Chapter 5
I met Voss after midnight.
Not at his house.
Not mine.
A closed restaurant halfway between our territories.
Neutral ground only matters when both men intend to leave alive.
I did.
I wasn't sure about him.
Adrian Voss was sixty.
Silver hair.
No tie.
No visible guards.
Which meant there were probably twelve nearby.
He sat across from me.
“You look disappointed.”
“My daughter was locked in a cage.”
His expression changed.
For the first time, whatever humor he had disappeared.
“I heard.”
“You heard quickly.”
“Someone has been trying to make you kill me for three months.”
I leaned back.
“Three?”
He placed something on the table.
Another serpent medallion.
False.
Right-facing snake.
Same workmanship.
“Found this beside one of my burned cars eight weeks ago.”
I looked at him.
“What was beside it?”
“A Fiorelli cufflink.”
My jaw tightened.
Counterfeit symbols on both sides.
Someone wasn't merely framing Voss for things done to me.
They had been framing me for things done to him.
“How many incidents?”
“Four.”
“Why didn't you come to me?”
Voss laughed.
“You're not exactly approachable.”
Fair.
He continued.
“Then I realized every incident happened after someone from Hale's circle had been near one of my properties.”
“Preston.”
“Sometimes.”
“And Veronica?”
He stared at me.
“Twice.”
Something cold moved through my chest.
“Why?”
“That was my question.”
Voss folded his hands.
“I found the answer six days ago.”
I waited.
“She doesn't want your territory.”
“Preston does.”
“Yes.”
“And she?”
“She wants you.”
I almost laughed.
“She's already marrying me.”
“No.”
Voss shook his head.
“She wants what happens when everyone around you is gone.”
That silenced me.
He leaned forward.
“She approached one of my men last winter.”
“For what?”
“To arrange small clashes.”
“Between us?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She wanted you suspicious.”
I thought about the last six months.
Broken shipment.
Missing truck.
Two fights outside clubs.
A fire nobody could explain.
Nothing large enough for war.
Everything irritating enough to keep me watching Voss.
“She was conditioning me.”
Voss nodded.
“Like a dog hearing a bell.”
Anger rose.
I pushed it down.
That was exactly what she wanted.
“What happened today?”
His eyes hardened.
“That wasn't conditioning.”
“No.”
“That was ignition.”
Sofia.
Audrey.
Fake medallion.
Dead child.
Dead witness.
A symbol pointing west.
I would have gone after Voss before sunset.
He knew it.
I knew it.
“How big?”
He slid a folded map across the table.
Not paperwork.
A hand-drawn street map.
Red marks.
My clubs.
His warehouses.
Neutral businesses between us.
“If you attacked me tonight, six of these places would burn before morning.”
“Your men?”
“Some.”
“Whose others?”
He tapped two marks.
“Preston's.”
Another three.
“Men recruited from your younger capos.”
My eyes narrowed.
“Names.”
“One I know.”
He looked directly at me.
“Gabriel Rizzo.”
I didn't react.
I had already expected it.
Voss noticed anyway.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“He's not the top.”
That mattered.
“Who is?”
Voss leaned back.
“I thought Preston.”
“Now?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Preston came to one of my men two weeks ago asking what he gets after Renato Fiorelli is dead.”
The room went cold.
I said nothing.
Voss continued.
“My man asked who gave the order.”
Pause.
“Preston said his sister.”
Veronica.
Not manipulated by Preston.
Not dragged into his scheme.
Above it.
I thought about her on the terrace.
Beautiful dress.
Engagement ring.
Watching Audrey drown.
They're still not dead?
She hadn't panicked because the plan failed.
She had panicked because two witnesses survived.
“What does she get if I die?”
Voss smiled without warmth.
“That's the part nobody can answer.”
I stood.
He didn't.
Before I walked away, he said one more thing.
“Renato.”
I stopped.
“If your daughter heard enough to scare Veronica…”
I turned.
May you like
Voss looked unusually serious.
“…then locking her in that cage was never the final plan.”
