Claimed By The Mafia Don (Ariella and Asher) novel Chapter 334

ASHER

Fabio’s chest rose and fell faster now. The room had gone completely still, so still that even the faint hum of the ventilation system seemed loud.

His eyes moved once toward the table. Toward the tools. Then back to me.

“I....I didn’t know,” he said quickly. “Don, I swear, I didn’t know.”

I didn’t respond. Silence is heavier than shouting. Silence makes men fill the space with truth.

Fabio shifted in the chair, the ropes tightening around his wrists.

“I thought it was cleared,” he continued. “The car had the right markings. The driver had documents. Everything looked normal.”

I tilted my head slightly.

“Looked normal,” I repeated calmly.

“Yes.”

“Then why are you sweating?”

His lips parted. No answer came.

I stepped closer. Not fast. Not threatening. Slow.

Controlled. The kind of movement that makes a man imagine what comes next.

“You’re not sweating because of the mistake,” I said quietly. “You’re sweating because there’s more.”

His breathing hitched.

“I... Don—”

I picked up a small blade from the table. Not large or dramatic. Precise.

I turned it slowly between my fingers.

“You’ve served this famiglia for fourteen years,” I continued. “You’ve never made a mistake like this.”

Silence.

“Which means this wasn’t a mistake.”

“No!” he said quickly. “No, Don, I swear.....”

The blade stopped turning. “So it was intentional.”

“No...!” he shouted.

“Then explain it.”

His eyes squeezed shut for half a second. And that was the moment. The moment before truth breaks through fear.

“There was a call,” he said finally.

The room sharpened immediately. Luca shifted slightly behind me but I didn’t make a move.

“From who?”

Fabio hesitated.

I placed the blade gently on the table. The soft metallic sound echoed like a warning in the air.

“I don’t know his name,” Fabio said quickly. “He said he was calling from inside. He knew the shift rotation. He knew the codes....”

That mattered.

That mattered a lot.

“Keep talking,” I said.

“He said the limo was part of a last-minute change. He said the clearance had already been approved but wasn’t updated in the system yet.”

My jaw tightened with the information.

There was a mole. A rat inside the famiglia.

“Why didn’t you confirm it?” Luca asked sharply.

Fabio shook his head.

“He knew things only insiders know. And....”

He stopped.

“And what?” I asked quietly.

His eyes flickered toward me.

Fear deepened.

“Say it.”

“He said…” Fabio swallowed hard. “…he said it came from the consigliere,”

The room went cold.

I gave a small nod. Luca gestured for one of the soldiers to escort him out.

The door closed behind him and Silence returned. Luca turned to me after a moment of silence.

"Just checking... You know it wasn't me right?"

"You wouldn't be that stupid or sloppy," I responded without having to think about it.

“You think it’s internal?” he asked after a few beats.

“I know it is,” I said my voice firm.

My mind was already moving ahead. Connecting pieces and information from the attacks against us 5o it's escalation to this new information.

Luca leaned against the table.

“Tonight’s meeting.....?”

“It’s still happening.”

“That’s risky.”

“Yes.” I adjusted my cuff again. “That’s exactly why we’re going.”

Because now, it wasn’t just business anymore. Now it was war And whoever had started this… Had no idea what they had just awakened.

****

We were on our way to the meeting place with Alex Volkov, and you could feel it from the tension in the car, the way everyone was on high alert and tense.

“Thirty minutes,” the driver said, quietly.

I gave a small nod. Across from me, Lucas laid a tablet toward me, the screen already glowing with surveillance images.

“Movement started earlier than expected,” he said. “Two extra vehicles arrived at the warehouse.”

I glanced down and saw the three black SUVs without license plates. I couldn't see him yet. But I knew that Alex Volkov was inside one of those vehicles.

“Armed?” I asked.

“Yes.”

There were five guards outside, surrounding the cars and looking for possible threats. Of course, they were armed. They would be stupid not to be armed. We were armed too.

I studied the layout again, the entrance, the blind spots, the exits, because every detail mattered. One mistake in a place like this and you won’t get room for correction. It leaves bodies.

“Change of plan,” I said calmly.