Page 126 of Shadow Waltz

DIAMONDS IN THE RUBBLE

LUKA

Istood before a wall of monitors showing real-time surveillance feeds from across the city, watching the remaining fragments of my empire coordinate what would either be our salvation or our spectacular destruction.

Ash sat at the central workstation, fingers flying across keyboards as he analyzed intelligence gathered from sources I'd never thought to cultivate. His understanding of how information flowed through the city's underground networks had proven invaluable, revealing connections and vulnerabilities that my more traditional approaches had missed completely.

He paused, glancing over his shoulder at me. “Luka, have you heard anything about Dmitri and Troy? They’ve been off the grid since the masquerade ball. Are they… alright?”

I nodded, pushing away from the monitors to stand closer. “They’re fine. Troy sent word this morning—Dmitri’s recovering well. Mason’s looking after both of them, making sure they have what they need.”

Ash’s expression softened in relief. I added, “Troy’s the stubborn one. He’s already trying to get back on the job, even though Mason threatened to sedate him if he so much as touched a weapon.”

A small smile tugged at Ash’s mouth. “Sounds like him.”

I grunted my agreement, letting the moment settle before we turned our attention back to the chaos outside.

Ash glanced at me, relief lingering in his eyes for a heartbeat longer. Then, as if flicking a switch, he focused again on the shifting screens, the lines of code, the tangled network of threats.

“The federal task force is using a coordinated cell structure,” he said, not looking up, voice carrying that analytical calm that had become my anchor in this storm of systematic betrayal. “Five primary operating bases, each one feeding intelligence to a central command post that Reddick runs from Federal Plaza.”

I moved behind his chair, close enough to smell the expensive soap that had replaced his street-kid scent, close enough to see the way tension held his shoulders rigid despite his outward composure. The past week of running, hiding, and planning had worn on both of us, but it had also revealed depths of capability I'd only suspected existed.

“What about the criminal organizations working with them?” I asked, resting my hands on his shoulders and feeling some of the tension ease under my touch.

“That's where it gets interesting,” Ash replied, leaning back into my touch with unconscious trust that sent warmth racing through my chest. “They're not really cooperating—they're being leveraged. Reddick has intelligence on all of them, enough to prosecute or destroy their operations. He's basically holding their entire organizations hostage to force collaboration.”

The revelation shifted my understanding of what we were fighting, because it meant our enemies weren't united by sharedpurpose but held together by mutual coercion. Which meant they could be divided, turned against each other, made to remember why working with federal agents was usually fatal for criminal enterprises.

“Exploitable?” I asked, though his smile told me he'd already identified the weak points.

“Very,” Ash confirmed, pulling up financial records that painted a picture of desperation poorly disguised as cooperation. “The Kozlov remnants are hemorrhaging money, Von Stein's organization is barely functional without her direct leadership, and the Brooklyn families are one federal raid away from complete collapse.”

I studied the intelligence he'd assembled, recognizing the scope of analysis that had gone into identifying these vulnerabilities. This wasn't just street-smart observation—this was strategic thinking that could reshape the balance of power across multiple continents.

“You've been busy,” I observed, letting pride color my voice as I traced the collar at his throat with careful fingers.

“Someone has to keep you from making stupid decisions,” Ash replied, but his smile took the sting out of the words. “Besides, I figure if we're going to war against half the federal government, we should at least know what we're fighting.”

“Speaking of knowing what we're fighting,” Ash said, his expression shifting to something harder, more calculating, “what are you going to do about Carina?”

I'd been avoiding thinking about the woman who'd been my second-in-command, my trusted advisor, the closest thing to family I'd allowed myself in fifteen years of careful isolation.

“She'll have her time to answer for everything,” I said, voice carrying the kind of cold certainty that preceded systematic violence. “When this is over, when we've eliminatedthe immediate threats, Carina will discover why loyalty isn't optional in my organization.”

Ash nodded slowly, and I could see him processing the implications of what that meant. “You're sure it was her?”

“Mason pulled everything,” I replied, gesturing toward the intelligence files spread across our workstation. “Communications logs, financial records, movement patterns, access histories—all of it painting a picture that's impossible to ignore.”

I activated one of the monitors, showing Ash the comprehensive analysis that had taken Mason eighteen hours to compile. Phone records showing encrypted communications with federal numbers, financial transfers that coincided with major intelligence leaks, location data that placed her at meetings she'd never reported.

“Here,” I said, pointing to a series of communications that made my jaw clench with barely contained rage. “Three days before the masquerade, she sent detailed floor plans of the Astoria to a federal contact. Security protocols, guest lists, even the specific timing of our arrival.”

Ash studied the evidence with the same analytical intensity he brought to everything else, but I could see something like grief flickering in his expression. Carina had been mentor to both of us, the one person who'd seemed to genuinely care about our welfare beyond simple organizational loyalty.

“Why?” he asked quietly.

“Because she thought she was saving me,” I replied, the words tasting like ash in my mouth. “From you. From the weakness she believed loving you represented. She convinced herself that destroying our relationship would restore the organization to its previous strength.”