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“Good,” she said, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest, a satisfied smile playing on her lips. “So, you are going to tell him, right?”
“I will,” I answered, my gaze shifting to the window and the world outside. “Once I’m sure.”
“Sure about what?” Carmen asked, her tone sharp. “That you’re not imagining things?”
“No,” I replied, looking right into her eyes. “Sure that if there’s someone messing with the books, I want to deal with them myself.”
Chapter Eight: Tristan
While Adriana had brunch with her sister, I asked my brothers to join me at the Callahan estate. By themselves, if possible. Knowing Liam, he would have happily brought his newest girlfriend to a family meeting and we had delicate things to discuss.
The Callahan estate was a sprawling mansion on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by lush greenery and a towering wrought-iron gate, which made me question how anyone would’ve broken in in the first place. It was an intimidating sight, meant to keep unwanted prying eyes away. Although it held many childhood memories for me, I couldn’t deny the dark shadows that lingered in its corners.
“Finally decided to crawl out of your hiding place, eh brother?” Kieran’s voice echoed through the large entrance hall as I stepped inside. He lounged on one of the antique settees, a glass of whiskey in one hand. Liam was next to him, his feet propped up on the coffee table, a video game controller in his hand.
“I wasn’t hiding,” I responded, trying to keep my tone casual. “Just busy with other things.”
“Like playing house with your fiancée?” Kieran jibed, a teasing smirk on his face.
“Something like that,” I replied, not rising to his bait. He was always trying to get a rise out of me, but I’d learned long ago not to give him the satisfaction.
“I wouldn’t mind playing house with her,” Liam quipped. “She’s hot as toast.”
“I swear to God, Liam,” I warned him, my voice carrying a steel edge. “One more word about my fiancée and you’ll be dealing with me.”
His smirk vanished instantly and he raised his hands defensively, chuckling nervously. “Alright, alright. Don’t have a heart attack. I was just saying...”
Taking a deep breath, I waved him off and I walked over to where Kieran sat, meeting his gaze head-on. Something about the way he watched me made me uncomfortable. It was as if he could see right through me, see all my secrets and fears. “I didn’t call you here for your unsolicited opinions about my love life.”
“No?” Kieran asked, raising an eyebrow as he took another sip from his glass. “So what did you call us here for?”
Slowly, I took a seat across from my brothers, leaning forward with my elbows on my knees. I met both their gazes one by one, taking in their curiosity and slight apprehension.
“I called you here because we have a problem,” I said, my voice carrying the heavy weight of the words.
“A problem?” Liam asked, putting down his video game controller and leaning forward, interest sparking in his eyes. “What kind of problem?”
I ran a hand through my hair, sighing heavily. “I think we have a rat in our midst.”
Both their expressions turned serious, Liam’s playful demeanor vanishing instantly as Kieran set his glass down with a sharp clink. “A snitch?” Kieran echoed.
“I’m not sure,” I said, sighing. “Which is why I need your help. I…so, look, the other day, someone broke into the house. Ade and I were sleeping upstairs and...” I trailed off, the memory of that night washing over me. The fear in Adriana’s eyes, the feeling of my heart pounding in my chest. I shook my head slightly, bringing myself back to the present. “I have no idea what they were trying to take, but they weren’t stealthy. We heard glass shattering. I came down to the living room and it was a man dressed in all black who I took care of. But there was no information on him. I look through everything, and he didn’t have anything on him that could identify him.”
Liam interjected, “And you think this guy was working for one of our guys?”
“No. I think he was a Rossi man, lad. But this,” I said, gesturing around the living room. “Dad made sure that it was a fortress. Who comes in here without knowing keycodes for gates or where to scale the right fence?”
My brothers remained silent, absorbing my words. Kieran was the first to break the silence. “So, you’re thinking someone within our ranks told him how to get in?”
“Exactly,” I said, leaning back and crossing my arms over my chest. “Someone gave out vital information about our security system and, by doing so, put us all at risk.”
Liam fidgeted with the controller. He wore a serious expression, the sort that appeared on his face once in a blue moon. “Isn’t that kind of a jump? Maybe he just... I dunno, got lucky?”
“No chance, lad,” Kieran said. “They would have needed to get lucky a hell of a lot of times to avoid all our security. Why didn’t you call me when it happened, Tristan?”
I didn’t want to remind him that I had called him, even though it had been later. He meant why hadn’t I called him to help me get rid of the body, but it wasn’t necessary.
He didn’t know about Alessia’s involvement and I didn’t want him to know.
