“Still laundering through the shipping front?”
“Yes. They’re getting smarter. This latest transfer was almost too clean to catch.” He tilts his head slightly, studying the scrolling code. “Almost.”
A smirk tugs at my mouth. “They don’t know who they’re up against.”
“They don’t know I exist,” he says simply, his blue eyes focused. He highlights a cluster of transactions. “See this? These small, random payments trailing the larger deposits? It’s a tell. It’s how they’re trying to camouflage the illegal transfers.”
I lean forward, squinting at the screen. “Looks like breadcrumbs.”
“Exactly. I can use those to map their entire operation.”
I settle back, crossing my arms. “Alright, genius. I think it’s time we really play ball.”
Finally, he looks up. I’ve caught his interest. In fact, I’d venture to say my little brother looks downright excited.
“I don’t want them to find out what you’re doing. So, let’s start there. Can you plant a leak? Make it look like they have an issue somewhere else? Distract them?”
Ryan cracks his knuckles, his posture shifting as he sits back to think. I know better than to interrupt this process, so I wait in silence. It takes about four minutes before he launches into lecture mode. “I can create a series of fake transactions that look like someone inside their organization is skimming funds. Small amounts, but enough to trip their alarms. That would definitely make them think they’ve got a leak. When they trace it back, all they’ll find is a ghost hub I can build—a shell company that doesn’t exist beyond the data I’ll plant. Meanwhile, we can still trace every real account they touch, map their entire structure. By the time they realize they’re chasing smoke, I’ll know their fronts, their laundering routes, even the accounts tied to their trafficking network.”
I whistle low. “Jesus, Ryan. You make it sound like child’s play.”
“It’s not,” he says, his tone flat but carrying a thread of pride. “It’ll take a few days, but they’ll never see it coming.”
“You’re terrifying,” I mutter, leaning closer.
He shrugs, as if this is nothing. “They’re the ones moving blood money. I just know how to follow the trail.” He looks at me quickly and then his eyes dart back to the screen. “Ilikedoing this, Liam. I like working with you. And, it’s fun to see how far I can push this.”
“You need to be careful, Ryan. I’m not trying to put you at risk. That’s the entire point of planting a different leak.” I see him tremble at my words, so I know he’s listening to me despite all evidence to the contrary. His fingers have begun moving on the keyboard again.
“You know what Da would say if he heard this?” I ask.
Ryan doesn’t miss a beat. “He’d tell us to stop wasting time on computers and put someone in the ground.” Yeah, Ryan hasn’t been involved in the business, but he’s observant as fuck.
I huff a laugh, but it feels bitter. “Yeah. He doesn’t get it. He hasn’t even asked me what I found. You’d think he’d want to know what I’m doing with all this supposed ‘access.’”
“Then tell him,” Ryan says matter-of-factly.
“What’s the point? He’ll just hand it all over to Bobby as if he can’t be bothered. Or worse—he’ll say it’s not real work. He’s made it clear he doesn’t think I have value beyond getting married.”
Ryan finally looks up, his gaze curious. “Do youwanthis respect?”
The question cuts straight through me. Shit.Do I want his respect?I’ve been telling myself for years I didn’t give a shit what he thought. However, I never lie to Ryan. Never. I won’t start now. Even if I’ve been lying to myself.
“Of course I do,” I admit, my jaw tight. “But I’m not him. I don’t want to be him.”
“Then stop trying to play his game,” Ryan says as if it’s that simple. “Play yours. Show him you can lead differently.”
Easier said than done. My entire life, I’ve been the one who smooths things over, who makes the clan look good when Da scares the hell out of everyone. I took that talent with me to St. A’s, charming girls into my bed and teachers into my good grades. I thought being likable would make me valuable. But maybe being liked isn’t enough. Maybe I need to prove I can be brutal too. Maybe my father has a point.
The thought unsettles me. I don’t want to become him. But I also can’t let him keep seeing me as the useless golden boy. Not when IknowI can take down our enemies without firing a single shot.
“What do we need to do next?” I ask.
Ryan turns toward me, his expression as flat as ever but with that spark of focus that means he’s two steps ahead of everyone. “We create small, believable discrepancies in their system. Fake transactions that look like an insider skimming funds. They’ll chase the trail, thinking they’re hunting a rat. But every lead will run back to a ghost hub I built. While they’re trying to figure out what that shell is, and who created it, I trace their real accounts. We have access now, but with this added time, I’ll have theirentirenetwork mapped, including all the accounts they are hanging off their real hub. We’d be able to move their money anywhere or target a specific business operation.”
I let out a low whistle. “Jesus, Ryan. If you do that, we could bankrupt them without lifting a finger.”
“Technically, I’d have to lift all my fingers,” he says, and I grin as he makes a jazz hands motion over his keyboard.
