Page 30 of Wanted By the Cartel

My hands were stained with blood from a confrontation not too long ago. I hadn't bothered cleaning up yet. There were more important things to handle, after all.

"Romano wasn't working alone," Viktor reported, his voice tight with barely contained rage. I could feel the same rage he was. "We've identified at least seven high-ranking members involved in the conspiracy."

The photos showed meetings I shouldn't have missed, deals I should have caught. My focus on Lyrian had made me overlook the obvious, and that was unacceptable. It wasn't going to happen again. I wasn't going to allow it.

"Names," I demanded, though I already knew most of them. I'd trusted these people. That had been my first mistake.

"Elena's entire inner circle. Two district chiefs. And..." Viktor hesitated, which wasn't like him. "Marcus."

That hit harder than I expected. Marcus had been with us for years, handling our intelligence operations. His betrayal explained how they'd managed to hide their activities for so long.

"The attack on the security hub?"

"A distraction. While our forces were responding, they moved significant assets offshore. They've been planning this for weeks."

Of course they had. The timing was too perfect to be a coincidence. They'd waited until I was distracted with the Crimson Fangs' situation, until I was focused on protecting Lyrian.

"Their objective?" I asked, though I already knew the answer. I just needed to hear it out loud.

Viktor's expression darkened. "Based on the intercepted communications, they planned to use Mr. Larimar and the children as leverage. Force you to step down, maybe worse."

The wood of my desk cracked under my grip. My wolf howled for blood, but I couldn't let rage drive my actions. I let that happen before and it was a mistake. Lyrian had taught me better than that.

"Where are they now?"

"Romano's dead, obviously." Viktor gestured to the blood on my clothes. "The others scattered when they realized he failed. Elena's people are trying to reach their offshore accounts, but I've already frozen everything we could trace."

I stood, walking to the window. The compound was quiet, but I could sense the tension in the air. Word would spread fast about tonight's events. I needed to control the narrative.

"What about the evidence Romano mentioned? The leverage he claimed to have?"

"Found it." Viktor held up a USB drive. "It was in his safe. Everything he gathered about Lyrian's abilities, the twins' potential power. He was going to sell it to the highest bidder, the bastard."

My claws extended involuntarily. "Destroy it."

"Already done. But..."

"But?"

"Copies could exist. And there's something else. The Crimson Fangs' omega sister arrives tomorrow. This timing... it can't be a coincidence. Something's fishy about it."

He was right. Everything was converging at once, and I couldn't afford to miss any details.

A gentle pulse through my bond with Lyrian caught my attention. He was awake, worried. I sent back reassurance, though I knew he'd sense the underlying tension. And he was going to be more worried about me than he usually was.

"Sir," Viktor pressed, "what are your orders?"

I turned back to my desk, mind racing through scenarios. I needed to be smart about this. Calculated. Ruthless.

"First, I want every account traced, every connection mapped. Find out who they've been talking to, what they've promised, who they've paid. Then freeze everything—not just their accounts, but their families' too. I want them desperate."

Viktor nodded, making notes. "And the traitors themselves?"

"Let them run." I smiled, and it wasn't pleasant. "They'll lead us to everyone else involved. Meanwhile, leak word that Romano died trying to attack my mate. Make it messy."

"The other cartels might think, again, that you've become weak," Viktor warned. "That our internal problems are deeper than they thought."

"No." I pulled up the city map on my tablet. "They'll see it as strength. Romano was one of our strongest alphas, and I tore him apart with my bare hands. They are going to think about that and realize how wrong they've been about me."

---