Page 80 of Possessive Sinner
I raise my hands slightly. "I know. I'm late." No one laughs. Figures. "The cartel came after Audra's mother in the hospital," I continue, dropping the rest of it clean and direct. "I had to get answers."
That does it. We all know our priorities.
"What did you find out?" Massimo asks.
No wasted words. No bullshit. I step further into the room. "Salazar doesn't like loose ends," I fill him and the others in. "Pete dug into their accounts. That was enough to get him killed."
Alessio's jaw ticks. Damiano mutters something under his breath. I continue, "They don't know how much Audra knows. Or what Pete told her before they killed him."
Enzo finally turns from the window. "That makes her a liability," he states calmly.
I meet his gaze. "Yeah."
No point pretending otherwise.
"They went after the mother to flush her out," I add. "Pressure point."
Massimo's expression hardens. "And now?"
"They won't let it go," I say simply.
Silence settles over the room. Heavy. Final. We all know what that means. Massimo nods once. Slow. "The meeting later might get uglier than we thought."
Understatement of the year. Our eyes meet. And just like that, we're back where we've always been. Same side. Same war. He's got my back. I've got his. No questions. No hesitation. I nod at him shortly.
Massimo exhales slowly, then gestures toward the table. "We were just going over the damage."
I take a seat.
"Alessio flushed two rats out in his crew," Massimo continues. "Damiano found one in his."
Damiano scoffs lightly. "Kid thought he could double dip. Didn't even make it through the night."
Alessio cracks his knuckles. "Mine talked. Briefly. They had no information on El Recaudador."
Of course they didn't. I nod once.
"Enzo?" I ask.
Enzo swirls his drink lazily. "I'm watching Rivas. Under the guise of apromotion."
That gets a reaction.
"Rivas?" Alessio straightens slightly, frowning. "What the fuck did I miss?"
Right. Not everyone's been looped in yet. I lean back, letting Massimo take it. His story to tell. Massimo glances at me once, then looks at Alessio and Damiano before he fills them in about Salazar finding out who killed his men and is hiding Audra. He mentions that Salazar was tipped off by the Collector.
Alessio's expression darkens. Damiano stops spinning his pen. "Why haven't you buried him yet?" Alessio asks bluntly.
Fair question. Massimo doesn't answer. He just looks at me. My turn. I lean forward slightly, resting my forearms on the table.
"Because the Collector wants us to mistrust each other," I spell it out.
That gets their attention.
"All of this?" I gesture loosely. "The calls. The offers. The leaks. It's not just about information. It's about pressure." I look between them. "Only a handful of people knew about the Salazar situation."
I nod at Alessio. "You." Then tilt my chin toward Damiano. "And you." My gaze shifts. "Brick. Mauro, Rivas. And me."
