Never Judge

"A leak?" One of the gang leaders asked. "You want us to have a rat in our ranks, how low do you think we will stoop for this?!"

Clearly Cedric and Ian's plans were not received in a positive light by the gangs. They had so many doubts and questions in their minds.

"Calm down, Manuel!" Ray said in a powerful voice, making the gang leader back down.

Everyone turned their attention to the king of the underworld. He may have let Cedric take the head of the table and control the meeting, but these were his people, they still followed him above all.

"There is a reason why I allowed Cedric to coordinate this plan." Ray was calm now, scarily calm. It seemed that he was more dangerous calm than angry, something that was clearly painted on the faces of his people.

"My apologies, your majesty." The man that Ray called Manuel said as he bowed his head, embarrassed that he had challenged Ray's authority.

It was also the first time that Cedric had heard a member of the underworld address Ray by a regal title. Cedric knew from Ian that Ray was only addressed in such a way for formal occasions or when the gang or family was in dire need of forgiveness or support.

Ray simply nodded at Manuel's words, not bothering to say he was forgiven.

"You can continue, Cedric." Ray informed his friend as his expression calmed.

"As I was saying, we will allow for a leak." Cedric repeated his words. "We will control what information they have and we will make sure that they trust their mole with their plans."

"Do you plan to send someone to them? Or will you plan to have us let someone in?" Andres asked Cedric.

Ray was about to tell him to hold his questions when Cedric stopped his brother-in-law.

"I don't plan on running this meeting the same way your king does, I am not him." Cedric explained. "Ray is your king, I have no intention of taking his place or commanding him, but this time we all need to work together. Our futures and our survival is at stake."

The leaders nodded at Cedric's words and Ray gave him an awkward smile. Cedric knew that he had to say something, he could feel the tension building in the room as their meeting had progressed.

"Back to our topic," Cedric said as he cleared his throat and glanced at Andres Rocci. "It would be best if their people infiltrated the gangs, that way they wouldn't question the information."

"And what makes you so sure that they will send someone to join our gangs?" The female gang leader asked.

"Because they are already there." Seth said with a grin, much to everyone's shock. "We didn't notice it, but they have planted moles in every gang and mafia in the country."

"Impossible." Manuel hissed.

"Not entirely." Seth answered in a confident tone. "While our upper ranks remain pure, they do have people in our lower ranks where background checks aren't as heavy."

"That's still dangerous." Andres said as he considered the repercussions.

"A necessary danger at the moment, that's why none of you were informed until now." Ray said with a shrug as he joined in on the conversation. "Once we get the information we need to the Rajas and ensure the safety of everyone, we will get rid of them."

"How did you know they were moles?" Andres asked Ray. "If our own men couldn't detect them, how was it possible that you were able to?"

"We have Cedric and Alexi to thank for that." Ray said with a grin. "They were able to access resources that we couldn't. Cameras, recordings, bank documents, things that not even the most powerful gangs and mafia families can't get their hands on."

The leaders were silent as they tried to absorb the new information presented to them.

"They've been among your people for longer than we expected. As a matter of fact, had we not discovered them now they would probably have climbed the ranks soon enough." Ian explained to the leaders, dealing them another painful blow.

"It's not your fault." Ray said as he tried to comfort the leaders. "The Rajas tricked us. We never expected a supposedly long dead group to come back. Our elders should have dealt with them, but many have seemed to escape."

The leaders wordlessly nodded as they accepted what they were told.

"We need to turn the table on them." Cedric announced. "For now, Ian will distribute you the names of the moles, only one should be allowed into a higher level so that the Rajas don't suspect a thing."

As Cedric spoke, Ian got up and passed the papers with the mole's names.

"It will also be dangerous if too many of them climb the ranks, we all know that we don't want our gangs and families infested." Ian added.

Cedric nodded at his words as Ian completed handing out the documents.

When everyone had a copy, Cedric continued to speak.

"For now, we will let them be." Cedric informed the leaders. "We want them to bring back genuine news to the Rajas, so be careful about what these moles learn. For your bigger plans keep it close within your core groups, we never know what the Rajas will take advantage of."

"And when should we start feeding them information?" One of the Mafia Family heads asked.

"Maybe in two weeks, we want the moles to feel secure where they are, and if that isn't enough we can extend their warm up period." Cedric calmly explained.

"And what will happen after they deliver the information to the Rajas? Surely the plan does not end there?" A gang leader asked.

"No, it doesn't." Cedric plainly answered as the leaders all waited for an explanation.

When Cedric realized that they were waiting to hear more, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Everyone has a piece of the puzzle, it would be too  dangerous for anyone to know the whole plan." Cedric said, catching them off guard.

"If you have nothing left to ask, you may go." Ray announced, sending the leaders of the underground scrambling to leave.

"Can we trust them?" Cedric asked Ray as soon as the last leader left.

"We can, but if they cross us I'll deal with it my way." Ray said with a dangerous smile