The weight of the revelation settled over the room like a suffocating fog. Piper felt it in her chest, a heavy, unrelenting pressure that made it hard to breathe. Gabriel stood by the monitor, his arms crossed and his jaw tight, his dark eyes scanning the grainy image of the shadowy figure in the surveillance footage. Noah paced restlessly near the window, his expression a storm of tension and unease. Jasper sat rigidly in one of the dining chairs, his hand gripping the edge of the table as if it were the only thing tethering him to reality.
“We have a mole,” Noah repeated, his voice low but firm. “Someone’s feeding Anton information.”
The words hung in the air, sharp and cutting. Piper’s stomach churned as her mind raced through the possibilities. She glanced between the three men in the room, each one a crucial piece of her life, each one with secrets of their own. Could one of them be hiding something this devastating? The thought was almost unbearable.
Jasper broke the silence, his tone laced with anger. “Let me guess—Gabriel’s already decided it’s me.”
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed. “You’re defensive. That’s telling.”
“Telling?” Jasper shot back, standing abruptly. “I’ve been busting my ass to protect this family, and you think I’d sell us out to Anton?”
“I think we should be looking at everyone,” Gabriel said evenly, though his tone carried a sharp edge. “Including you.”
“Enough!” Piper snapped, her voice cracking like a whip. Both men turned to her, their expressions shifting from anger to surprise. “This isn’t helping. We need answers, not accusations.”
Noah stopped pacing, his hands on his hips as he glanced at her. “How do we even start to figure this out? It’s not like Anton’s going to send us a list of his informants.”
“We start with the footage,” Gabriel said. “If that figure was working with Anton, they must’ve been nearby before the attack. Maybe the cameras caught something else.”
Noah moved toward the monitor, rewinding the footage further. As the grainy images flickered across the screen, Piper’s mind wandered, unable to shake the gnawing fear that someone close to her could be complicit. Jasper, Noah, Gabriel—all of them had their reasons for being here, their reasons for staying. But trust was fragile, and in moments like these, it felt like it could shatter with the slightest pressure.
The footage revealed little else, just the two attackers slipping through the fence and the figure disappearing into the shadows. Piper let out a shaky breath, her hands gripping the back of a chair for support.
“We’re missing something,” she said. “Anton wouldn’t take a risk like this unless he was sure it would rattle us. Someone gave him that certainty.”
“And you think it’s one of us?” Jasper asked, his voice tight.
Piper hesitated, the weight of her words threatening to crush her. “I don’t want to believe that,” she admitted. “But we have to consider every possibility.”
The tension in the room was broken by a sharp knock at the door. Everyone froze, their eyes snapping toward the sound. Gabriel moved first, his hand instinctively reaching for the gun holstered at his side. He motioned for the others to stay back as he approached the door.
“Who is it?” he called, his voice low and commanding.
“It’s Connor,” came the muffled reply. The name sent a ripple of surprise through the room. Jasper’s head snapped up, his brow furrowing.
“What the hell is he doing here?” Jasper muttered, stepping toward the door.
Gabriel hesitated for a moment before opening it just enough to reveal the man on the other side. Connor was tall and wiry, his face weathered but sharp, his eyes darting nervously as he glanced past Gabriel and into the house.
“Jasper,” Connor said, his voice shaky. “We need to talk. Now.”
The group gathered in the living room, Connor perched uneasily on the edge of the couch as he twisted his hands together. Jasper stood nearby, his arms crossed and his expression unreadable. Piper sat across from them, her pulse quickening as she tried to make sense of Connor’s sudden appearance.
“What’s going on?” Jasper asked, his tone low but urgent. “You don’t just show up out of nowhere, Connor.”
Connor glanced around the room, his eyes lingering on Gabriel for a moment before he turned back to Jasper. “It’s Anton,” he said finally, his voice barely above a whisper. “He’s got me on a leash.”
“What do you mean?” Piper asked, leaning forward.
Connor hesitated, his face twisting with guilt. “He found out about some… stuff I was involved in years ago. Stuff that could get me locked up. He said if I didn’t cooperate, he’d make sure I went down for it.”
Jasper’s expression darkened. “And what exactly does ‘cooperate’ mean?”
Connor swallowed hard. “I told him things, Jasper. About you. About Piper. He said he needed leverage, and I didn’t have a choice.”
“You didn’t have a choice?” Jasper snapped, his voice rising. “You put us all in danger because you were scared?”
“I’m sorry,” Connor said, his voice cracking. “I didn’t think he’d go this far. I thought it was just… intel. I didn’t know he’d act on it so soon.”
Gabriel stepped closer, his eyes narrowing. “What exactly did you tell him?”
Connor hesitated, his gaze flickering to Piper. “I told him about the house. About the weak points in the fence. And about… Lily.”
Piper’s blood ran cold. She felt the room tilt slightly, her grip on the armrest tightening as she fought to steady herself. “You told him about my daughter?” she asked, her voice trembling with a mix of fear and fury.
“I didn’t mean to—” Connor began, but Jasper cut him off.
“You’re done,” Jasper said, his voice ice cold. “You’re leaving, and you’re not coming near this family again.”
Before Connor could respond, the house was rocked by a sudden, deafening crash. The front window shattered, glass raining down as the sound of shouting and footsteps filled the air.
“Get down!” Gabriel barked, drawing his weapon as chaos erupted around them.
Piper dropped to the floor, her heart racing as she crawled toward the nearest cover. Noah pulled her behind the couch, his body shielding hers as more crashes echoed through the house. Jasper grabbed Connor by the collar, dragging him toward the back door as Gabriel returned fire at the intruders.
“They’re coming in!” Noah shouted, his voice barely audible over the chaos.
Piper’s mind raced, the weight of betrayal and danger pressing down on her. They were under attack, their defenses pushed to the limit—and the cracks in their unity were starting to show.
________________