Page 30 of Indigo Deception
"Angelo Bellanti is not your problem." Kaif's voice cuts through mine like a blade. "If you're still there when this turns into a firefight, I can't guarantee extraction. This is an order, Agent Rossi. Leave."
"Understood," I reply.
I end the call and silence the phone, burying it deep in my bag. The rational part of my brain—the part that got me through Quantico—screams that Kaif is right. This isn't my fight anymore.
But something stronger overrides ten years of training and protocol. Something I've been denying for months.
Angelo might be a criminal. His family might have built an empire on fraud and deception. But he doesn't deserve to die.
At least that's what I tell myself as the elevator climbs toward his floor.
—
Security has tripled. Guards are placed at every entry and exit point, and employees are thankfully leaving the building.
When I reach Angelo's office, he's alone, facing the windows.
"Close the door, Agent Rossi," he says without turning.
My real name in his mouth sends electricity crackling down my spine.
When he finally faces me, his expression is unreadable, a mask I've never seen before. He holds up the pen holder I'd given him last month—the one with the surveillance equipment nestled inside like a cuckoo's egg.
"How long?" The question hangs between us, heavy with all that's about to shatter.
I don't bother lying. We're past that now. "Six months."
"SEC?"
"Yes. Look, I need to tell you something about Veronica—"
Before I can say more, his phone rings. As Angelo answers, something shifts in him—the betrayed man vanishes, replaced by something colder, more calculating. It's terrifying how complete the transformation is.
"When?" A pause. "Lock it down. Everything.Protocol Blackout. Now."
He sets the phone down as if it might bite him. "The SEC just raided our Hong Kong office." His eyes burn into mine—not just with anger but with something that cuts deeper, that makes me want to look away. "And the Kovacs have accessed our entire network through Veronica."
His laptop chimes. Veronica appears on screen, her smile victorious in a way that makes my skin crawl.
"Angelo, darling. I'm sorry it came to this." Her voice carries no remorse, only satisfaction, like a cat who's finally cornered a clever mouse.
"Why?" His voice is unnervingly calm, but I see the muscle jumping in his jaw, the white-knuckled grip on his desk.
"Twenty years of making you shine while I stayed in the shadows." She shrugs, elegant even in betrayal. "The Kovacs made a more favorable offer".
"You were family," Angelo says, and something cracks in him—just a hairline fracture, but I catch it. Raw pain bleeds through.
Veronica laughs. "Family doesn't exist in our world, Angelo. You, of all people, should know that."
The call ends. Angelo turns towards me, his gaze hard.
"What does the SEC have on my business?" The question cuts.
"Angelo, what matters now isn't what the SEC has on you, to be honest.”
His brows furrow together. “What do you mean?”
I exhale sharply. “It's about the Kovacs. They aren't just after your business. They've contracted a hit on you—today, while you're distracted. That's what this is truly about."
