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"Her father is the most high-profile attorney in the city. Of course, she'd be too clean."

"But even Daddy-O isn't as squeaky clean as his little girl. Aside from the pictures and video Gary brought us, Victoria is a fucking ghost. Nobody that legitimately clean gets caught up with someone like Lenny Moretti." said Craig.

"Have… we thought about the fact that it could be entirely a coincidence?" Joe piped up from his seat at the table. He'd been quiet as the evidence was laid out.

"Show him the rest," Rich ordered, disregarding his comment.

Craig pressed his lips into a thin line and started a slideshow of photographs. Image after image of Victoria Bristol with highly ranked members of the Jackals flashed across the screen. What could almost appear like images of her out living her life, except for the smattering of known mobsters with her. She was holding shopping bags on a boardwalk in one, a soldier walking beside her. In another, a mean-looking Capo held the door to a taxi for her on a rainy day. However, the most damning of them was an image of her laughing in a crowded cafe. Rinaldo Marino sat across from her, smirking and looking very pleased with himself.

"No one has lunch with Consigliere Rinaldo and has it be a coincidence." I said through gritted teeth.

"It gets worse." Leighton grinned. The maniac enjoyed everything chaos. "She didn't try to just set you up. She wants us all to go down."

I glanced at Rich for confirmation. He was leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, low simmering anger radiating from him. He nodded once at Leighton to continue.

Leighton pulled the laptop over to himself, hit a couple buttons, and turned it so we could all see. Gary's face popped up on the screen a moment later, looking into the camera before flipping around to see the sidewalk. There wasn't much of note until he ducked into a doorway.

"Man, you know this is bullshit, right?"A voice said from off camera.

"Yeah, but you're getting a bonus for it, so quit your fuckin' whining. You sound like little Miss Princess herself."A second voice, seeming more amused with the situation."We got the evidence we need and a decent plan. You just gotta take a few punches and then get checked out. Boom, long weekend and a bonus."The camera shook a bit as Gary adjusted, trying to get a better shot of the conversation. Leighton paused it as the two men came into the frame.

"And that right there is Sanso Bellini, the one whining like a little bitch. Couldn't make out his friend. The video goes on to talk about how Sanso is going to be on guard for Victoria and they're going to stage another kidnapping. This time, somehow, they were gonna have our Craig take the fall for it." He pushed the laptop toward me so I could see the figures more closely. Not that it mattered, one street guy or another.

"So… she's going to play herself the 'Damsel in Distress' while we all go down for trying to take her?" I slid the laptop out of the way and stared at the slide of Victoria at the cafe withRinaldo. It was so wild. She looked so carefree and innocent. The idea that something sinister lurked behind that cherubim smile was equally intriguing and infuriating. "And what are we going to do about it, boys?"

"We're going to prove our innocence and take her down in one fell swoop." Rich drawled. "We have an appointment with Daddy-O first thing tomorrow. I plan to insert us as her bodyguards for now. I was hoping to take Gary along for the meeting, but wouldn't ya know it? The sneaky vixen caught him tailing her, and we received this just this morning."

Leighton hopped out of his seat and strolled to the fridge, pulling out a black shoebox-sized package as if on cue. Grinning from ear to ear, he sat it on the table in front of me and flipped open the top. A heavily tattooed hand was positioned on a bed of red spider lilies. The Jackals' calling card.

"What… the fuck is that?"

"Gary. Or what's left of him, presumably." Leighton cackled. He reached out as if he was going to take the hand from the box.

"L, no. That's enough. We're not going to disrespect him like that." Rich gave Leighton a stern look, and he put everything away. "Best behavior tomorrow, boys. For now, we celebrate."

The following day, we stood outside a gothic-style mansion. Hugo Bristol was homebound while he recovered from the injuries he sustained during the gala fire. His home was beyond ostentatious, and I wasn't the least bit surprised when a stuffy butler answered the door. Inside was even worse. The whole vibe screamed Dracula, and I was starting to wonder if it didn't have something to do with Victoria being the newest player on the board.

We were shown into an oversized office, just as pretentious as everything else we'd seen. Dark leather chairs were lined up opposite a massive mahogany desk. I could barely see HugoBristol over the backs of the chairs as he struggled to stand without the cane propped against the wall behind him.

It was almost amusing to watch him struggle to move around. People like him always strutted like they owned the world. The condescending smirk he wore, like he permanently had the upper hand, made me want to punch him. Age was starting to show on him, though, with gray creeping into his brunette hair and beard, that he likely spent far too much money keeping groomed. One stark blue eye watched us with a calculated glint as we filed into the room. His right eye was covered by a black patch, gauze peeking out from behind it, scarring from the burns he endured during the fire, marring that half of his face.

"What can I do for you, gentlemen?" Hugo asked with a tight, wary smile. He held his hand out in greeting, and I shook it. He had a surprisingly firm grip for an aging man. I wasn't sure we had potent enough soap to purge the tainted feeling from my skin.

"I think you'll find it's what we can do for you, Mr. Bristol." I beamed, turning on the charm.

We each settled into one of the oversized chairs, with me taking the one in the center. Craig sat immediately to my left, Rich to my right, Leighton and Joey on the ends. I jerked my chin toward the desk, and Leighton produced Craig's laptop from the bag over his shoulder, placing it directly in front of Hugo.

"I'm not sure what the man who attempted to kidnap my daughter can do for me."

"Direct. I like that." I chuckled before turning my attention to Leighton. "Show him."

Leighton leaned over and pressed a button on the laptop. I didn't need to see it to know what he was looking at: an editedcompilation of the evidence Gary had collected for us while I was locked up.

"You've been following my daughter?!" Hugo's face turned an amusing shade of red.

"I'm not sure those are the words I'd use. I was locked up for a crime I didn't commit and couldn't follow anyone." I smirked at my response. I'm hilarious.

"Don't get cheeky with me, son. This is stalking, and after what she's already been throu–"