Sky put a gentle hand on my forearm as she wore an understanding look. “It’s alright, I’ll get a cab or something. Go help.”

Relieved to hear it wasn’t a problem, even though I already knew she wouldn’t have any objections to me doing my job, I nodded and leaned in to give her a kiss with my hand resting gently at the back of her head. “I’ll be home as soon as I can be.”

She kissed me back softly, letting me feel another wave of warmth before we pulled back. She gave me a reassuring smile. “Be safe, okay?”

“Of course. I always am,” I returned sincerely, giving her cheek a final caress before filling with a greater sense of urgency and heading for the door.

We hurriedly exchanged our final parting words while I left the office, moving quickly to get there as soon as possible.

Assuming my brothers received the same text, I focused only on getting to the car and heading out, following the coordinates I was given.

For Ari to send out a text like that even though I was across the city, it had to be big. The Levov forces were influential enough in size, and if that was any indication of how much stronger the Pesci family had become, then I hated to think about what else they might be able to accomplish.

I could only hope I wasn’t too late.

Speeding down the highway after breaking away from traffic, adrenaline flooded my system, and I knew I had to get there before anything too devastating could happen. If they managed to hit one of the warehouses, especially with any of the Levovs inside it, I hated to think of how much damage they could cause.

If they managed to bring down the Levovs of all people, then it would only be a matter of time before they came for my family, too. If removing the most notorious family in New York from the map was possible, then I hated to think about what they could do to us.

I wasn’t one to crack under pressure like that, but it was enough of a cause for concern to make me drive a bit faster, not paying too much attention to my speed.

All the while that concern lingered within me, I drew closer and closer to the warehouse, and to my confusion, I couldn’t hear any commotion in the distance, and I couldn’t see anything just up ahead either.

Brows furrowing, I kept driving until I reached the front gates.

The security guards were just standing there like usual, not too overly concerned as they opened the gates for me.

I didn’t have any words at first, far too confused as I looked at the property and didn’t see anything wrong. Nothing looked mowed down or blown in, there wasn’t any gunfire, and everything seemed far too still.

The text said there was an emergency. They needed backup urgently.

But from what I could see, the place wasn’t under attack. It was perfectly fine.

I had half the mind to double-check that I went to the right warehouse, but I knew I had. I was familiar enough with their properties by then to know which place was which.

Slowly rolling up to the guards, I stopped just outside of their booth and put my window down.

“What’s going on?”

Both guards dressed in their usual uniforms kept their eyes on me, lifting their brows curiously.

“What do you mean?” one asked, looking at me through his sunglasses.

Blinking back at them, that moment of confused quiet between us sounded so loud that I began to wonder if I was going crazy.

“I got a text from Ari saying this place was being attacked…that he needed backup,” I said, growing more baffled and more eager to figure out what was going on.

The guards exchanged a glance before looking at me again. They seemed at a loss.

“I’m not sure what to tell you, but as you can see, this place is doing just fine. No attacks happening here.”

“You’re sure that text was from Ari?” The other asked.

I wanted to snap at him, confirming it was from Ari and that there was some kind of misunderstanding, or somebody must’ve made a mistake.

But that was when it hit me. I didn’t know for sure. Not really.

Grabbing my phone, I unlocked it and clicked on the message again. Tapping the contact’s name, I watched as the number was revealed to me, and my stomach dropped at once.