"Don Enrico’s gift proved to be fruitful." He weighed in on his opinion after carefully reviewing the papers that the other Mafia Don had handed to them on a silver platter.

He had already uncovered the identity of the man who had betrayed their company. It was one of their top executives.

Honestly, the man didn’t appear like a spy. He looked more like the man that you would like to hang around for a bottle of beer, a weekend poker, or a game of football.

"Mr. Castle had been in the company for almost two decades. According to his file, he was a family man. Married to the same woman for twenty years and had two teenage daughters." He read the rundown of the man’s profile.

The man seemed to look like a traditional family man. So, what was he doing mixing himself with the likes of Don Enrico?

According to their preliminary investigation, Mr. Castle had no gambling debts, no mistresses, and no illegal habits. His family lived in a modest house, drove a regular car, and maintained a comfortable, but not lavish lifestyle.

"No red flags." He continued as he skimmed through the remaining documents. "Actually, he was a model employee. Just got promoted a few months ago for his outstanding performance and loyalty to the company."

No wonder he got his hands on their latest designs. He had recently been given clearance to their most confidential files.

"But what about this?" He asked, waving the papers that contained information about their Cartel. "Oliver, it means he is working with one of our men."

According to the records, that man had no connection with the Mafia business. Therefore, someone must have been feeding him that information.

"Who?"

Unfortunately, despite their efforts to revive him, the traitor was too far gone. He died because of his serious injuries before he could tell them anything useful.

"Exactly, Aaron, who is working against us? How did he get a hold of that?" Oliver calmly put his fist on the table, still looking in control, but he knew his cousin was already fuming inside.

Surprisingly, the man was as clean as a whistle on paper. Therefore, why did he steal confidential information and try to sell it? What else did he take? Where else did he give it to? Who else was working with him?

"Don’t worry, our men are already digging into everything about this guy. His family’s background. His friends. Who had he been talking to and sleeping with?" Meaning, every dirt they could find in this bastard.

So far, his account had already directed them to several good leads. "Soon, we will have everyone associated with him in a compiled list." He confidently informed their big boss.

"Let me know once you have it," Oliver told him, waving his hand as if dismissing him. But instead of leaving, he straightened in his seat and stared at his cousin.

"About the other day at the hospital." He mentioned the elephant in the room that had been sitting quietly between them.

For as long as he could remember, he and Oliver had never been close, but neither were they enemies.

They grew up almost moving in the same circle, worked together on many projects, but they had also competed in almost everything, trying to prove that one was better than the other.

Unlike Oliver, he had worked hard to prove himself because he wanted the throne. But succession was never in his favor. He was just the alternative. The second choice.

"I didn’t mean to cross any line. I hope I didn’t cause any trouble between you and Sophia." He tried to explain.

Normally, he would not care about any of that drama. If that had been some other random woman, he would have walked away with a smirk and a proud laugh. But it was Sophia.

Honestly, he didn’t want her to get hurt.

Years ago, he remembered meeting her. Sophia was not only beautiful, but she was also full of life. Her presence was so vibrant that she brought color and radiance to anything she touched.

At that time, he recalled how his eyes had followed her everywhere, unable to look away. He was quite captivated. At the end of the evening, he even offered to take her out.

Without blinking or second thought, she turned him down. Clearly unimpressed with his charm. It was a big blow to his ego. But instead of losing interest, it only intensified his fascination with her. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

However, he had to return to Europe, where he was originally based. Eventually, he had lost contact with her. Until he saw her again. But this time, as the wife of the Mafia Don.

"Aaron, can you tell me honestly that you have no interest in my wife?" Oliver dropped everything he was doing as he fixed his sharp eyes on him.

For a brief moment, he thought about it. Was he still interested in her? Sadly, the answer was yes. In fact, he liked her even more. The more he got to know her, the more he wanted her.

"I’m sorry, but I can’t." He was not about to lie to his cousin. "Sophia is a wonderful person. Who wouldn’t want to be around her?"

"But she is your wife. I know not to cross that line." He admitted as much. He was not about to declare war on his family over a woman. "Unless you break her heart."

In truth, he had never envied his cousin more than when he learned that he had married the woman whom he liked. But it seemed that was his fate.

"That will never happen," Oliver said, with a resolve that he had only seen once before. It was the day that he packed up and left the Morton family to follow his path.

"Keep your distance from my wife, if you know what’s good for you." Oliver had never threatened him before.

For Sophia, it seemed Oliver would do anything.

After his meeting with Oliver, he immediately sought out Sophia. A few minutes of asking around, he finally found her in the break room, making coffee.

"Aaron, do you like one?" Sophia immediately asked once she saw him standing by the door.

Without saying a word, he nodded and sat on the empty chair by the counter. "Do you need any help?" He asked after a while, as they waited for the coffee.

"No, I got it," Sophia answered as she effortlessly operated the espresso machine. Then, she picked one cup and slid it carefully toward him. "One cafe americano."

A little while later, she also had her cappuccino in her hand. Then, she settled on a chair opposite him.

"I was asking if you need any help with finding your son." He knew it was none of his business, but after finding the report on the floor, he could not help but be curious.

Immediately, he had his investigator look into it. The initial report told him that Sophia had given birth to a son six years ago. But he also died due to heart disease.

However, the DNA report that he saw the other day clearly stated that the son she buried was not related to her.

"So, you saw that." She looked at him with resignation. "I hope you can keep that a secret between us for now."

"Are you saying that Oliver doesn’t know about it?" He was surprised. He never thought that Sophia would hide something as important as this from her husband.

"No, not yet. And I don’t want him to find out just yet." She suddenly looked uneasy as she pleaded with him to keep that information between them.

"Okay. I can keep my mouth shut for now. But you know you’ll eventually have to tell him." He suggested, knowing that Oliver might not like it if he learned that he was kept in the dark about this.

"Of course." She promised. Eventually, she would tell her husband all about it.

But he felt uneasy as he saw something in her eyes. Was it fear?

"My offer still stands. If you don’t want your husband’s help, you can use my resources instead." He couldn’t imagine what she was going through.

It must have been hard to learn that the son she thought had died six years ago was still out there.

Alive.

Somewhere.

But finding him in this city or even the world would be like searching for a needle in a haystack. It would be nearly impossible if she didn’t have enough resources.

"Please, let me help you." He put his hand on top of hers, offering her some form of support.

When she said nothing but nodded anyway, he felt glad. He guessed he just didn’t like seeing her sad or crying.

"Do you mind telling me what happened?" He was interested, not just curious. He held his warm coffee in his hand, wondering if she would trust her enough to share her story.

It must be one hell of a story.

But—

Timing was not on their side.

"Sophia..." The voice suddenly halted as footsteps stopped by the door. "What’s going on in here?"