MasukLenny's Pov
We drove back mostly in silence. The kind that had something in it that both of us were sitting with separately.I looked at his hands on the wheel. Then at the road ahead."Hey," I said."I'm okay," he said."I didn't ask if you were okay," I said. "I said hey."He glanced at me sideways."Hey," he said back."Do you want to talk about what Francesca told you?" I said. "Or do youLenny's Pov I woke up at five in the morning with a specific thought already fully formed.Just a complete decision sitting there waiting when my eyes opened. I lay still for a few minutes. Vincenzo was asleep beside me; Shadow was at the foot of the bed. The apartment was dark.I got up carefully without waking either of them.I went to the kitchen, made coffee, sat at the table, and turned the decision over in my head, looking for holes in it.The commission session was tomorrow.Dante had gone public with a statement naming Vincenzo directly. The commission chair had called; the situation had accelerated past every timeline anyone had been running.Vincenzo was walking into that session tomorrow with his evidence file and Giovanni's declaration. Three captains already confirmed, he believed it was enough.I believed it too.But believing something was enough did not me
Vincenzo's Pov The evidence file was complete at seven in the morning.I had been at the table since four, going through every document one final time. Because walking into that commission session with anything less than perfect preparation was not something I was willing to do.Luca sat across from me with his own coffee."Walk me through the order.""Opening with the communications record. Twelve exchanges. Dated. Timestamped. Dante's identifier on every one." He turned a page. "Then the financial transfers. Four accounts. The movement traceable back to his private holdings in three steps.""The cargo intercept documentation.""Third. The planning communication. The approval. The execution, all of it is documented separately from the communications record so it stands alone even if someone challenges the channel.""Rico's name.""In the appendix. Three references are dated. Context
Lenny's Pov When we got home, he sat on the edge of the bed and let me look at his hand.The split knuckle had stopped bleeding. The skin around it was tight. I pressed along the bones carefully, and he kept his eyes on the wall."Nothing broken.""I know.""You always know. You never let me just say it."A breath. Almost a laugh. "You're right. Go ahead.""Nothing broken.""Thank you."I sat on the coffee table across from him with the kit open beside me and started cleaning the knuckle properly. He watched me work. The antiseptic stung and he didn't flinch."You saw something tonight that most people don't see.""I know.""And you're still sitting here doing this.""I told you in the car. I'm still here.""I heard you in the car. I'm still processing it."I looked up at him. His face was different in this light. Softe
Lenny's Pov He came back through the door eleven minutes after I called him.He looked at me first. One full scan from top to bottom. Then he crossed to where I was standing at the kitchen counter."Repeat everything he said. Word for word."I leaned back against the counter. "His name wasn't important. He made that clear right away. Said you were considering an arrangement with his organization. That the arrangement had conditions that specifically involved me, he wanted to discuss those conditions directly without you in the room.""What else?""That was all. I hung up after forty-five seconds.""Good."Luca came through the door behind him and went directly to the table with his laptop."Number traces to a burner," Luca confirmed, already typing. "But the routing goes through Callahan's server infrastructure. It's his operation.""Callahan called her directly."
Lenny's Pov He told me about the Irish connection over breakfast.But more than he had given me before, which I noticed and chose not to push on immediately."The network that sent the men to the lobby," I said. "The Irish mob.""Yes," he said."They reached out to you this morning.""Yes.""With an offer," I said."With the suggestion of an offer," he said. "They haven't specified terms yet."I put my fork down. "Why are they offering anything at all?""Because the ruling lands today," he said. "They have been working adjacent to Dante's position. When Dante loses his standing officially, they lose their cover for the expansion they've been running.""So they need a new arrangement," I said."They need to not be on the losing side of this," he said."And reaching out to you puts them on the winning side," I said."Potentially," h
Vincenzo's PovLuca was at the table when I came out of the bedroom at six.He had his laptop open. Three phones lined up beside it, a coffee that had gone cold an hour ago, judging by the film sitting on top."Talk," I said, sitting across from him."The commission ruling lands today," he said. "Formally. The chair confirmed nine o'clock.""I know," I said."Dante's legal position inside the family collapses the moment that ruling is read," Luca said. "His protection from the family disappears. His access to family resources disappears, his ability to move people against you through official channels disappears.""Officially," I said."Officially," Luca agreed. He looked at me. "The unofficial channels are a different matter.""Walk me through the countermeasures," I said.Luca turned his laptop around. A map on the screen. The building. The surrounding blocks, small marker
Lenny’s POVGradually, the darkness that had swallowed me finally began to spit me out, taking off its tendrils as I heard sounds muddled in my ear. Soon, the fluorescent lights above me flooded my vision. After taking a minute to adjust, I swept my head from one side to another."You're alive," a
Vincenzo’s POV"I swear I'll get you the money! I wasn't running... I wouldn't dare...!"Behind the pathetic pleading filling my ears, my 8 o’clock class loomed in my mind...I have an essay I've been putting aside. The professor was a pain, but he had a backbone unlike the others in my department,
Lenny's POV"Explain?!" I spat out, throwing my plastic bag at him. "How the heck are you going to explain this?"He dodged—he always had surprisingly fast reflexes—and groaned, pulling up his pants and buckling swiftly."Sofia is a friend,""I'm sure she is," I seethed as he approached me. He had
Lenny's pov"I’d better not see you around here again," the warden scoffed, handing me a plastic bag containing my mortal belongings. "Won't you miss me?" I teased lightlyWrinkles lined her face, "I mean it, Willow. Keep your head down and stay away from the reason you got sent to this hole in the







