Chapter 4 - The Confession Trap
Julian’s hand shot toward his inner jacket pocket with blinding speed.
Before Khloe could even scream, Matteo materialized behind Julian's chair like a shadow, slamming the attorney's wrist down onto the mahogany table with a sickening crunch of bone. Julian let out a sharp cry of agony, his hidden gold-plated pistol clattering uselessly onto the floor.
"Easy, counselor," Matteo grunted, pinning Julian's arm behind his back with practiced brutality.
Khloe scrambled back from the table, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. This wasn't corporate espionage or a polite financial disagreement; this was the brutal, unfiltered reality of the underworld she had carelessly stumbled into.
Gabriel remained seated, his expression utterly serene as he took a sip of his whiskey. He looked at Julian, who was trembling in Matteo's grip, sweat beading on his forehead.
"You thought you could outsmart me, Julian," Gabriel said quietly, standing up and walking around the table. He towered over the trapped lawyer. "You thought you could use Pendleton's disappearance to slowly bleed my assets, buy off my captains, and hand the family over to the Chicago syndicate on a silver platter."
"You can't prove any of this in court!" Julian spat out, blood trickling from his lip where he'd bitten it in pain. "The recording won't hold up, the files are sandbox data—"
"I don't use courts, Julian. You taught me that," Gabriel interrupted coldly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a sleek, encrypted smartphone, placing it face-up on the table. On the screen, a live audio feed was broadcasting to every single caporegime and captain in the Moretti organization across the city.
Julian’s eyes widened in sheer, unadulterated terror. "No... you didn't..."
"Every captain just heard your confession," Gabriel said, his voice echoing in the silent room. "They heard how you tried to frame me, how you stole from the docks, and how you sold out our brothers." Gabriel turned his gaze from Julian to Khloe, his expression softening as he looked at her wide, shocked eyes. "And they heard the woman who figured it out in forty-eight hours."
Khloe swallowed hard, her mind racing. The danger wasn't over. In fact, by broadcasting Julian's treason to the entire organization, Gabriel had just lit a powder keg. If Julian had captains loyal to him, civil war was coming.
Gabriel walked back to her side, ignoring Julian as Matteo dragged the sobbing lawyer out of the room. Gabriel stopped inches from Khloe, his warm hand gently cupping her chin, forcing her to look up at him.
"You okay, sweetheart?" he asked, his voice entirely different now—gentle, almost tender.
"I... I think I need a very large drink," Khloe whispered, her knees shaking.
Gabriel let out a low chuckle, his thumb brushing her lower lip. "Consider it done. But first... we have a small problem." He pulled a small, encrypted flash drive out of his pocket and set it beside her coffee cup. "Julian didn't work alone. The syndicate has a mole inside the federal prosecutor's office who was helping him cover up Pendleton's real whereabouts."
Khloe froze, looking down at the drive. "You found Pendleton?"
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"No," Gabriel said, his dark eyes darkening with a new, dangerous resolve. "Julian didn't kill him. He hid him. And according to these files, Pendleton isn't dead at all—he's being held in a federal safehouse less than three miles from here."
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