Chapter 4 - Monsters in the Shadows
Camryn didn't know about the dead cop in Miami.
She didn't know about the mole inside the syndicate.
She only knew that Leo was finally sleeping.
It was 2:00 AM.
The penthouse was completely silent.
Camryn sat by the massive window in the west wing, looking out at the glittering skyline of New York.
She held her phone to her ear.
"Mom?" she whispered.
"Cammy, sweetheart," her mother's weak voice came through the speaker. "The doctors here... they said the new treatment is working. My white blood cell count is up. They said a benefactor paid for everything."
Camryn closed her eyes, tears of relief falling down her face.
"I told you everything would be okay," Camryn smiled.
"Who is he, Cammy?" her mother asked gently. "Who paid?"
Camryn looked down at her hands.
"My boss," she said. "He's... complicated. But he's a good father."
After hanging up, Camryn felt a sudden thirst.
She slipped out of her room, walking silently barefoot down the long, dark hallway toward the massive kitchen.
As she passed Matteo’s private study, she saw a sliver of light under the heavy oak door.
She heard voices.
Angry, low voices.
"You're losing focus, Matteo!" a harsh voice barked.
Camryn paused, pressing herself against the wall.
"My focus is exactly where it needs to be, Silas," Matteo’s cold voice replied.
Silas.
Camryn knew that name. Silas was Matteo’s uncle, the underboss of the syndicate. He had visited the penthouse twice, and both times, Leo had hidden under the bed, terrified.
"You're obsessing over a dead wife and a ghost of a cop!" Silas argued. "The shipment from Palermo is delayed. The Russians are getting bold in Queens. And you're playing house with a maid!"
"Watch your tone, Silas," Matteo warned, the menace in his voice palpable.
"She's a distraction," Silas spat. "Get rid of her. Send her away before the men start thinking you've gone soft."
"She stays," Matteo said with absolute finality. "She saved my son."
"She's a liability!" Silas yelled. "What if she talks? What if the Feds get to her?"
There was a sudden, violent sound.
A chair scraping. A heavy thud.
Camryn peeked through the slight crack in the door.
Matteo had Silas pinned by the throat against the mahogany bookshelf.
"If you ever suggest harming her again," Matteo whispered, pressing a silver gun under Silas’s chin, "I won't remember that we share blood. Do we understand each other?"
Silas choked, his eyes wide with fury and fear.
"Yes," Silas wheezed.
Matteo let him go. "Get out of my house."
Silas stumbled out of the room.
Camryn panicked and ducked behind a marble statue in the hallway.
She watched Silas storm past her, his face twisted in pure hatred.
As Silas walked toward the elevator, he pulled out his phone.
"It's me," Silas whispered into the receiver. "Matteo won't let the girl go. She knows too much. We do it my way. Prepare the strike team for tomorrow when Matteo leaves for the docks."
Camryn stopped breathing.
Silas was the mole.
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Silas was the one who had ordered the hit on Isabella.
And tomorrow, he was coming for her and Leo.
