42. Theo

As I sit in the corner of the café, ball cap slung low over my forehead, the low, rhythmic hum of conversation provides a comforting backdrop as I carefully execute my plan. Determination etched into my features, I pull up my phone, beginning to type a carefully worded message, each keystroke a calculated move in the intricate game I'm starting.

Shooting off a quick text to Liam Gallagher, I manufacture a fake emergency that requires Declan's immediate attention, all designed to lure him away from his office.

With a satisfied nod, I stand up and pocket the phone, mind already racing ahead to the task at hand as I slip seamlessly between patrons and make my way into the alley behind Steeler Tower.

A surge of adrenaline courses through me as I approach the back entrance to the building, anticipation mingling with nerves as I grab a box from a delivery truck and slip inside, keeping my head down as I pretend to be a delivery person and head for the top floor.

Declan doesn't even notice me as he hurries past, fingers flying on his phone screen as he attempts to put out the fire I started with my text to Liam. I smirk to myself and drop the box off at the reception desk, keeping a close eye on the elevators. They shut with a ding, and I check my watch.

Perfect timing. Declan's secretary leaves for her lunch break, leaving me entirely alone in his office. It's just a matter of picking the lock on his door before I slip inside, zeroing in on his file cabinets.

Surely, he's got to have something here that will give us some kind of leverage on him. He's smart, but he's also arrogant enough to think he's untouchable. As I sift through the contents of the file, my heart quickens with each damning piece of evidence I uncover.

First, there are the financial records—meticulously detailed accounts of transactions that trace back days before our father's death. Payments made, debts settled, all with Declan"s signature boldly stamped at the bottom. It"s clear as day. He orchestrated our father's demise, manipulating the strings of power with cold, calculated precision.

But the revelations don"t stop there. Buried within the depths of the file is a stack of documents that sends a chill down my spine. Clear as day are the plans to work with Francesca DeLucci, to double-cross her after getting rid of Giovanni and seizing control of their empire, leaving her powerless in the wake of Declan"s ambition. It"s a brazen scheme, one that reeks of treachery and deceit.

As I read through the incriminating evidence, a sense of disbelief washes over me, mingling with a simmering rage that threatens to consume me whole. Declan"s betrayal runs deeper than I could have ever imagined, his thirst for power driving him to unspeakable acts of cruelty and malice.

With each passing moment, the weight of the truth bears down upon me, driving home the gravity of what I have uncovered. Declan is not just a criminal. He"s a master manipulator, a puppeteer pulling the strings of fate with callous disregard for the lives he destroys in his wake.

And as I clutch the damning evidence in my hands, a fire ignites within me, burning with a fierce determination to bring Declan to heel, to stop him before it"s too late.

Stuffing the documents in my bag, I pull the cap brim back down low and rearrange everything to the order it was before I came in. I then take off, sneaking out and back down to the side entrance once more.

"Ryder? It's Theo. Meet me at the warehouse by the docks." I hang up and jump into the black sedan, taking off for the meetup location.

Once my brothers arrive, I pull out the files and show them. "We finally have the leverage we need," Ryder says, eyes narrowed. "He's not getting away with shit anymore."

"His sins have finally caught up to him," Oliver agrees.

"We need to bring this to Giovanni," I say. "We can stop this war before it starts if we act now."

The three of us load into my car and head for DeLucci territory, ready to end this before it gets out of hand. If we can stop the DeLuccis from making their deal with Declan, it could not only save Eva from being at his mercy, but it could save the Callahans from losing everything to our enemies.

We head for Havencrest Park, smack in the middle of their turf. Giovanni is sitting at a chess table when we approach, his men flanked behind him at attention.

"DeLucci!" I call out. "We need to talk!"

Giovanni pauses mid-game with the man he's playing with and looks up at me, a mix of surprise and annoyance on his face.

"What do you want, Everhart?" he asks. His men step forward to confront us, but he holds a hand up, stopping them.

"Your wife is a harlot," I sneer. Ryder and Oliver stand on either side of me, flanking me as I speak. "She's been going behind your back for years, DeLucci. How does it feel to know that the woman you married is a two-timing whore?"

Giovanni's beady black eyes widen, his wrinkled face contorting in anger. "How dare you accuse my wife, you potato-blood scum!"

"We have proof," I tell him, smirking. "She's been working behind your back to take you down. But it turns out that we share a problem. You see, the person she's been working with is Declan O'Malley. So it seems we were both played by him, played like puppets on his strings."

"You"d better fucking show me the proof, you arrogant motherfuckers," Giovanni spits out, "or I'm three seconds away from letting my men blast you so full of lead you'll have to be buried as radioactive waste!"

"Here," I say, shoving the file of letters at him. "Your wife was messing around with him behind your back for years. I'd wager she was on and off with him your entire marriage."

Giovanni scans the letters, looking more and more irate as he shuffles through the pages. His face is mottled purple by the time he's done.

"What do you want?" he demands, looking back up at me. "What do you want for this?"

"I want to make a new deal with you," I say, shrugging. "Whatever deal you had with Declan, I want to cut a new one."

"Why should I do that?" Giovanni asks, standing up slowly as he leans on his cane. "I have all the cards now. I might as well take all you fuckin' Callahans out now that I know what's really going on. Do you think I'd let one of you double-cross me and get away with it?"

Fuck. This isn't going like I'd hoped. I had anticipated Giovanni being reluctant to take the deal, but I never thought he'd be so angry that he'd want to wipe us all from the map.

I glance back at Ryder and Oliver, whose expressions of fear mirror my own.

"We can get you a better deal," Ryder offers, stepping forward. "Whatever Declan has given you, we can give you something better."

"Hah!" Giovanni laughs loudly. "You think you can come in here, tell me that I'm being tricked by a traitor, and just believe that you won't do the same to me? I'm not as stupid as I look, little vaffunculos," he taunts. "Why should I not just gun you three down on the spot and then march in and take care of O'Malley just the same?"

"Because we're not stupid enough to come without being prepared," I tell him. "I've got a man on you right now. If your men shoot at us, we're prepared to take you out immediately in retaliation."

"The time for reckoning is at hand," Giovanni states, signaling to his men to lower their weapons. "I'd suggest you leave now. But don't think this is the last of it," he warns. "You might live today, but we're coming for you. We're going to find you and we're going to kill every last one of you sons of bitches."

"C'mon," I say to Ryder and Oliver as I turn, stalking away. "If war is what these bastards want, war is what they're getting."

The three of us take off, retreating from the tense confrontation with Giovanni DeLucci. The weight of his ominous threat hangs heavily in the air, casting a shadow over our resolve.

But silent determination courses through my veins, fueled by a fiery desire to put an end to the bloodshed, to break free from the suffocating grip of the turf wars that threaten to consume us all.

With each step I take, the echoes of Giovanni"s menacing words reverberate in my mind, driving home the urgency of our mission. The three of us cannot allow his threats to go unanswered, and we cannot afford to falter in the face of such formidable opposition.

Glancing at my brothers, a sense of urgency grips at me with icy fingers. Beneath the surface of their steely resolve, I see a flicker of concern. The threat of retaliation is looming, and the DeLuccis don't issue such challenges lightly.

Fearing they may strike back soon, I decide that we need to head back into our own territory post-haste. As we brace ourselves for the storm that threatens to engulf us, I can't help but wonder… will we be ready when it comes crashing down, or will this be the moment that marks the beginning of the end for our legacy, for the Callahans and the Everhart brothers?