Chapter 5 - THE SISTER IN THE WIND
The betrayal hit Matteo like a physical blow, but his recovery was instantaneous. The tired, elegant boss vanished, replaced by a ruthless predator. He pulled a burner phone from his pocket, dialing a number.
“Leo. Isolate Domenic. Do not let him know we’re onto him. I want his communications locked down, and I want a strike team ready in ten minutes.”
Sophie watched him work. There was a dark, magnetic efficiency to him that she found statistically fascinating.
“If Domenic is working with the Morettis,” Sophie interjected as Matteo hung up, “then Chloe isn’t hiding on a beach in Mexico. Domenic would never let a loose end live. He handed her over to them.”
Matteo looked down at her. “You care about her. Even though she put a target on your back.”
“She’s an idiot,” Sophie stated, adjusting her glasses. “But she is my idiot. If we are going to dismantle a rival crime family tonight, I want a guarantee that my sister walks away breathing.”
“You’re negotiating with me?” Matteo asked, a genuine smirk breaking through his grim expression.
“I am outlining the terms of our partnership,” Sophie corrected. “I can map the Moretti safehouses using the IP bounce logs Domenic left behind. I can find where they are holding her. But you have to promise me she lives.”
Matteo stepped closer, leaning his hands on the table, trapping her between his arms. The proximity was electric. “Done. Now find them, Sophie.”
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Within fifteen minutes, her algorithms crunched the encrypted traffic. “An abandoned meatpacking plant on Halsted. The heat signatures on the satellite map show twenty men.”
Matteo racked the slide of his Glock. “Let’s go get your sister.”
