Page 8 of Unsettled
I tug at my hair, frustrated that I let the ball drop on this. “I’m sorry. We were rushing to get Antonio and the twins here. I’m not sure what to do about family meals right now. I know how important they are, but we’re a bit scattered, especially withAntonio being unable to leave here. I’m not sure the Amatos would be willing to let us host family meals.”
Roman and Jude enter just as I finish my statement. My friend appears freshly fucked, and I’m slightly jealous. Mainly, as I desperately need someone to put me on my fucking knees and release this stress. Perhaps I should take Marcus up on Keegan’s offer. However, there’s one person who I know can give me exactly what I want, and he slips into the room next—Hollis. And fuck if he doesn’t look delicious.
I carefully try to adjust myself, but from Marcus’s snort, it doesn’t come off nearly as nonchalant as I’d hoped. Hollis is carrying a laptop, paperwork, and hell, I’m not even sure what everything else is in his hands. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had some fully constructed science fiction tool that he created. Although, I don’t plan on telling him exactly how much his intelligence turns me on.
Benjamin walks in last, eyeing me furtively—not that it works. I catch his eye as he visibly hesitates on where to sit. By demand, he should be sitting next to me as my Second. When he chooses to sit next to Hollis, I clench my hands into fists underneath the table, away from his sight. Marcus touches my leg in comfort, but otherwise doesn’t draw attention to our fractured Family.
Even Hollis frowns at the situation, but I clear my throat, hoping to move on from the discomfort. “We need to figure out how this fed managed to get so much information about us. There isn’t anyone that would know so much about both of our Families. Even just looking at one Family, there’s no way they could gather that much.”
“Hmm. Hacking?” Marcus asks, with a quick glance at Hollis. “At least, on our side?”
I shake my head. “It doesn’t make sense. We keep some of that information offline, or on a private network for a reason.”
Hollis clears his throat, drawing all of our attention to him. “While it’s true, being offline would make it more difficult to hack, it wouldn’t be impossible. Social engineering is easy enough to do—if it’s even needed. It could be someone who has access to the private network.”
Frowning, I exhale noisily. He has a fucking point, and I don’t like it. At all. Tapping my fingers on the table, I exchange a glance with Roman. “Really, my only thought is that someone has managed to create a network of moles. Which should be fucking impossible.”
The Amato Boss doesn’t look any happier about this announcement than anyone else gathered around the table. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to have a rebuttal. Neither does anyone else, for that matter. There’s a weighty silence in the room before Hollis starts passing out the lists for us all to study.
“If it is a network, which it better fucking not be, we need to pinpoint who would have access the various information on this list. Maybe if we can get an idea of where the information is coming from, we can determine some possible names.”
I nod at Marcus, as he’s right. Hollis rolls his neck, as if trying to get the tension out, and I have to bite my tongue before I offer him something else that could alleviate his stress. Marcus jabs my side, and I must not have held that thought in too well.
Roman snickers, and when I meet my Second’s eyes, they flash with something I can’t put my finger on.Jealousy?Fuck if I know.
I force myself not to think about it as the paperwork is handed out, and for the first hour, nobody really talks. It’s almost unnerving, but there’s so. Much. Fucking. Paperwork. I feel like I’m back in college, and am desperately in need of coffee before my eyes cross.
Pushing the paperwork away with a sound of disgust, I shake my head. “This doesn’t make sense. I keep trying to place whowould know all the different pieces of information, but it’s just impossible. There’s nobody that would know all of the soldiers, unless it was Master or one of us Boys. The warehouses, I guess, could be cobbled together by a few soldiers working in tandem.”
“Is it possible, if they had enough moles in the soldiers, that they’d be able to make a complete list?” Jude asks, and I automatically shake my head.
“No, not at all. They have names here that don’t overlap, that are specific to only Master—or one of us—knowing. Essentially, our spies. They’re not affiliated with us in the typical sense.”
Roman nods in understanding, as it’s a fairly common practice. We like to pretend we all trust each other, but that’s not the case. It’s natural to keep people off the books who can discreetly work behind the scenes, and don’t report to any others except the very top.
“And it would be highly improbable, if not impossible, for all of the spies to be moles,” Marcus follows up with a sigh. I know he’s thoroughly vexed by the situation, but there’s not much we’re finding that can give us an answer.
“Is there anything on your side?” I ask Hollis, pinning my hopes on what he can find.
His fingers briefly hesitate over his keyboard, as he seems to visibly switch from whatever task he’s doing on screen, to interacting with a live human. It’s almost amusing, if it wasn’t such a stressful situation.
“I’ve looped someone else in to help evaluate the situation, because you’re right, this doesn’t make sense. Not for them to have this amount of complete information. Truthfully, I’ve designed all of our systems, and it would be hard for evenmeto collate it all together. At least, not quickly. That was by design, of course.”
“They did say this has been months in the planning stage,” I muse aloud. I’m still caught in the unbelievability of it all, despite it being right there in front of us.
Sighing, Marcus tugs at his hair, messing it up further. “We can still run a risk analysis on who may be the most logical to flip, and then go from there. With your permission, I’ll take some of this back and work with Ignacio on it. While I handle the weapons side of things, he handles the drugs. There’s a small bit of overlap, but I’d prefer to have both of our eyes on this.”
Nodding, I wave in agreement. It’s not like it’ll fall into the wrong hands. I trust that neither Marcus nor Ignacio will be careless. Since the federal agent already has all of this, it won’t be dangerous if it somehow does get picked up. The cops have already been through the house anyway. Although it worries me that Marcus, Keegan, and Cole are living separately. I don’t want them alone if the cops come. It’ll scare Cole, and I can’t accept that.
“I wish there was a way to bait them…” I can’t figure out a way when they already have all of the information. “But it’s not like we can even introduce new information at this point.”
“Hmm, I disagree, Amico Mio.” I swivel to face Roman, my interest is piqued, as I hope someone has a fucking idea. “We can still plant some false information with people. Tell one group we have a new shipment of weapons coming in, tell another group it's drugs, etc. See who bites. That’ll help us find at least some of the moles.”
A smile stretches across my face, one that promises the exact mayhem he points out. I nod and turn toward Marcus. “Do you think you and Ignacio can figure something out for our side? I’m sure the Amatos have their own methods. Benjamin will also be happy to assist you and Ignacio.”
Marcus nods, even as he cuts his eyes toward Benjamin. I deliberately don’t look, not wanting to see his face. I don’t give a shit if he disagrees or not. He’s still my Second.
Keegan is right. Either we get our shit together and he acts like a Second, or I’ll need to replace him. I press a hand against my aching chest, not wanting to think about it. I’ve lost enough—Master has my heart and soul with him wherever he is—I don’t need to lose the last bit of my sanity too.
