Chapter 7 - The Trap is Sprung"That's impossible," Grace said, her voice rising as she stepped toward the desk. "I cross-referenced Vance’s background! His credentials were clean, his offshore accounts were audited—"
"He didn't use offshore accounts, Grace," Dominic interrupted, his voice terrifyingly calm as he pulled a nickel-plated Beretta from his holster and checked the magazine. "He used a domestic blind trust under a federal witness protection shield. He was an undercover federal asset the entire time."
Panic, cold and sharp, flooded Grace’s veins.
If Marcus Vance was a federal informant, and she was the one who had cleared him and elevated him to the inner circle...
"They're coming for you," Grace whispered. "And they're going to use me to get to you. I walked right into their trap."
Suddenly, the heavy double doors of the penthouse burst open.
There were no guards. Victor was already neutralized in the lobby.
Standing in the doorway, flanked by a dozen heavily armed FBI tactical agents in full riot gear and ballistic vests, was Special Agent-in-Charge Robert Thorne.
Thorne smiled coldly, stepping into the room with a federal arrest warrant in his hand.
"Good evening, Dominic. And a very special evening to you, Miss Mercer," Thorne sneered, holding up a thick manila folder. "Federal conspiracy, racketeering, money laundering, and obstruction of justice. You're both going away for the rest of your natural lives."
Dominic didn't flinch. He slowly laid his Beretta back down on the mahogany desk, raised his hands, and looked at Thorne with absolute contempt.
"You think a few federal warrants destroy a kingdom built over thirty years, Thorne?" Dominic asked, his voice echoing in the vast penthouse.
"Your kingdom is already dust, Rourke," Thorne laughed. "Every bank account is frozen. Every warehouse is seized. And as for your brilliant little executive assistant..." Thorne turned his gaze toward Grace. "We have her recorded signing off on the primary shell corporation transfers. She’s going down as the criminal mastermind who engineered your entire financial empire."
Grace froze.
She looked at the federal warrant. Her signature—crisp, clear, undeniable—was scrawled across the primary master ledger linking every single asset directly to her name.
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Marcus Vance hadn't just betrayed them. He had framed Grace as the CEO of Rourke Holdings, making Dominic look like the figurehead and Grace the true criminal mastermind.
Thorne snapped his fingers. "Arrest them both."
