Never Judge

When the room was cleared Al noticed that the men left were an assortment of the most powerful and least powerful Mafia and Gangs.

Al couldn't see a pattern, it confused him.

"With the exclusion of Nina, your people are the ones we have the most evidence against." Ray explained as he looked at his men, all eager to do as the boss commanded. "I will set tests of loyalty, but unlike ordinary, this will be a test of their loyalty to me."

All the leaders remained silent.

It had always been assumed that if a person was loyal to their leader they were loyal to whomever that person was loyal to.

"How will we know if it's a test?" One of the gang leaders asked.

"You won't." Ray said with a grin. "You may all go."

The leaders were stunned that Ray had just uttered a single order and dismissed them. Ray was never the type to simply give orders and dismiss people.

"I suggest you all leave." Ian said as he walked into the room with a new stack of documents. He was followed closely by one of Ray's assistants from Laurence Industries.

Due to the rushed nature of the day's events, it seemed that Al's father had his assistants and secretary bring whatever work he needed to complete to the underworld headquarters.

"Andres, Seth." Ray said as he looked up and nodded at them.

When they saw his actions the two men stayed back and the other leaders didn't question it. They knew that both men had proven their loyalty to Ray multiple times and that they knew him at a personal level.

As the door slammed shut behind the last leader leaving, Ray finally relaxed.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened it again, gone was the harsh gaze that he gave the other leaders, he now had a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Did Seth or Ian tell you who my little spy was?" Ray asked as he grinned at Andres.

Andres shook his head, eager to hear who had been so skilled that he was able to gather information that even their best people couldn't.

"He'll probably be furious at me too!" Seth exclaimed as he poured himself a glass of whisky and drank it all in one gulp.

"You're looking at him." Ray chuckled as Andres gave Ray a confused look.

"What do you mean, you're the spy?" Andres asked as he tried to figure out what Ray meant.

"No me, him." Ray pointed at Al who was looking down, a little bit embarrassed by the fact that he had betrayed Cara and her father.

"Al?" Andres looked at the young man, shocked that Al was the spy. "I thought you had a rule, Ray, that the kid wouldn't be involved too soon!"

"I did." Ray said as he glared at his son.

Al laughed and shrugged.

"I went behind dad's back, joined the Dean family mafia and got assigned a mission that only a minor could accomplish." Al explained to his uncle Andres.

"Really Al, I'm hurt." Andres said as he gave a pained expression. "Why did you have to choose those brutes over me? The Rocci family would be more that happy to welcome you."

"Andres! He is a child!" Ray scolded the man as he shook his head.

"It's not like he lacks the capacity to be in the Mafia or Gang." Andres argued as he looked at Al and winked. "If he lacked it, then he wouldn't have managed to get the information you needed."

"He got lucky." Ray hissed. "He made a big mistake, it was good I was there to clean it up."

Andres chuckled and shook his head.

"You act as if you were perfect from the start." Andres said as he pointed an accusatory finger at the king of the underworld. "You made your mistakes too, what did Al do wrong?"

"He got attached to the target and crossed my bottomline." Ray hissed.

Andres went pale when he heard what Al had done, but he quickly brushed it off and countered Ray's words.

"He is learning, just like you once were, just as we all were at one point. At least this time his blunder could be saved and he had you. It's better than if he made the mistake later on." Andres said as he defended the young man.

Ray frowned but chose not to argue further with his friends.

He simply sighed and began work on the documents on his desk.

"How did this even come about? How did you learn about traitors?" Andres asked, he was the only one in the group who had remained unaware of the truth.

"Peter!" Al suddenly gasped as he looked at his father. 𝙛𝔯𝒆e𝔀e𝗯𝓷𝗼𝘃e𝚕.𝒄𝗼𝗺

In all the excitement it seemed that Ray had forgotten about the man hidden in the safe room. Now that only those that Ray trusted were left, he could be brought out again.

"Calm down, I haven't forgotten about him." Ray told his son as he continued to work without lifting his head.

"Peter?" Andres asked as he raised an eyebrow at Seth, who was standing next to him.

Seth gave him an awkward smile and nodded.

"Peter Jao, the very man we've been trying to find." Seth confirmed.

"The traitor?" Andres was clearly shocked to hear the very same man was being mentioned in their conversation.

"He's in the safe room." Ian added, laughing at the situation.

"Why the hell is a man that betrayed us in the safe room? Shouldn't he be tortured and killed?" Andres questioned, clearly furious with the situation.

"Because his daughter is the one Al got too close to." Ian chuckled as the matter was now in the past.

Al could recall the anger he saw in his uncle Ian's eyes when he discovered that Al had become friends with Peter Jao's child.

"WHAT?!" Andres shouted, shocked with how things had developed.

"Calm down." Ray said, rolling his eyes and putting the documents he had aside. "He will help us as long as his daughter is safe."

"How sure are you that we can trust him?" Andres asked as he looked Ray in the eyes.

"We aren't." Ray said with a mischievous smile. "But as long as he is cooperating we will maximize it. Now, sit, I have a plan to tell you."