"Because someone I love believes in second chances. Believes people deserve mercy when they're forced into impossible situations. And I'm trying to be the kind of personwho deserves that love." I opened the door. "Now get out. And remember—you only get one second chance. Don't come back."
Jake practically ran from the warehouse. My security chief looked at me with surprise when Jake emerged alive and unharmed.
"Let him go," I said. "He's leaving the city. We're done with him."
"Sir, are you sure—"
"I'm sure. It's handled."
I called Sandro. "Meeting. My office. One hour. It's done."
When I walked into my office an hour later, all three partners were waiting. Sandro, Matteo, and Luca. All looking at me with varying degrees of curiosity and concern.
"Jake Byrne was the mole," I said without preamble. "I caught him accessing restricted files during the investor meeting. Took him to the Pier 47 warehouse. He confessed to everything."
"And?" Matteo asked. His tone was dangerous. Expectant.
"And I let him go."
Silence. Heavy and shocked.
"You what?" Matteo's voice was deadly quiet.
"I gave him forty-eight hours to leave the city. Told him if he ever comes back, if he ever contacts the FBI again, I'll kill him. But for now, he's alive and going."
Matteo stood. Moved toward me with barely controlled violence. "You let a traitor walk away? After months of feeding information to the FBI? After he compromised our security and put all of us at risk? What the fuck were you thinking?"
"I was thinking he was coerced. The FBI threatened to prosecute his wife for tax fraud. He was protecting her. That's not the same as voluntary betrayal—"
"It's exactly the same! He chose to betray us. The reason doesn't matter. The standard procedure is clear. Betrayal means death. We can't show weakness—"
"It's not weakness." Sandro's voice cut through Matteo's anger. "It's strategy."
We both looked at him.
"Explain," Matteo said.
"If we kill Jake, we look guilty. Dangerous. Exactly what the FBI wants to portray us as. We confirm their narrative that we're a violent criminal organization that murders anyone who crosses us." Sandro leaned back in his chair. "But if we let him go—if we show mercy to someone who was coerced—we look more reasonable. More human. We look like a legitimate business that fired a problematic employee rather than murderers covering up crimes."
"That's PR spin—"
"That's reality. Jake is now a compromised witness. He can't testify against us without admitting he was coerced into spying. Without admitting the FBI blackmailed him with threats against his wife. That undermines their entire case. Makes them look corrupt and manipulative." Sandro looked at me. "Elio's decision wasn't just mercy. It was strategically sound. It makes us look better while making them look worse."
Matteo was quiet for a long moment. Then: "What did Jake give them? What damage did he do?"
"Financial structures. Meeting schedules. Security protocols. He also recruited the three low-level moles and facilitated their contact with FBI handlers." I pulled up the files. "His handler was David Reeves. The same agent investigating us now. Jake provided everything Reeves asked for over months."
"And you don't think that deserves death?" Matteo's voice was still hard. Still angry.
"I think it deserved consideration. Jake wasn't greedy. Wasn't ambitious. Was just trying to protect his wife from federal prosecution. The FBI used his love against him. That's coercion, not betrayal for personal gain."
"So we let everyone who claims they were threatened just walk away?"
"No. We assess each situation individually. Make decisions based on circumstances rather than blind adherence to procedure." I met Matteo's eyes. "I'm not saying we go soft. I'm saying we think. We choose. We use mercy as a tool when it serves us better than violence."
Luca spoke up for the first time. "I agree with Elio and Sandro. Killing Jake would've been easy. Expected. Boring. Letting him go shows we're more sophisticated than that. Shows we can be merciful when appropriate. That's actually more intimidating than mindless violence."
Matteo looked at each of us. Then sat back down. "Fine. But if this backfires—if Jake talks or comes back or becomes a problem—I'm handling it my way. No more mercy."
