TO KEEP AN EMPIRE

of the war room, casting a soft glow on the tired faces around him. The night's bat

arm was bandaged from a bullet graze, Marco's eyes were bloodshot from hours of monitoring the

e rough. "More than half our men are dead or i

e have and find the mole before they strike again. Keep the line as tight as possible and let's hope we ca

Everyone's on edge after last nig

need information. If we don't find the m

battle. There's something strange. I noticed a pattern in the way the Gio

know that Marco! That's why we're

. The burner phone Carlo was using? I traced it to a location near the

f anger. "The bastar

get a team togethe

usiness so he's gonna answer to me. Sal, you focus on reinforcing our defenses.

ing my contacts. Someone out there know

lear his head, and the drive to Carlo's usual hideout would give him time to think. The ci

e parked a few blocks away and approached on foot, his senses on high

older man looked up, surprise flickering across his fa

"We need to talk, Carlo.

"I don't know what y

o me, Carlo. I've traced your calls to a burner phone, and from

"Vince, I swear, I didn't have a choice. They cam

arlo. You put us all at risk. And when I

ince. I never wanted to hurt anyone. I though

rlo? And be careful what

n't know. They never told m

over. "Damn it, Carlo! I

ish I could help you, Vince

zed. It was a message from Marco: "We've

re telling the truth, maybe you may get out of this th

oulders slumped in d

ations of Carlo's betrayal. If Carlos was only a middleman and there was another p