"We investigate quietly. Watch everyone. And we don't let anyone know we're looking."
"I need you to do something for me," Cesare said, pushing himself more upright despite the obvious pain. "Pull records. Everyone in the family organization. I want to know their movements over the past six weeks. Where they were during key events—the wedding, the anniversary celebration, when Piero was taken."
"You're looking for patterns."
"I'm looking for opportunities. Someone who was always in the right place at the right time to feed Viktor information."
Giulio nodded slowly. "I'll be discreet. If word gets out that we're investigating family—"
"It could spook the spy. I know. Keep it quiet. Just you and Rocco."
After Giulio left, the silence felt suffocating. I poured coffee neither of us would drink. Cesare stared at his phone like it might reveal answers.
"What if we're wrong?" I asked. "What if it's not family at all? What if the text was meant to make us paranoid, tear us apart from the inside?"
"It’s possible. But my gut says otherwise."
His gut. The instinct that had kept him alive in a world designed to kill people like him.
I trusted it more than I wanted to admit.
By mid-morning, Bianca appeared again. Escorted by a different guard this time—a stocky man with cold eyes.
I tensed. "What now?"
"I remembered something. About the people Viktor worked with in New York." Bianca looked nervous, like she wasn't sure this would be believed. "He had regular meetings with someone before I ran. I never saw them—Viktor was careful about that. But I overheard conversations. Phone calls."
Cesare sat up straighter despite the pain radiating from his chest. "What people?"
"The person spoke Italian, not Russian. Native Italian. Not someone learning the language—someone who grew up with it."
That narrowed it down significantly. Not one of Viktor's Russian crew. Someone from the Italian families.
"Did you hear a name?" I pressed.
"No. But Viktor called them'il falco.' The falcon.I thought it was a code name, just Viktor being cryptic."
Cesare went very still beside me. "Il falco."
"Does that mean something?" Bianca asked.
My mind clicked. "The Falco cousins. Marco, Luca, and Sofia—their family name is Falco."
"Viktor was using their last name as code," Cesare said, voice tight. "Arrogant bastard. He thought he was being clever."
"When did you hear these conversations?" Cesare asked, voice tight with controlled fury.
"After I ran. When I was staying with Viktor in Europe." Bianca looked down at her hands. "I overheard him on the phone multiple times—he thought I was asleep or didn't care if I heard. He mentionedil falcomaybe four or five times over those weeks. Always in Italian, always careful not to use a name."
"But you said Viktor was planning something back before the wedding," I pointed out.
"He was.Il falco—whichever Falco cousin it is—told Viktor about the wedding alliance months ago. That's how Viktor knew to interfere, how he knew which pressure points to use." Bianca met Cesare's eyes. "Your cousin has been feeding Viktor information for at least six months. Maybe longer. Since before your marriage to Paola was even arranged."
So the betrayal predated everything. The wedding. The switch. All of it. Viktor had someone inside the Monti family long before Bianca entered the picture.
"What else did you hear?" Cesare demanded. "What information was being passed?"
"Schedules. Security protocols. Business deals. The cousin told Viktor when you'd be vulnerable, when your attention would bedivided." Bianca's voice dropped. "They told him about Piero's routine. That's how Viktor knew exactly when and where to grab him."
