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.

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