Page 10 of Veil of Secrets

He grins. “Not until I hear about your new pet project.”

“She’s not a project.”

“Oh, come on,” he says. “Dragging in a girl from a club? That’s a bold choice. What’s next, recruiting baristas?”

“She’s got grit.”

He lifts both eyebrows. “She’s got tits.”

“She also didn’t flinch when a man’s guts hit the pavement.”

Vince shrugs. “Neither did I when we buried your uncle. Doesn’t mean I’d hand her a gun.”

“She doesn’t want a gun.”

“No,” Vince says, “she wants to be left alone. Which is exactly why we don’t bring her in. You want unpredictable? That’s how you get holes in the plan.”

I lock eyes with him.

“You’re worried she’ll mess things up.”

“I’m worried you already have,” he says.

I step closer. “She’s not part of the rot. That’s the only reason I’m even thinking about her.”

Vince raises both hands. “Hey, it’s your funeral.”

He stands, smirking again, and walks to the door.

Before he leaves, he glances over his shoulder.

“You bring her in, she better be worth it. Because if she breaks the wrong way? That’s on you.”

He leaves without waiting for a response.

Luca mutters, “Prick.”

I nod, barely hearing him.

I stare down at the maps again, tracing the old Drago routes with the edge of the ring. I see supply cuts, payout gaps, faces that used to matter before they sold us out.

We’re bleeding out.

I can’t stop the rot with loyalty alone. That died with the old guard. I need grit. I need people who won’t crack just because someone waves a stack of cash or a badge.

Elara didn’t fold.

She didn’t even blink.

She might not be the answer.

But she’s a start.

The door slams open so hard the hinge lets out a snap.

Luca jumps to his feet. I don’t flinch. That kind of entrance only means one thing.

Urgency.

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