Chapter 5
Gabriele did not deny being at the terminal.
He denied knowing about the archive.
Alessio watched him from across the table.
“Why were you there?”
Gabriele’s fingers rested flat against the wood.
No tapping.
No nervous movement.
A disciplined man trying not to reveal where the wound was.
“Trent asked me to meet him.”
Trent laughed.
“You're lying.”
Gabriele did not look at him.
“He told me Sylvia discovered something and wanted to make peace before it reached you.”
Alessio’s eyes narrowed.
“At Gate Nine?”
“He said he couldn't be seen meeting me privately at the estate.”
“Why not?”
Gabriele finally looked toward Trent.
“Because his wife had started watching him.”
Sylvia’s expression changed.
Trent’s mouth tightened.
Alessio leaned back.
“What did you discuss?”
Gabriele paused.
“Nothing.”
“You drove to a secure terminal after ten at night and discussed nothing?”
“He never came.”
Alessio studied him.
“Then who did?”
Gabriele’s jaw flexed.
“One of the empty trucks.”
The driver stepped out.
Handed him an envelope.
Then left.
“What was inside?”
Gabriele took a slow breath.
“A recording.”
Trent stopped smiling.
That was the first honest fear Alessio had seen from him since the dinner.
“Where is it?”
Gabriele reached inside his coat again.
This time he removed a small encrypted audio device.
Alessio did not touch it.
“Play it.”
Gabriele hesitated.
Alessio’s voice dropped.
“Now.”
The room became silent.
A man’s voice filled it.
Alessio’s.
Clear.
Cold.
Ordering the removal of a rival lieutenant three years earlier.
Then another sentence.
No witnesses.
No police.
Make sure his wife understands what happens when people betray me.
Sylvia’s face changed.
Helen stared at Alessio.
Even bodyguards shifted.
Alessio did not.
He listened again.
Then looked at Gabriele.
“I never said that.”
Trent smiled slowly.
Power had returned to his face.
“Sounds like you.”
Alessio’s eyes moved toward him.
Trent leaned back.
“If that recording reaches the wrong people, your alliances collapse.”
Gabriele’s breathing became heavier.
“I was told the original came from your private archive.”
Alessio understood immediately.
The stolen server.
His old recordings.
Trent was not simply taking files.
He was manufacturing leverage from them.
Alessio looked toward Mateo.
“Forensic analysis.”
Mateo nodded.
Trent laughed again.
“You think people care whether every word is technically perfect?”
His eyes sharpened.
“They'll hear your voice.”
There was the strategy.
Not truth.
Plausibility.
Enough to make allies doubt.
Enough to make enemies act.
Enough to weaken Alessio.
Sylvia whispered:
“That’s why you locked me in.”
Trent’s eyes moved toward her.
“You always thought this was about you.”
The cruelty in his voice had returned.
Sylvia’s good hand closed.
Alessio started toward him.
Then stopped.
Trent expected the blow.
When it did not come, uncertainty crossed his face.
Alessio looked at the recorder instead.
“Who gave you that?”
Gabriele’s eyes lowered.
“A courier.”
“Name.”
“I don't know.”
“Description?”
Before Gabriele could answer, Mateo’s phone buzzed.
He read the forensic preliminary scan from the archive server.
Then looked at Alessio.
“Boss…”
“What?”
“The fake recording was built from old council audio.”
Alessio already suspected that.
Mateo continued.
“But the source clips weren't taken from the stolen server.”
Alessio’s eyes narrowed.
“They were downloaded three weeks ago.”
“By who?”
Mateo hesitated.
“Using Gabriele’s personal credentials.”
The entire room turned.
Gabriele’s face went still.
May you like
Trent smiled.
This time, the suspicion landed on the man Alessio trusted most.
