“The Morettis,” I say slowly, the full picture emerging. “They think we’ve been attacking them.”
“Yes,” Luca confirms. “That’s exactly what Tartarov wants. While you two destroy each other, he moves in and takes over both territories. He’s been playing this game for at least a year, maybe longer.”
Lorenzo curses viciously in Italian. “That manipulative bastard.”
Fed appears at the door moments later, taking in the scene with sharp eyes. “What’s going on?”
“Luca just confirmed what Carmela suspected,” I tell him. “The attacks aren’t Moretti operations. They’re Tartarov’s false flag—designed to reignite our war while he expands into our territories.”
Fed’s expression hardens. “Son of a bitch.”
I turn back to Luca, studying his face for any sign of deception. “These people holding your family—where are they?”
“I don’t know exactly. Moscow somewhere. They send me photos every week to prove they’re still alive.” His voice breaks. “Please, boss. I know I fucked up. But I was trying to protect them.”
I study him for a long moment. Part of me wants to put a bullet in his head for the betrayal—nine good men died because of the information he leaked. Lorenzo nearly died. Carlos took a bullet in the shoulder. I took one myself.
But another part—the part that loves Carmela, that understands what it means to protect family—sees the impossible position he was in.
“Tell me about the communication methods,” I say. “How does Tartarov contact you?”
“Encrypted messages through a burner app,” Luca says quickly, eager to cooperate now. “Different phone each time. He has me destroy them after every communication.”
“But you kept records,” I guess, seeing it in his eyes.
He nods. “Screenshots. Backed up to a cloud account. I knew I might need proof someday that I was coerced.”
Smart. Stupid for betraying us, but smart for covering his ass.
“Lorenzo,” I say finally. “Contact our people in Moscow. Find Luca’s family. I want them extracted within forty-eight hours.”
Luca’s head snaps up, hope flooding his face. “You mean?—”
“I mean, we’re going to get your family out of Tartarov’s reach,” I interrupt. “But you’re going to earn it. You’re going to tell us everything you know about his operation. Every contact, every meeting, every piece of intelligence you passed along. Names, dates, locations—all of it.”
“Yes,” Luca says quickly. “Anything. I’ll tell you everything.”
“And then,” I continue, my voice dropping to a deadly calm, “you’re going to help us feed false information back to Tartarov. Make him think his infiltration is still working.”
Fed catches on immediately. “A double agent.”
“Exactly.” I cross my arms, looking down at Luca. “You’re going to help us destroy the man who’s been using you. Give us access to those encrypted communications. Every message he sends, we’ll see. Every order he gives, we’ll know about in advance.”
“I will,” Luca promises, fresh tears streaming down his face. “I swear on my mother’s life, I’ll do whatever it takes to make this right.”
I nod to Paulie to release him from the chair. Luca slumps forward, rubbing his wrists where the restraints bit into his skin.
“Fed, get him cleaned up and into a secure room upstairs. I want a full debrief—everything he knows about Tartarov’s operation, organizational structure, communication methods, everyone he’s met or heard mentioned.” I turn to Lorenzo. “And get our Moscow contacts moving on his family. I want confirmation they’re located before we trust anything else he tells us.”
“On it, boss,” Lorenzo says, already pulling out his phone.
As they lead Luca out, Fed lingers behind, closing the door. “You believe him?”
“About being coerced? Yes.” I lean against the concrete wall, my shoulder throbbing. “About wanting to make it right? We’llsee. But right now, he’s our best source of intelligence on Tartarov’s operation.”
“And if he’s lying?” Fed’s voice is flat, tactical.
“Then he joins the other traitors in unmarked graves.” I push off the wall, heading for the stairs. “But my gut says he’s telling the truth. Tartarov’s playing a much bigger game than we realized—and he’s damn good at it.”
