Page 64 of Arranged

Lovely.

My men were hidden behind different buildings.

Some were on the roof. Some were peeking through the windows. And some were like Rafael and I, pressed against the wall in the dark corner of an alley.

This area was mostly abandoned at night because all the buildings around us were mostly offices and businesses that were only open during the day.

It was just the perfect place for a trap, but also a good spot for a secret business meeting. The fake message Rafael had sent out had made it look like I was supposed to meet with some new business partner here.

Someone not too powerful, though. But not too weak either.

Someone believable enough, and someone Santino was willing to fight.

I fought the urge to tap my foot against the ground. We shouldn’t be making any noise, or Santino’s men might figure us out.

We had another team ready that would try to intercept them, but the mole was probably going to warn Santino about that one.

The mole wasn’t supposed to know about our trap. Only my most trusted men were with me and knew the details of my real plan.

Another woman was going to pretend to be me, and her car was supposed to pass us by very soon. Hopefully, Santino’s men would believe it was actually me, and go after the car.

And then we’d get them.

“I hope Santino won’t think that it’s too weird that his men can get into my territory without me immediately knowing about it,” I said.

“Let’s hope he’ll think the mole is taking care of that and making sure we don’t get an alert.”

“But would we be able to spot them if they trespassed?”

Rafael’s face was serious. “Only if we know they’re his men.”

“So he still might send someone random.” I groaned. “We need a better system.”

“We do. I’ll see what can be done as soon as this is over.”

Seconds seemed like hours.

Finally, when the car showed up, I pulled out my gun.

Rafael’s gaze met mine.

A few moments later, we heard them.

More cars, and judging by the roar of the engines, they were speeding and there were more of them.

“I hope it’s actually Santino’s guys and not someone for hire. We need to capture at least one alive,” I said.

Rafael didn’t get a chance to reply because they were here.

They whizzed right past us.

Their tires screeched as they came to a halt. I took a peek around the corner. The car with the woman who was pretending to be me was parked in front of one of the buildings, just like we’d agreed.

A few trees were in the way, so I hoped she’d already managed to slip out unseen. But Santino’s guys had to get out of their cars to check.

As soon as they were out, we all came out of our hiding spots and opened fire.

Screams and shots echoed through the street, and I knew we didn’t have much time before someone called the cops.