"Giovanni was my partner," he says. "Thirty years ago, we built this organization together. He handled the business side. I handled the operational side. We were brothers in everything but blood."
"What happened?" I ask.
"He got greedy." Aurelio's voice is bitter. "Or perhaps he was always greedy, and I was too blind to see it. He started making deals behind my back. Selling information to competitors. Skimming from operations. When I found out, I confronted him." He pauses. "It didn't end well."
"You killed him," Alexandra says.
"I thought I did." Aurelio turns to face us. His eyes are hard, but there's doubt in them. "We were at a warehouse on the east docks. He pulled a gun. I was faster. I put three rounds in his chest and watched him fall into the harbor." He shakes his head. "The body was never recovered, but no one survives that. No one."
"Unless he was wearing protection," Claudio says quietly. "Unless he planned for you to try to kill him and came prepared."
"If Giovanni is alive," Alexandra says, "and if he's been building Apex Meridian for the last twenty years, then everything makes sense. The two-way money flow. The surveillance infrastructure. The way whoever is behind this seems to know both families from the inside out." She leans forward. "He's not just profiting from the war. He's orchestrating it. Bleeding both sides, weakening both organizations, positioning himself to take over whatever's left when the smoke clears. Unless he isn’t the head of the snake, but a branch…"
Aurelio is silent. When he speaks, his voice is cold.
"If he is alive, he's been planning this for two decades. He knows how we operate, how we think, how we fight. He built half of our infrastructure himself before I forced him out." He looks at me. "This isn’t about money anymore. This is personal."
"What do you want to do?" I ask.
"I want to find him. I want to look him in the eye and ask him why he spent twenty years hiding in the shadows instead of facing me like a man." His teeth grind down, the muscles in his jaw twitching. "And then I want to finish what I started."
"The tech consulting firm," Alexandra says. "It's our best lead. They have physical offices in New York. Client records. Employee files. If we can get access to their systems, we can trace every installation they've ever done. Every backdoor they've built. And somewhere in that data, there will be a connection to whoever is really running Apex Meridian."
"You want to go to New York," I say.
"I want to send someone who can get inside without triggering alarms. Someone with technical skills and a reason to be there." She pauses. "Or I can go myself."
"No." The word comes out harder than I intended. "You're not going anywhere near Apex Meridian's operations. Not after what they did to get you last time."
"Leone."
"I said no."
Her eyes flash. I think she's going to argue. But she nods, once, and looks away.
Aurelio watches our exchange with an unreadable expression. "We'll discuss the New York operation later. For now, I want everything we have on Gio. Old files, old photographs, anyone who knew him who's still alive. If he's out there, we're going to find him." He looks at Alexandra. "Good work, Miss Clark. You've given us more in three weeks than our intelligence team found in three years."
She stands. "I’m just getting started."
She walks out of the war room without looking back. I watch her go, watch the door close behind her, and feel Aurelio's eyes on me.
"She's impressive," he says.
"She is."
"She's also going to push until she gets what she wants. The New York operation, the field work, all of it. She's not the type to sit behind a desk while others take risks."
"I know."
"Can you control her?"
I almost laugh. "No. But I can protect her."
Aurelio nods slowly. "See that you do. She may be the most valuable asset we have right now. If Gio is really behind this, she's the one who's going to find him." He pauses. "And Leone? Keep her safe."
"With my life."
He dismisses us with a wave. Claudio and I file out, and I head for the corridor that leads to our quarters.
