Chapter 17 - THE ARRIVAL OF THE VIPER
Two days later, a private Gulfstream jet touched down on the tarmac at Teterboro Airport, carrying the most dangerous wildcard in the Mediterranean underworld: Giancarlo Rossi, Luca’s estranged older brother and the undisputed king of the Sicilian shipping corridors.
Giancarlo hadn't answered Matteo’s summons in three years. He viewed the Vescari empire as a bloated, Americanized enterprise ripe for a hostile takeover. When word leaked that Matteo had mysteriously retired due to "health issues" and handed over the keys to an unknown entity, Giancarlo flew across the Atlantic expecting easy pickings.
He stepped out of the black town car outside Vescari Tower flanked by four armed enforcers, his silk trench coat billowing in the autumn wind.
He rode the private elevator up to the penthouse with a predatory smirk plastered across his face. He expected to walk into a boardroom of terrified subordinates scrambling to keep a dying syndicate afloat.
Instead, the elevator doors slid open to reveal a single person standing in the center of the minimalist lounge: Vivien.
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She was dressed in a razor-sharp charcoal pantsuit, her arms crossed loosely over her chest, watching him with the detached curiosity of a scientist examining a laboratory rat.
Giancarlo stopped dead in his tracks, letting out a sharp, dismissive laugh. "Where is Vescari? I didn't fly four thousand miles to negotiate with a secretary."
