Page 8 of Bound to the Enforcer

One of the men, Matteo, clears his throat. "We've been looking into it all night. The evidence suggests he was killedelsewhere and then moved to the warehouse. Whoever did it wanted us to find him."

"Well, that is obvious to me without the evidence. And the stolen shipment?" I ask. "How much did we lose, and what is our plan on getting all of that back?"

"Gone without a trace." Matteo's brown eyes meet mine. "Whoever took it was careful. No security footage, nothing. We suspect they may have had help from the inside. And for the amount we are looking at, it is about a loss of $2 million, boss."

A lightning bolt moves through my spine. "Are you saying we have a mole?"

No one speaks. They all just sit in their chairs without saying a word.

"Yes." Matteo speaks. "There is no way that someone would have known that the pills were there. This is a new warehouse and not on our current books."

Domenico leans back in his chair, his expression thoughtful. "This wasn't just about the shipment. It's a power play, Sophia. Someone wants to undermine you, to show the rest of the families that you're weak."

I feel the heat rise in my cheeks but force myself to stay calm. "Then we need to send a message of our own."

Domenico raises an eyebrow. "And what message would that be?"

I glance at Alessio, who nods subtly. "That I'm not to be underestimated. If they want to bring war to my doorstep, then to war we shall go."

The room falls silent, the weight of my words hanging in the air. Domenico is the first to break it, clapping his hands together.

"Very well, cara. To war then."

This is simply the beginning of the end.

Later that day, Alessio and I are in the car, heading to the warehouse where the murder had taken place. It is located on the outskirts of the city. The air between us is tense, filled with unspoken words. He doesn't want me to go and see what happened to Trevor, but I need to.

I need to begin to familiarize myself with the blood and gore of this world quickly. And besides, I need to pay my respects. I may not have known the guy personally, but he served my father well.

"When will the funeral be?" I slice through the stillness as we pass the long line of trees. "For Trevor."

"In three days. I have already arranged for all financial expenses to be taken care of for his grandmother."

My heart squeezes. "No other family? Just his grandmother?"

Alessio waits a beat before he responds. "He has a younger sister. She's in college doing her bachelor's in criminal justice, ironic enough. We will also cover her student fees until she finishes her education."

As much as I don't like his patronizing manner and his incessant need to put me in place, he has made this whole ordeal easy enough to process. I do not know what I would have done without him.

The quiet returns between the two of us. This time, however, it's not uncomfortable.

I lean deep into the soft leather of the seat and watch the trees continue to pass us by. The meeting still had me deep in my thoughts. I am far more out of my depth than I realize. There is a lot more that goes into this world.

"You handled yourself well in the meeting," Alessio says. "You were clear and concise, and you showed that you are not afraid of the weight of this role. You demonstrated the attributes of a leader."

I still don't feel it, though. I am barely treading water.

"Thanks," I reply, staring out the window. In truth, the meeting has been nothing but a blur to me. My mind went into autopilot while my thoughts ran wild. "You were stoic and brooding, a normal setting for you, I guess."

He glances at me, his expression softening just a fraction. "But words aren't enough, Sophia. You need to back them up with action. What happened to Trevor needs to be answered."

"I know that," I speak in a hushed tone. "I just don't know where to start. Blood and gore isn't exactly my area of expertise."

"Well, it so happens that those are the things that I excel at the most," he says, his tone still carrying the same edge but gentler than before. "You're not alone in this. We will figure this out."

I turn to look at him. For a moment, I see something in his eyes—something almost human. But just as I noticed it, he quickly wiped it from his eyes.

"Trust no one," I mutter under my breath, turning back to the window. The final words my father wanted me to etch into my brain. "Famous last words from my father."

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