Page 49 of Consequences
The rest of the Families scatter, but a clear line is drawn where the Martellis stay on one side and the Amatos on another. Both sides take a position according to where they rank in line with their Bosses.
Tennant glares as Ignacio moves closer to Benjamin. To Ignacio’s credit, he ignores Tennant. But fuck, he’s pressing a point, and I have no fucking idea why. From the confused glance Benjamin gives him, neither can he. It’s only when I study Ignacio closer that I catch it. Tennant is acting as Second now, and while Benjamin is holding that place in the lineup, since I’m at Master’s feet, Roman is right next to Tennant. And Ignacio? Ignacio only has eyes for Roman.
Fuck.
Clearing his throat and dragging everyone’s attention to him, Master waves the maids forward, who offer drinks and snacks. For the most part it goes ignored, but it’s only after they leave that Master starts the meeting.
“Thank you for coming. It’s been a month, and hopefully by now we have some answers. Who wants to start us off?” Master asks, as he meets people’s eyes one by one. None of them flinch, and I sigh in relief.
Antonio clears his throat, tilting his head toward Il Padrone, and then Cristian, before straightening. “I’ve cleared the majority of our soldiers—as well as the lists that Jude has provided—and I believe, at least on the Martelli side, we have identified all of the moles. While it’s possible a portion of the data came from them, it proves that not all of it could be found that way.
“I passed information to Hollis on two of them that we have exterminated. None of us were satisfied by their answers, or the fact they seemed to have more knowledge than they should. We think one may have gotten into the network, as he was a captain, and did come into the mansion several times. But it wouldn’t have been enough to gain access to everything.”
“That is concerning…” Master murmurs as his hand tightens in my hair.
Antonio acknowledges his statement with a wave of his hand before continuing. “We are most worried about the LEOs’ actions or, shall I say, their inaction. While some still sniff around the whorehouse, for the most part, they’ve been exceptionally quiet.”
Ignacio starts forward at this and takes over from Antonio. “We believe that since Tom Court was killed, the LEOs fell apart. However, from the way they’re acting now…there’s a level of secrecy that makes me think that they are being taken over by whoever was above Tom.
“It does appear that whoever is pulling the strings is able to manipulate data. After all, we know Tom wanted us taken out because of children being in danger, but none of us have ever sold or provided weapons to kids. Hollis was tracking that down. Ely is still engaged with us on continuing blinds, but without more information, there isn’t much we can do.”
Humming, I turn over to the Amatos, hoping they’ve found something more than conjecture. There’s a pause before Cristian says, “On our end, we’ve found a few things. Jude and Tennant have covered our internal team, but Hollis has made progress on the feds, and who may actually be in charge of all of this.”
I glance at Hollis, not surprised to see his face is an unreadable mask. Fuck. That makes me want to play with him even more. There’s something about not knowing what a Dom will do that draws me in. I bite my lip and the heat that flares in me has me desperately squirming, but Master’s hand yanks me back, holding me still.
I swallow the moan as Jude starts talking. I know he’s giving important information, but fuck. This is going to be a long meeting.
Damn, I really hope the Amatos can wrap up their presentation without causing any arguments. Perhaps the intensity that crackles between Il Padrone and Cristian will encourage it. Although, fuck, I don’t want to miss out on that either.
I force myself to pay closer attention, and Master loosens his grip, petting me instead. Fuck. Please let someone have found even a bit of information…
Ihate everything about this.The tension between the two Families is thick, and it makes my skin itch with the need to do something. Though, I’d rather not put the Martellis on edge any more than they already are by pacing, especially when the only one freely moving is Dmitri, as he interprets for Jude, and even he is careful with each move he makes; the young bodyguard poised for something to happen, even while he carefully attends to my lover.
“Tennant, Carter, and I have carefully extracted the few moles we’ve found,” Jude explains. “They didn’t know much, of fucking course, though a couple knew more than they should have.” His expression darkens. “We’ve dealt with them, and while one was a member of the house staff, who had more opportunity to gather information, it doesn’t explain how they got so much data.
“At this point, the how isn’t as important, I don’t think. We know they managed to bypass our systems, and have reacted accordingly. The information they have, while concerning, could be a lot worse. That none of us have been arrested tells us they don’t have access to the really damning stuff.
“I’m much more concerned with the why of it, rather than the how.” He grimaces and tugs at his curls, showing a fissure of his frustration. That alone concerns me for him, because he’s not one to allow others to see behind his mask.
Trusting the Martellis enough to allow them a glimpse of his feelings speaks of both how frustrating this situation is, and Jude’s comfort level with them…or with at least one of them. I note how carefully Antonio watches him, with a look in his eyes that says he’d be happy to help with the agnellino’s stress levels.
Keegan speaks up. “Aside from taking us down, it seems they want to destroy every trace of either Family. Whoever is in charge doesn’t want to leave anything up to chance, and risk someone stepping in to take over.” He considers things carefully before finishing with, “It’s something I’d do. Removing the head only turns them into a martyr, and encourages others to finish their cause. It's much better to burn the whole operation from the ground up, if you don’t want to leave anything to chance.”
“Right,” Hollis agrees. He begins pacing, his movements stiff and jerky as he speaks. “Whoever is in charge has very strict ideals about what it is we do, and they seem to be feeding the fear and hatred of those working with them. Court talked about kids being in danger because of us, and that matches up with the very limited information we were able to uncover about him.
“This was hidden in the official database, but it seems his work partner was killed while taking her kids to school. I don’t have many details, but it seems like they got caught in the crossfire between rival gangs.
“Not all those responsible were caught, and it seems, rather than go after them, Court decided we were the enemy, since they believe we’re the ones who supplied the weapons.”
Hollis stops his pacing and looks around the room, the dark expression on his face clear to see.
“This was hard information to come by. It seems someone wanted to hide it, not for the dead partner and her children’s sake, but for Court’s. Whoever is in charge, they have a level of authority that we should be wary of. My contact has contacts within the government, and it took far too long for any of us to get even this far. Whoever is pulling the strings…this isn’t their first rodeo.” Hollis smiles, a twisted thing that speaks of pain for his prey. “It’s not mine either, and Iwillfind them. It’s only a matter of time.”
“I don’t like how they’ve hidden so well,” Il Padrone says darkly.
“Neither do I,” Hollis replies. “I’m confident we plugged all the holes in both our systems and in our men. Studying the information, and where they placed their moles, we should be able to assess and watch anyone who might be at risk of turning. We’re already putting measures into place in order to prevent that. I’ll send you a list of your own men and recommendations, so you can do the same.”
“We appreciate that, thank you.”
