Page 55 of Forged

A dark sedan sits idling two rows over.

I tell myself it’s nothing. People wait in cars all the time. They’re probably waiting on someone or finishing a phone call.

Still, I note the plates. Out-of-state.

I close the trunk, return my cart, and slide into my car, locking the doors the second I’m inside. As I pull out of the parking lot, I check my mirrors.

The sedan is two cars behind me.

I make a right turn instead of the left that would have taken me straight to our building. The car follows.

My pulse spikes.

I take a series of turns through side streets, nothing erratic, but enough times to test my theory. The car stays with me, never too close, but never falling back far enough to lose sight.

I turn onto a busier road, hoping the traffic will allow me to lose them. It doesn’t. I speed up and they match it. I take a sudden exit into a residential neighborhood. The sedan follows without hesitation.

My grip tightens on the steering wheel. My thoughts sharpen, edges smoothing into focus. This isn’t a random creep.

I tap my screen and tell Siri to text Lars.

I think I’m being followed.

I don’t wait for a reply. Instead, I make my next move.

I punch the accelerator, taking a hard turn onto a narrow street lined with parked cars. I make two turns and drive toward the east side.

For a second, the sedan disappears.

Relief flares, but it dies just as fast when the car reappears in my rearview mirror, closer now. And this time, there’s a black SUV behind them.

Cash standsat the head of the table, arms crossed, jaw set. Hale’s already pacing, boots heavy against the floor as he scrolls through photos on a tablet.

“Falco’s moving,” Cash says.

Hale flicks the screen toward me, and I see the satellite shots and surveillance stills. A warehouse district just south of the city.

“He’s taken three warehouses in the last forty-eight hours,” Hale says. “Clean acquisitions. No bodies—yet.”

I lean over the table, palms flat against the surface, eyes scanning the map.

“Yet,” I repeat. “Enzo said Falco’s men took a safe house in Chicago last night. There were two of our associates and their families there. We’re sure they’re in Falco’s hands now.”

“He’s consolidating his forces, and I bet Maravilla is helping him,” Cash adds. “Men are coming in from the Valley. He’s keeping his men in Chicago while building forces here.”

Anger floods through me. “He’s foolish if he thinks starting a war on two fronts will end well. Do you think Maravilla is the one supplying the men from the Valley?”

“Maravilla has been quiet, pretty sure that’s not a coincidence,” Hale says. “He knows Austin isn’t your home turf.”

“This might not be my home, but he knows the Marchetti loyalty lies with The Saints,” I say quietly. “This city is under my protection. Your territory is my focus. My wife is here. Falco doesn’t get to test boundaries without consequences.”

Hale’s eyes go wide. “Wife?”

“Neomi and I got married in Vegas.” Every time I say it out loud, it becomes more real.

Cash runs his hand down his face. “Fucking hell.”

Hale laughs. “You just love making things harder than they have to be, don’t you?”