Page 9

“ Y ou’re right,” H says, sitting back in his chair, his expression grim.

“I can piece together a loose outline of your operation, but it’s so scattered and spread out that it’d take weeks to get through it all.

Hell, I’m the one who taught you how to build your firewalls up, and I am having trouble getting through a few.

I honestly don’t know who could do it, or how they’d be able to hack enough of your network to get what they need. You’d have to have direct access.”

The sigh I let out comes from the depths of my blackened soul.

Everything in me, from my bones to my fucking hair, is tired.

The headache from talking to Benjamin is still present, as is the foggy feeling.

Helping those two idiots get back on track is the right thing, but fucking hell, Il Padrone needs to return and get his Family under control.

Keeping Tennant on a leash, and Roman somewhat sane, is already a full-time job. Babysitting two people who are so close, yet somehow never learned to communicate with one another, was not on my bingo card.

“You should have come to me when this all started, D,” H says, the exasperation clear in his voice.

I meet his eyes in the camera and shrug. “I was asked not to.”

He scoffs. “And since when has that ever stopped you?”

“We needed the Martellis to trust us. We’re stronger together than we are apart.

Leandro and I were handling everything just fine, if not a little overworked.

And the Martellis are good at what they do.

” When they’re not being dumbasses and breaking each other’s hearts.

“They’re currently packing up their things so they can move in for a little while. ”

H stares at me, his blue eyes are big and his mouth is open in shock.

Even a thousand miles away, I can feel the disbelief rolling off him.

“You’ve done a lot of stupid shit since the bastard, including getting wrapped up with a mafia Family, but I have to say, D, this is probably the most reckless thing yet.

You know people are actively hunting you.

Fucking hell, Tennant was already arrested!

Which I learned from fucking Cash, by the way, so thanks for keeping me informed, asshole. ”

Rubbing at my temples, I groan as Leandro snickers. “Thank you, Hayden. You’re so helpful, as always.”

“If I wasn’t helpful, you wouldn’t keep me around. Now, how far am I taking this? It’s been a while since I’ve been in your systems, and I’ve never done such a deep dive like this. Have to say, brother, I’m impressed. Despite what V turned out to be, they taught you well.”

I let out a soft sigh, the same feeling of mourning and anger that comes whenever our traitor sibling is mentioned rushes through me.

“Well, unless V returned from the grave, and the two of you worked together to take both my Family and the Martellis down, there’s no possible way they hacked us from an outside source. Correct?”

“Yep, that is my professional opinion. Which…means it's an inside job, or one of those stupid phishing schemes. Even if it was an outside source hacking you that way, they wouldn’t be able to get through all of your security without leaving some trace.”

I grimace. My systems are good. It’s not arrogance when someone as talented as H is having a hard time getting through my security. I’m comforted by the fact that we’re safe from outside forces, but I'm pissed because it doesn’t bring us any closer to answers.

“Say it’s a mole, or moles, who have somehow managed to get around some programs they’re not supposed to, it still doesn’t answer how they managed to gather all of the information they did without tipping someone off.

Not all of that information is kept in the same place.

The more sensitive things, such as the profiles on each person working for us, and the lists of cops, judges, etc, on our payroll—or who are being blackmailed or bribed into looking the other way—are all kept separate, with different layers of security based on how valuable the information is.

It’s a very carefully thought out and intricate network of security.

That they managed to not only infiltrate us but the Martellis as well is concerning. ”

The grim look on H’s face doesn’t give me confidence about what we’re dealing with. “I could reach out to some contacts I have on a federal level. See if there’s any paper trails for monitoring on both you and the Martellis. If we can get a lead on who’s been talking…”

“No.” I shake my head. “Thank you, but I don’t want you to put yourself at risk like that.”

His grin is more like a grimace. “They owe me for what Elijah and I uncovered last year. Between me and Cash, we have enough contacts in the government to take the whole country down.”

That is a terrifying thought, and the people in power better never piss off Cash, because I wouldn’t put it past him to take over the world if he gets bored playing information broker for criminals.

“No,” I repeat. “If we need help from that sector, I’ll let you know, but I’d rather not for the time being. Our circle of trust is small, and as much as I trust you, and know you’ll never do anything to hurt me, there’s too much at stake.”

“Understandable.” H bites his lip and hesitates for a moment, “What if it’s someone at the top?”

I jerk back so hard my chair skids away from the desk.

“What the fuck, Hayden? You… No one would do this. Cristian is gone! Roman is doing his best, and I’m so fucking proud of him, but he’s still so young, and needs his father to help guide him.

Tennant was fucking arrested! But still you’re going to dare to suggest that someone I love and care for is a damn traitor? ”

“Hey, hey.” He raises his hands in surrender. “It was just an idea, okay? I don’t actually believe that. It’s just something we have to consider, since nothing else makes sense.”

“I’d believe a network of moles somehow gathered all of the information and started feeding it to the fucking feds before I’d believe anyone in this family turned.”

On screen, H loses all his color, the video making him look washed out as his eyes get even bigger and glassy. “I’m sorry, Dayton. I really am. But you know I had to ask.”

I flinch at the use of my birth name, but the visceral reaction helps to ground me, as backwards as it sounds.

“I know. I forgive you, just don’t say that shit in front of anyone else. Elijah will kill me if you end up murdered by my family.”

He laughs. “Yeah. Anyway. Want me to keep trying to break in? Or do you want me to start cross referencing the lists? I took a peak at the modified lists Jude sent over, kid’s good at organizing stuff.”

“He is. Way too smart and curious for his own good. Do the lists. We’ve ruled out an outside hack, and I’m ruling out an inside one, too. Simply because the protections around the LEOs we work with are as strong as the security I have for the entire network.

“Tennant and Joel spent the day on the ground putting our guys through their paces. They didn’t shake out anything interesting yet, but that doesn’t mean much. This is almost a year in the making; Ten is good, but even he needs more than one day to get someone to break.”

“Yeah, I got his list as well. Not many people were crossed off.”

I let out a humorless laugh. “Tennant doesn’t trust anyone, even the people he handpicked for their positions. So I’m not surprised he only definitively ruled out a few people.”

“I’ll be working alongside you, H,” Leandro speaks up. “So don’t kick me out.”

My brother laughs. “How long have you been in my system without me knowing, L?”

Leandro doesn’t answer, but when I look over at him, I see the small smirk on his lips.

The sight makes me pause. Because while H’s suggestion is bullshit, if anyone in the inner circle would be able to pull it off, it’s the psychopath with direct access to everything I do.

Not only that, but he's been trained by both me and my brother, almost since the day he arrived…

But, no. As apathetic as Leandro is about everything, he wouldn't have trusted us when he was a teenager, only to turn around and betray us like this. His sense of self-preservation is how he ended up with us in the first place.

Still, H is right, we need to consider all possibilities before ruling it out. So, even though it’s improbable, for one moment, I worry if I’ll have to kill the boy I’ve grown to really think of as a son.

My watch vibrates and I glance at the notification before pulling up another screen. For the first time in what feels like days, I smile. Looks like the puppy expressed how urgent it was for his family to move over, because the tracker on his phone is headed back our way.

Good .

The need to break him builds, as the stress of everything seems to settle on my shoulders.

“I'll let you go. L and I have a lot of work to do, and you look like you need some of the whisky Zay sent us all for Christmas, D.”

I laugh a little. “There is not enough alcohol in the world to relieve my tension.” But a certain baby Boss might.

“Hmmm, well, go drug and fuck one of your lovers, then. I'll be in touch soon, or call if you need anything. And I do mean anything, D.”

“I will. Have fun.”

H cuts the call and I sigh, removing my glasses to scrub a hand over my face.

“If you don't take a break, I'll drug you, Hollis,” Leandro says. “Get out of here for a while.”

I huff. “I can't. We have too much to do.”

“And it'll still be here in an hour or two. Hell, take ten minutes at least and get some coffee or something. I won't tell Ten you've been mainlining it.”

“How generous of you.”

Casting a glance at Emilio's location, I consider his offer, but patience is a virtue, and it's one both the puppy and I need to be reminded of.

My cock jerks as desire already fills my veins. Because when that patience runs out? Well, Emilio might think twice about being so distracted during important meetings…