Rain hit the pavement in sharp, steady lines.
Cold.
Unrelenting.
The city looked different after a month away.
Harder.
Louder.
Too awake.
Black cars moved through narrow streets in silence before finally slowing near the docks.
The warehouse ahead stood massive against the gray morning sky.
Metal walls.
Few windows.
Guards already stationed outside.
Waiting.
Inside the car, Dante glanced once toward Izana.
"…Everything's ready."
Izana didn't answer immediately.
His gaze stayed fixed ahead.
Unreadable.
Controlled.
The version of him the outside world knew.
Not the one upstairs in the mansion holding Zarek at dawn.
Dante noticed the shift anyway.
It happened the second Izana left the mansion.
Like a door closing.
"…The suppliers arrived twenty minutes ago," Dante continued.
"…No issues yet."
Izana stepped out of the car before Dante fully finished speaking.
Rain immediately caught against his dark coat.
He didn't react.
Didn't slow.
Guards straightened instantly as he approached the warehouse entrance.
No one spoke.
The doors opened before he reached them.
Inside, the air smelled like metal and oil.
Weapons crates lined the walls.
Men stood scattered around them.
Watching.
Waiting.
The moment Izana entered, the atmosphere changed.
Subtle.
Immediate.
Conversations stopped.
Postures straightened.
Nobody looked relaxed anymore.
Izana walked through the center of the warehouse without hesitation.
Dante one step behind him.
The buyer stood near the far table.
Older.
Sharp eyes.
Expensive suit beneath a long coat.
Three guards behind him.
He smiled when Izana approached.
Too casually.
"…Izana."
Izana stopped across from him.
Silent.
The buyer extended a hand anyway.
Izana ignored it completely.
A brief awkward pause followed.
Then the buyer slowly lowered his hand again.
Still smiling.
Though tighter now.
"…Straight to business then."
Izana finally spoke.
"…You're late."
The buyer let out a small breath through his nose.
"…Three minutes."
"…Still late."
Silence stretched briefly.
Dante stepped forward slightly and opened the case files on the table.
The deal began.
Professional.
Controlled.
Weapon counts.
Shipping routes.
Payment schedules.
Everything exact.
Precise.
Izana barely moved during most of it.
Only spoke when necessary.
Only looked up when something mattered.
The buyer noticed quickly.
"…You haven't changed."
Izana didn't answer.
The buyer continued anyway.
"…Disappeared for a month and came back exactly the same."
Dante's eyes shifted once toward the man.
Careful now.
The buyer smiled faintly.
"…Though I suppose you had a good reason."
The warehouse quieted slightly.
Almost imperceptibly.
Izana's gaze lifted slowly.
The buyer leaned back slightly against the table.
Comfortable.
Too comfortable.
"…Congratulations."
Silence.
Dante's posture shifted subtly behind Izana.
The buyer continued.
"…I heard about your child."
The room stilled completely.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
Even the rain outside suddenly sounded louder.
Izana didn't react immediately.
That was the problem.
The stillness around him became heavier.
Sharper.
Dangerous.
The buyer noticed it a second too late.
But kept talking anyway.
"…A boy, right?"
Silence.
"…People were starting to wonder why you vanished."
Dante finally spoke.
Calm.
Controlled.
"…We're here for business."
The buyer waved a hand lightly.
"…Of course. I'm simply being polite."
Izana's gaze stayed fixed on him.
Unmoving.
The buyer smiled again.
Though less naturally now.
"…Word travels quickly."
Still silence.
Then—
"…Too quickly."
Izana's voice was low.
Quiet enough that everyone listened harder to hear it.
The buyer's smile faded slightly.
"…I meant no disrespect."
Izana stared at him for another long second.
Then—
"…You know too much."
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
Cold.
One of the buyer's guards moved slightly.
Dante noticed immediately.
So did every armed man in the warehouse.
The buyer lifted a hand subtly toward his own men.
Telling them to stay still.
"…It's hardly secret information."
Izana's eyes didn't leave him.
"…That doesn't make it yours to discuss."
Silence stretched again.
Heavy enough to suffocate.
The buyer exhaled slowly.
Trying to recover control of the conversation.
"…I was only offering congratulations."
Dante stepped forward slightly.
"…Then offer them once and stop talking."
The buyer glanced at Dante briefly.
Then back at Izana.
"…You've become protective."
Wrong thing to say.
The room changed again immediately.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
Like everyone present suddenly understood they were standing too close to something dangerous.
Izana finally moved.
Only slightly.
But enough that several men instinctively stiffened.
"…Careful."
One word.
Flat.
Controlled.
Far more threatening than shouting would've been.
The buyer swallowed once.
A subtle movement.
But visible.
"…Understood."
Silence.
Then Izana looked down at the paperwork again like nothing had happened.
"…Continue."
Nobody argued.
The rest of the deal moved faster after that.
Nobody spoke unnecessarily.
Nobody joked.
Nobody mentioned family again.
When the final signatures were completed, the buyer stepped back immediately.
Almost relieved.
"…Pleasure doing business."
Izana didn't respond.
The buyer took the silence as permission to leave.
His men moved quickly behind him.
The warehouse doors opened.
Cold rain swept inside briefly.
Then closed again.
And they were gone.
Silence lingered after them.
Heavy.
Dante waited until the guards cleared the room before speaking.
"…That spread faster than expected."
Izana stood motionless near the table.
Rain hitting faintly against the warehouse roof above them.
"…Yes."
Dante glanced toward the doors.
"…Do you think it's a problem?"
A pause.
Long enough to matter.
Then Izana answered quietly—
"…Now they know what matters to me."
The words settled heavily in the warehouse.
Dante looked at him carefully.
Because that wasn't fear in Izana's voice.
It was certainty.
Dangerous certainty.
Izana reached for his coat slowly.
Already turning toward the exit.
Dante followed immediately.
"…I'll find out where the information started."
Izana didn't stop walking.
"…Do that."
The warehouse doors opened again.
Rain and cold air rushing inside.
Outside, black cars waited along the curb.
Men straightened as Izana approached.
But his attention had already shifted elsewhere.
Away from the deal.
Away from the city.
Back toward the mansion.
Back toward Leah.
Toward Zarek.
He could still remember the sound of him crying when he left.
The way his small hands reached toward him.
Izana stepped into the car.
The door shut firmly behind him.
And for the first time since becoming head of the family—
the outside world no longer felt separate from home.