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We make our way down the steps. Bash and Dante are already waiting.
“Enzo?” I ask as Dante hands me my laptop.
“He can’t make it tonight,” Bash answers as we walk together to the study.
“Tao won’t be here, either. I gave him the night off.”
“Does he know?” Bash turns to ask.
“Yes, but I told his wife he’s to not come. There’s nothing he can do, and there’s plenty of us around. I’ll catch him up later.” Anya shrugs.
Val and Cosima are already setting up espresso and other refreshments for the group as we trickle in. I pour my wife a cup of tea and water before filling my own. Her hand still has a tremor from the adrenaline rush. She tries to hide it, but it always takes her longer to come down after an event as such.
Cosima’s eyes slightly narrow at my wife as she pretends to adjust the table setting, but she corrects herself when she catches me watching her. I glance down and catch my wife staring back at me with a raised brow. I let out a chuckle, kissing her temple before pulling out her chair.
“What can I say? She’s crazy about me. Who can blame her?” I joke into her ear as we take our seats.
Dante and Bash find their seats, while Val and Cosima scramble out. My wife rolls her eyes, but I can see her biting her cheek to stop herself from laughing.
“You’re insufferable sometimes,” she says as her phone goes off.
I study her face while she reads the message. Bash caught it, too.
“It’s Bo. They’re on the way here now. It doesn’t look like anyone made it up the elevator. But there was a note left on Gabriella’s body,” she says without looking up from the phone.
Dante pulls out his laptop, and I feel useless not doing anything. I rarely ever go anywhere without it. And, of course, the one fucking night I do, something like this happens.
“Get the garage footage as well as the street footage in our neighborhood,” I tell him, but he’s already ahead of me.
“What does the note say?” Bash asks.
“It’s in Mandarin. It saysSee you Saturday. No funny business or this is just the beginning,” Anya replies, not taking her eyes off the image.
“Fuck.” I watch the footage next to Dante before he pulls it up on the big screen. “It looks like they snuck in right as she used her code to open the garage door. They were able to grab her and block the doors from closing.”
In the next moment, a masked figure grabs and takes her to the keypad, no doubt trying to force her to give him access to go up. She shakes her head.
Anya covers her mouth as she watches before he slits Gabriella’s throat and pushes her into the elevator. My wife lets out a small gasp as she balls her other hand into a fist so hard her knuckles pop. The silhouette reaches into his pocket and drops a note on the body just before the doors slide shut.
“Do you think that note means he knows about our plans?” Anya asks.
“I’m confident that he does,” Bash replies before shooting me a look.
The room remains silent at the revelation. No one needs to say it. We all know it. There’s a rat among us, and with how white my wife’s knuckles are, she’s certain it’s one of her men.Right after losing Gabriella, too. Without a word, Anya stands and leaves through the sliding door that leads to Bash’s patio.
“She’ll be okay. She just needs a minute—” I say.
“We need to wait for Bo and Kai, anyway. No need to hash everything out twice,” Bash says. “Now, go see to your woman.”
I find her sitting on one of the lounge chairs hunched over with her hands cupping her head trying to control her breathing, the electric fire pit illuminating her face against the night. She leans into me without looking up as I rub her back. We sit in silence before she finally lifts her head and opens her mouth.
“We have a rat,” she whispers.
“The fucker will pay with his life,” I reply, not revealing what my hunch is without proof.
“Gabriella is dead. Because of us,” she says again, so quiet it’s barely audible.
“Gabriella knew what this life meant. She died because some asshole got greedy.” I pause. “This isnoton you.”
