Chapter Nineteen

Brynn

She had fallen for the video. As expected.

I hadn’t been particularly worried about that part. The video actually was Guy.

Now, it was time for the phone call, the real test. The call where Candace would hang herself and fall right into our trap.

The office was quiet, almost too quiet. Just Leo, Apollo, Sig, and me. We didn’t want any unnecessary background noise. With more than ten people in a room, it was inevitable that something would slip. And right now, we needed absolute control.

The rest of the guys were waiting in the kitchen, eager to hear the outcome. They trusted us to handle this, and we would. But still, the weight of it pressed down on me. This wasn’t just about trapping Candace—this was about survival. About ensuring Leo and the rest of his men could finally move forward without looking over their shoulders.

I sat behind Leo’s desk, the computer in front of me, my hands poised and ready to type. I had memorized Guy’s cadence, his phrases, the way he dealt with people. Candace wouldn’t have a clue she was speaking to a ghost.

Leo was on the couch along the wall, his eyes never leaving me, a silent reassurance that we had this under control. Apollo sat beside him, a slight tension in his posture. He wasn’t one to let his guard down easily. Sig was in front of the desk, ready to connect the call, when I gave him the signal.

I nodded, and Sig hit the button. The phone rang once, twice, then—

“Hello?” Candace’s voice rang through the speaker, sharp and impatient.

My fingers flew over the keys, the response pre-typed. I hit enter, and Guy’s smooth voice replied instantly through the speaker, the tone cool and familiar. “Hello, Candace.”

There was a pause, and I could almost feel her hesitation before she spoke again. “Are you sure we can’t try video chat again?”

I rolled my eyes, quickly typing. “No, no. I always seem to have this problem in Monte Carlo. The last time I was here, I thought my men had fixed the problem, but they obviously didn’t.”

Candace chuckled, but it was a dry, humorless sound. “Sounds like you need some new men.”

“You might be right,” I typed, hitting send with a small smirk.

There was another pause, a clearing of her throat. “So, what is it you have to offer me?” she asked, trying to keep the conversation on track, but I could hear the edge of nervousness in her voice. She was playing a dangerous game, and she knew it.

“Banachis,” I typed quickly. I didn’t even need to look at Leo to feel his reaction to hearing his own name spoken in Guy’s voice.

Candace scoffed, loud and derisive.

“I want to revisit the offer you gave me before,” Guy’s smooth voice continued as I typed.

“I can tell you anything you want to know about them,” she offered readily, her desperation seeping through. “They need to be taken down.”

I rolled my eyes again. Of course, she’d say that. She was trying too hard, her eagerness almost painful to listen to. I typed out Guy’s reply. “Can I ask why you aren’t a fan of them?”

There was a beat of silence, and then she snapped, her voice sharp and cold. “Because they killed my brother. They took my only brother from me like he was nothing.”

I froze for a moment, glanced at Leo, but his face remained unreadable. Candace’s brother had been a piece of work and had deserved whatever Leo and his men had done to him. She was painting herself as the victim, which was a crock of shit.

“They all deserve to die,” Candace continued, her venomous tone cutting through the air. “But Leo especially.”

I typed quickly, not letting her words rattle me. “That, I agree with,” Guy’s voice replied smoothly. “Leo Banachi is sniffing around, and I don’t like it.”

“He thinks he’s top shit, and everyone should bow down to him,” she spat. “I worked for him for years, and it’s a miracle I didn’t kill the man.”

“We all would have thanked you if you did,” Guy’s voice chuckled in response.

Candace let out a bitter laugh, agreeing. “Yeah, yeah.”

I took a deep breath and forced myself to focus. This was the part where things would start to unravel for her. If she thought she was about to get in with the Marangas she’d sing like a canary.

“I’d like to offer you a position within the Marangas in exchange for taking out all of the Banachis,” I typed. “But I do have a few questions. Your answers will affect whether or not we do this.”

There was a moment of hesitation from Candace. I could practically hear her mind racing on the other end of the line, trying to figure out the right answers, the ones that would secure her a place by our side.

“What kind of questions?” she asked, and I could hear the nervousness creeping into her voice again.

I didn’t give her time to dwell on it. I quickly typed out the next question. “Who have you been working with? I tried to find out, but nothing came back.”

There was a long, uncomfortable silence. I glanced up at Sig, whose eyes were narrowed in concentration. Leo was watching me intently, waiting for her response. This was it—the moment we’d see if she was stupid enough to reveal everything.

“I’ve been working with a couple of people,” Candace finally replied, her voice shaky. “But no one important. Just… some connections I made over the years.”

I typed fast. “No names?”

Candace hesitated again, and I could feel her weighing her options. She didn’t know that she was being set up, that every word she said was being recorded, documented, and used against her.

“I don’t think I should say over the phone,” she finally muttered. “Not until I know you’re serious about this.”

I smiled to myself, my fingers moving swiftly over the keys. “I am serious, Candace. But if you want to work with me, you’ll have to give me something. You know how this works. I only make my offers once.”

Candace let out a frustrated sigh. “Fine. He’s a politician from Texas, Boone Drake. He’s been helping me out with some of the logistics, and in turn, I’ve been helping him take down some motorcycle club. Iron Fiends or some bullshit like that.”

I raised an eyebrow. Boone Drake? That was new information, but it didn’t matter. Candace had just made the biggest mistake of her life, and she didn’t even realize it. “Anyone else?” I asked through Guy’s voice.

“He’s got a partner he works with, but I’ve never talked to him. I don’t even know his name.”

I glanced at Sig. He gave a curt nod, and I knew right then that he would figure out who her mysterious partner was, no problem. Candace was practically handing us everything on a silver platter, and she didn’t even know it.

“Then I’ve got two new guys working for me,” she continued, her voice steady, cocky even. “They really don’t know jack shit, but that’s good because they do whatever I ask. Johns and Tylers.”

“Small operation,” Guy’s voice responded smoothly with the perfect amount of interest and detachment to keep her talking.

“The less the better in my eyes,” Candace added.

She wasn’t wrong. I’d learned that lesson the hard way just like Leo and Guy had. There was a reason I only had four people I trusted with my life. Too many moving parts made things complicated, and complications got people killed.

“Smart,” I typed, keeping Guy’s tone as indifferent as possible. We couldn’t let her feel any hesitation or doubt.

“So, we have a deal?” Candace’s voice rang through the speaker, eager now like she could almost taste her victory.

The deal she was talking about involved taking down Leo, Apollo, Creed, Murphy, and Princeton, and she thought she’d waltz right into our lives and destroy everything. But we needed her to think that, to keep talking.

I typed quickly, “Take out all of the Banachis, and yes, we have a deal. My operation is small, too, but I have a spot I need filled.”

Candace didn’t miss a beat. “Girlfriends and family, too?”

I froze for a split second, my fingers hovering over the keyboard. I glanced up at Leo. His jaw was tight, rage simmering just below the surface. It was taking everything in him to sit still, to listen to Candace plot the murder of everyone he loved, without reacting. But we had to play the long game. I couldn’t let my own emotions interfere, even though I wanted nothing more than to put an end to this now.

I typed, my fingers moving swiftly. “All of them.”

“Done,” she replied, almost too eagerly.

My heart raced. I could feel the tension in the room spike, thickening the air with the weight of what we were doing. The whole thing felt like a sick game, like we were manipulating pieces on a chessboard, and I just wanted to knock the whole damn thing over. But we were too close to getting what we needed.

I typed the final response, the words echoing in my head as I hit send. “That’s all I needed to hear. We’ll be in touch when it’s done.”

Sig ended the call with a quiet click.

The silence that followed was suffocating. I sat back in Leo’s chair, trying to calm the adrenaline still pumping through my veins. My hands were shaking, but I didn’t let it show. I couldn’t. We had to stay calm and focused, no matter how badly we wanted to scream, to act.

Leo stood slowly from the couch; his fists clenched at his sides. “She just signed her own death warrant,” he said, his voice low and filled with barely contained fury.

I nodded, feeling the weight of what had just happened settle deep in my chest. “She doesn’t even know it yet.”

Apollo stood up, cracking his knuckles. “I can’t fucking wait until she steps foot on Wyndemere. She’s not going to know what hits her.”

“We need to get ready. She’s going to hit sooner rather than later,” Sig said, his voice steady but edged with the urgency we all felt.

Leo tipped his head to the side, thinking. “We also need to figure out who Boone and his partner are. I’m pretty surprised she said he was a politician.”

I nodded, remembering the way Candace had casually dropped that little bombshell. It didn’t sit right. “She said he was helping with an MC,” I added, my fingers tapping lightly against the desk.

“I’ll talk to King and see if he knows anything about the Iron Fiends,” Leo said, determination creeping into his voice.

Apollo nodded. “I’ll let everyone else know what’s happening. We need to stay sharp.”

“I’ll come with you,” Sig added, his usual calm but focused demeanor in place.

Sig and Apollo left the office, quietly closing the door behind them. The second they were gone, Leo moved toward me, coming around the desk and gathering me in his arms. I let out a soft laugh, resting my hands on his chest. “I’m pretty sure I’m the one who should be hugging you,” I teased, still feeling the adrenaline buzz from the phone call. “I just made a deal with a woman to kill you, remember?”

Leo chuckled, a low rumble deep in his chest. “I’m not hugging you because of that,” he said, his voice full of warmth and amusement. “I’m hugging you because that was fucking amazing, watching you in action. You never hesitated. You did exactly what you needed. You had her eating out of your hand.”

I tilted my head, smiling. “Guy Maranga did,” I corrected. It was his voice, his reputation, that had lured her in.

Leo pulled back slightly, his eyes locking onto mine. “That’s what she thinks,” he said, his voice turning serious, “but I know it was you, baby. You’re ruling a fucking empire like it’s nothing.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it, the truth of it. “Kind of like you?” I asked, knowing Leo Banachi wasn’t exactly running a small operation either.

Leo shook his head, a slow smile creeping across his lips. “You’ve got a lot more power than me, baby.”

I studied his face, searching for any hint of resentment or doubt. There was none. Still, I had to ask. “And you’re okay with that?”

It had crossed my mind before that our dynamic might change as my power grew. While Leo held control in North America, I had inherited something much larger, with influence that stretched across the globe. It wasn’t something we’d talked about in detail, but it had been lingering in the back of my mind, a potential problem we’d have to face sooner or later.

“As long as you don’t turn on me, I’m good,” he said with a grin, though I could tell he was being serious.

His answer eased something inside me. I hadn’t realized how much I needed to hear that reassurance, how worried I’d been that my power could drive a wedge between us. If Leo’s ego had been in charge, I knew it could have easily gone a different direction. But it wasn’t. He was secure in himself, in us.

I sighed heavily, leaning into him, thankful that we were on the final step to take out Candace. This was it—this was the beginning of the end.

“So,” I said, breaking the silence, “now we wait.”

Leo nodded, his fingers brushing along my back. “We wait.”

Candace didn’t stand a chance.