Treachery

Episode 9

Lucas POV

The metallic clink of chains echoed faintly behind me as I stepped out of the warehouse, the air thick with rust, gasoline, and blood. The man we’d wrung dry in that room wasn’t someone I trusted. Desperation made people say anything, and even though he’d finally coughed up a location, I didn’t buy it. Not fully. Still, I wasn’t in the business of dismissing leads, especially not when they involved the drive that contained a number of leads that could boost the tech company and in turn the money laundering would still be in business and a driver who might be tied to the inside job.

I pulled the sleeves of my black shirt down and nodded once toward Dante, who was still inside finishing the clean-up. “We’ll check it out. Get him prepped again. If it’s a dead end, we make him regret breathing.”

Dante didn’t respond. He didn’t have to. That kind of silence was something I respected in a man.

We were already late to the morning meeting.

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The boardroom was all glass, chrome, and silence when I walked in. I didn’t care to apologize for my delay—my time wasn’t something I explained. Seated at the long black table were men who’d built empires off my deals and feared losing them more than they feared God. And that made them predictable.

I dropped into the head seat.

“Status?” I asked.

My CFO cleared his throat. “We’ve moved the funds through the Estonia route. There are no flags so far. Warehouse Two is operational again.”

Good. That meant the shipment cover-ups were back on track.

I nodded slowly as they droned on. Logistics, movement, laundering, suppliers—every word stacked up neatly in my head, forming the constant, controlled noise I lived inside. Work was simple. Numbers didn’t betray you. People did.

After the meeting, I moved quickly. Dante was already waiting by the black SUV, cleaned up, wearing the same neutral expression he always had—blank, yet dangerous. The address the snitch gave us was fifteen minutes out, tucked in an industrial area that looked like every other one in this godforsaken city. As we stepped out of the vehicle, I was focused. Alert. Nothing mattered but the job.

And then it happened.

We rounded the corner of a sleek nail salon tucked between an upscale boutique and a café