping, Lucas,” Riccardo said, keeping his tone calm and measured. “You need to listen. Let him talk.”

“I don’t want to hear a damn thing from him,” I snapped, glaring. “He’s useless to me now. A man like that is better off dead. He doesn’t deserve to breathe.”

“I get it. I do,” Riccardo replied. “But I still think we need to hear him out. He might be hiding something valuable.”

Riccardo turned back to Diego. “What did you say to Brandon?”

“I didn’t say anything,” Diego replied weakly. “He only spoke to Sofia. That was it.”

Riccardo frowned. “And you don’t know what they talked about?”

“I know she told him she was in danger. She asked for help. He promised to do something... but before anything could happen, Collins showed up. He ambushed us and took her.”

Diego leaned back against the wall, breathing heavily.

“Bullshit,” I muttered, rolling my eyes. “That’s complete and utter bullshit. Don’t tell me you’re buying this crap, Riccardo.”

Riccardo didn’t answer me. He kept his eyes on Diego. “Go on. Remember, your honesty determines your fate. If you’re lying, I’ll personally see to it that you're butchered.”

“I wasn’t working for Unit 13,” Diego said quickly. “Never planned to. I wasn’t trying to take Sofia to them either. I just wanted to help her. She came to me desperate and scared.”

The doubts that had been lingering in the back of my mind started to resurface.

“What do you know about Sofia?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. “You said Unit 13 uncovered something. What truth are you talking about?”

Diego gave a short, bitter laugh. “What do I know about her? Well... word’s already spreading. People are saying she’s Giovanni’s daughter. Or isn’t she?”

My blood boiled. I lunged at him again, slamming him against the wall.

“Who told you that?” I demanded. “Who’s been feeding you information?”

Diego struggled to keep himself upright, still smirking. “It’s not exactly hard to get information when you're around the penthouse.”

I couldn’t hold back anymore. I threw a hard punch across his jaw, sending him sprawling to the floor again. I turned sharply to Riccardo, pulling him aside.

“We need to kill him,” I said, lowering my voice to a whisper. “Right now.”

“Why?” Riccardo asked, frowning. “He might still be holding onto something useful.”

“That’s not the point,” I hissed. “He knows too much. The fact that Sofia is Giovanni’s daughter? That’s highly sensitive information. We can’t risk that getting out. We just can’t.”

Riccardo exhaled slowly, thinking. “I get it. I understand what you’re saying. But even so, I don’t think killing him is the answer. Not yet. We can keep him alive—for now. Somewhere remote, somewhere no one can find him. We torture the truth out of him. He’s hiding something, I can feel it. Killing him would be premature.”

Before I could respond, Diego let out a dry, mocking chuckle. We both turned sharply.

In a flash, he tossed something from his coat pocket to the ground.

Smoke.

Thick, choking smoke exploded into the room, swallowing everything. I coughed violently, my eyes burning as I tried to see. I rubbed them furiously and squinted through the haze.

He was gone.

“Shit,” I cursed, pulling my gun from behind my back and bolting out the door. I ran headlong into the woods, heart pounding, the darkness swallowing me whole.