Sold to the Capo-Chapter 109: A TRAITOR’S PLAN

ADRIANA’S POV

As I stepped out of the taxi, I pulled the hoodie off my face, a small smile on my face.

Who knew?

"I don’t think we should be out here right now, we should make our way to the mansion right away" Hale said beside me, his face set in concentration.

With a sigh, I pulled out my phone, hurriedly tapping something on it, my sole focus on messaging someone. "I think the person has been able to hold up for a while. Do you think Micheal gave out our position?" I asked, my voice low as I let him lead me away from the crowded place.

"I don’t think so, he’s not that type of man and no, I don’t know what type of man he is before you ask me" He huffed.

Just great. Exactly what I needed. A grumpy guard following me about.

"It’s funny how much he knows about the family, has he been working with them for long? There’s no way he could have gotten that type of information without being close to them" I said thoughtfully as he led me into a dark building.

I should probably be scared as I was in foreign territory but I wasn’t. The reassuring weight of my gun in my pocket kept me grounded as I let Hale lead me into what seemed like a casino.

This wasn’t one of Vincenzo’s Casinos, it was apparently for a friend of Michael’s who owed him a favour and this was where I would be staying for a few hours. If my plan went accordingly.

But right now, all I could focus on was that I was back. That’s right, Italy. I’m back.

It had taken me over an hour of cajoling Michael before I could know that Vincenzo had been attacked and while that had scared the shit out of me as I couldn’t fathom any of them dying in the fight, I also knew I had to do something.

Micheal had told me a few hours before the attack that if the Bratva wanted to bring down an empire, sometimes they didn’t need to use brute force, he noted that Vincenzo would definitely have something that could serve as a weapon.

There was no way someone as calculated as Vincenzo would be untouchable hence I had to contact someone here to help me. Vincenzo was private about his life but he had certainly let me in for a while, he had never said anything about something that would implicate him but after careful consideration and from Micheal whom I had begged to help, he revealed that he was sure that the family was keeping a file of some sorts in the family house but he never told me how he knew that, he simply said that it was well guarded and would probably have an intricate system.

If there was anything that the Bratva would want from the family then it had to be that. I couldn’t ask Vincenzo for help, I couldn’t ask Valentina, she was likely to tell Vincenzo, I needed someone who could actually help so I sent a message with instructions and pleaded with Micheal not to tell anyone I was gone and he just said that I should take a guard and go straight to the casino.

"I’ll take the next room" Hale said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Okay, there’s no need to be alarmed when they come, okay? I’ll handle that. Tell the owner that he should let the person in at 10. I expect that they should have held out till then" I instructed.

"Okay, I’ll do that. You do realize that you could be wrong and you could have ended up putting your life on the line right? No one steals from the Don without consequences not even spouses" He warned me for the umpteenth time like he had not spent the entire flight trying to drill that into my head.

"I understand the implications" I huffed, still standing at the door to the room that he had led me to.

He looked at the phone that I was gripping and he sighed. "Let’s hope for both our sakes that you’re right about this. You either live or die after a choice like that" He muttered, clearly showing no signs of leaving yet.

The phone wasn’t mine, I had asked for a change of phones before I got here, the last thing I wanted was someone tracking me and my only hope was that my absence wasn’t known until later on. As it was, only 3 people knew I was no longer in Costa Rica.

Micheal, Hale and my informant.

"Do you trust this person of yours?" Hale suddenly asked when I didn’t answer his previous question.

I thought about it for a while. "Not really, I mean it’s not like I have a choice. I kinda do because so far, I’m still alive and no one has come here pointing a gun to us so our location is safe in their hands" I pointed out.

"Can I come in? This hallway reeks of smoke. Let’s go over this whole thing one more time, I know we did this in the plane but I’d like to go over it again so that at the end of this, I’m not losing my head" Hale huffed, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

I stepped aside, letting him in before I closed the door. "Okay, one more time"

With a sigh, he leaned back against the wall and crossed his legs, his eyes watching me carefully.

The faint hum of the casino below us was nothing more than background noise now. The dim light of the small room flickered occasionally, casting long shadows across the cracked walls. I sat at the rickety wooden table.

Finally, he pushed off the wall with a sigh, dragging a chair across from me, the legs scraping against the worn-out floor. "Alright, Adriana. We need to go over this again. I don’t like walking into a plan blind. That’s what going into something with saying it over does, you end up failing"

I nodded, tapping my fingers against the edge of the table. "Fair. Here’s how it’s going to go. Again"

"This ledger is the key. It’s not just about money that will be lost—there are names here, politicians, law enforcement, rival families. If the Bratva gets their hands on it, they won’t just hit Vincenzo’s empire; they’ll dismantle it piece by piece without firing a single bullet. Knowing Vincenzo, he has info on other families, probably because he wanted to use it against them when it was absolutely necessary so if it’s gone and gets into the wrong hands by a family in another country, Italy empires will crumble."

Hale leaned forward, his brow furrowed. "So, what’s the play? We hand it over to someone? Use it as blackmail? Not sure you said that part in the plane"

I shook my head. "No. We’re not giving it to anyone once i get it. If I get it. That’s too risky. The plan is to make them think we’ll hand it over."

His eyes narrowed slightly. "A bluff?"

"A calculated one," I replied. "We leak just enough information to draw them out. Make them believe we’re desperate, maybe even planning to sell it to the highest bidder. That’ll put them on edge. They’ll make mistakes."

"And when they come for us?"

"That’s where you come in." I pointed to a map I’d laid out beside my phone—routes, safe houses, fallback points marked in red. "We control the meeting point. Set traps along the exits. You’ll handle the perimeter with the team. I’ll do the handoff."

Hale frowned. "You? That’s too dangerous."

I met his gaze, unflinching. "It has to be me. They expect someone close to Vincenzo to be desperate enough to betray him. It adds credibility. I could tell them I want out so I got it for them, they’d probably believe since I’m close to him"

He didn’t argue, but his jaw tightened. "You do know they’re not stupid. The Bratva won’t fall for that cliche line. And what if they call your bluff? What if they try to take it by force?"

"That’s why we’re not just bluffing." I slid a small flash drive across the table. "I’ve made copies. Encrypted, hidden in places they can’t reach. Even if they kill me, the information doesn’t die with me. That’s the insurance policy."

Hale picked up the drive, turning it between his fingers. "And Vincenzo? Do you think he’d be happy to know that you’re about to use yourself as bait?"

I hesitated, my fingers tightening around the edges of the table. "No. He can’t. If he knew, he’d try to stop me. Same with Micheal"

Maybe I wasn’t being completely honest, I had no plans of using myself as bait, I wasn’t important to them anymore probably, I would probably just give the ledger to Vincenzo instead. At least I’d have gotten it before anyone could have.

There was also the possibility that I was wrong. It may not be the ledger that they may be after. Either ways, I needed to see Vincenzo. Soon.

I looked him dead in the eye. "I’m not doing this to betray him. I’m doing this to protect him. Sometimes the only way to save a kingdom is to play the villain."

Hale sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Alright. But if this goes sideways, don’t expect me to let you play the martyr. Don Rizzo would kill me"

If Vincenzo didn’t first. Speaking of which, I hadn’t heard from Salvatore, he could be dead for all I knew and I wondered if Vincenzo actually hurt him.

I allowed myself a small, tight smile. "Wouldn’t dream of it."

Sometimes to save the people you love, you have to become the thing they fear the most.

A traitor.

If I couldn’t get to Vincenzo, I would have to betray him and gods, that was something that made my heart clench.

There was a sharp knock on the door and Hale and I turned sharply to look at it.

"Must be my helper" I said, already getting up but Hale raised a hand to stop me.

"Stay there" He muttered, grabbing his gun as he went to the door and opened it after looking through the peephole.

I smiled as the person at the door became visible, clutching a bag to themselves.

"Hello, Grace"