Exposed to the CEO Behind the Mafia Mask

Chapter 171: Chapter 171 Intel Breakthrough

Caleb’s POV

”Time to start talking, Neil. Where the hell is Rossi hiding?” I demanded, my patience wearing thin after hours of this deadly game of cat and mouse in the basement interrogation room.

Neil leaned back in the metal chair, blood trickling from his split lip, still wearing that infuriating smirk I wanted to carve off his face permanently. ”I’m not an idiot, Caleb. I want everything documented and guaranteed first. Full protection, no execution, and my offshore accounts stay untouched.”

The audacity of this backstabbing piece of trash made my blood boil hotter than molten steel. ”Neil, let me make something crystal clear before I decide whether to put a bullet in your skull or just break every bone in your body. First, you’re in no position to make demands when you’re chained to a chair in my family’s private dungeon. Second, what assets? Everything you think belongs to you was stolen from my operations. And third, you don’t negotiate terms with me. You talk, and I decide whether you live to see another sunrise.”

”Then figure it out yourselves,” Neil said, crossing his arms with that same insufferable smile that made me want to reach for my switchblade.

Xavier’s voice cut through the tension like a razor blade. ”Fine. Enjoy your permanent vacation six feet underground. That’s assuming we bury you instead of feeding you to the harbor fish. In case you missed it during your betrayal spree, we’re talking embezzlement, conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping, and treason against the family. You’re going down for all of it, plus obstruction of family justice. And I’m going to personally enjoy watching them nail your coffin shut.”

He grabbed Neil’s arm and started dragging him toward the soundproof execution chamber.

”Wait! I never killed anyone or kidnapped anyone!” Neil shouted, panic finally cracking his arrogant facade as he realized we weren’t bluffing about the execution.

”But you knew about it and you’re helping him escape from family justice,” Xavier shot back without slowing his stride toward the door where our enforcer waited with his tools.

”I’ll talk! But I want protection from rival families,” Neil bargained desperately, sweat now pouring down his face.

”You’ll get what mercy the family code allows if you give us everything. Complete confession, Neil. No half-truths, no games, or you’ll wish I’d just put a clean bullet in your head,” I warned, my hand resting on the grip of my Glock.

Neil’s shoulders sagged in defeat as the reality of his situation finally sank in. ”Alright. Rossi bought Jacob Costa’s estate recently when the deal went through. You probably know the place. Costa went bankrupt after losing his construction contracts and sold it to Rossi for practically nothing.”

From the corner where he’d been brooding since this interrogation started, Dominic suddenly straightened like a hunting dog catching a scent. ”I know exactly where that is. Yara and I were there recently doing reconnaissance on their legitimate business fronts. I had no idea it had been sold to that bastard.”

The moment Dominic finished speaking, Gemma appeared in the doorway like a shadow. Their eyes met across the blood-stained room, and I watched her expression harden to ice before she handed me a surveillance report and walked out without a word, her heels clicking like gunshots on the concrete floor.

”Damn it,” Dominic muttered, jumping up to follow her like a lovesick fool.

Xavier’s firm voice stopped him cold. ”You already screwed up everything with your secrets and lies. This isn’t the time for damage control with your woman. We need everything you know about the Costa compound right now, before Rossi realizes we’re closing in.”

”Xavier, I need to explain to her—”

”You think she’s going to listen to explanations when she’s this pissed?” I interrupted, my own frustration bleeding through. ”Or that you’ll have any chance at all if she finds out you’ve been holding back intelligence that could save Ivy’s life? Right now, all our women care about is getting Ivy back safely and watching Rossi bleed out slowly. So focus on that first, and then we’ll help you grovel for forgiveness.”

Dominic ran his hands through his hair in frustration, the weight of his mistakes clearly eating at him. ”Fine. You’re right. What I know is this: Jacob was a high-level contractor for several family construction projects before his company went under. He lost everything when the feds started sniffing around our building permits and never got his final payments. Now he’s liquidating assets to keep his wife and daughters in their expensive lifestyle. But I didn’t know about the estate sale. It’s a massive compound with serious defensive potential.”

Jude leaned forward intently, his scarred hands already reaching for paper. ”I need you to write down everything you remember about that place. Layout, security systems, entry points, guard positions, weapon storage. If you can sketch a map of the grounds, even better for our assault planning.”

”Absolutely,” Dominic agreed, moving to the table where Jude had already set up intelligence materials and tactical maps.

Xavier stood up, clearly ready to coordinate the hit. ”Unless our chained-up traitor here has more valuable information to trade for his miserable life, I need to gather our strike team.”

Neil raised his hand quickly like a student desperate to avoid punishment. ”One more thing about Rossi. He’s got multiple forged identities. I connected him with the document specialist.”

”Names on those papers?” Xavier demanded with lethal impatience.

”I don’t know the aliases, just who created them,” Neil said quickly, sweat still streaming down his face. ”The guy operates under ’Baker Cool Head.’ He runs his forgery operation out of apartment 1503 in the Orion Complex downtown. He’s always there, but he’s craftier than he appears.”

Jude looked skeptical as he cleaned his knife. ”Baker Cool Head? Seriously?”

”He responds to everything with ’stay cool,’” Neil explained nervously. ”Weird little bastard. Average height, thick glasses, curly blonde hair to his shoulders. Relatively young, always high on something. I have no idea how he produces such quality documents for our network.”

”I’ll send a cleanup crew there immediately,” Xavier said, then turned to his lieutenant. ”Can you put out alerts to all airports, harbors, bus terminals, and border checkpoints?”

”Already handled. We’re going to corner this rat and make him pay,” Jude replied with quiet efficiency that promised violence.

”Perfect. Time to get our well-dressed traitor to record his full confession. If he remembers anything else useful, I’ll contact you immediately,” Xavier said, snapping heavy shackles on Neil before dragging him toward our private confession booth.

Jude immediately gathered his tactical team and began coordinating the estate raid. When Dominic finished his detailed notes and sketches, he handed everything over to Jude, who already had our best soldiers standing by. Our military specialist would join the operation along with Daniel and his specialized assault unit.

”Caleb, this is where we part ways for now. The moment I have updates on the raid, you’ll know,” Jude said, gripping my hand firmly before leaving with his team to hunt down Rossi.

As soon as the room emptied of our enforcement team, I collapsed onto the leather sofa, completely drained from the interrogation. Felix Hayes said goodbye to Scott but promised to return if needed for the final phase. Only Xavier, Finn, Jude, Dominic, and I remained in the war room.

”I’m thinking about recruiting Nora, Zoe, Lila, and Ruby as permanent family associates,” I said, deliberately needling Dominic. ”Those women are a lethal force when they work together. Absolutely impressive in a firefight.”

Dominic looked up from his tactical brooding. ”Are you seriously trying to poach my best surveillance operatives, Thorne?”

”Don’t worry, I’ll send Jude over to even things out in your crew,” Xavier joked with dark humor.

”Hey, that hurts, boss,” Jude protested with mock offense, checking his weapon systems.

”You’re hired too, Finn,” I said, giving him a firm punch on the arm in brotherhood.

”Thanks, but I’ll pass. Working under Zoe’s command is my personal nightmare. When she goes into tactical mode, she’s more terrifying than a rival family’s torture specialist,” Finn said with an exaggerated shudder that made us all laugh despite the blood and violence surrounding us.

”Time to check on our wonderful, unstoppable, and absolutely terrifying women,” Xavier said, standing up and adjusting his shoulder holster. We all followed him out, ready to face whatever fresh hell awaited us in this war.