Chapter 11 - The Secret Threat in the Shadows
The applause from the ballroom still echoed faintly in the private executive suite as Lorenzo and I stepped away from the reception. The night was supposed to be ours, but the uneasy hum of corporate warfare never truly sleeps.
Eleanor Vance stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, her expression grim as she tapped the screen of her encrypted tablet.
"I hate to ruin the post-wedding glow," Eleanor said without turning around, "but our security filters just flagged an unauthorized data breach attempt originating from outside the country. Someone is trying to access the encrypted archives we seized from Richard Vance’s offshore accounts."
Lorenzo’s posture stiffened instantly. The romantic warmth in his eyes vanished, replaced by the lethal, calculating glare of a man protecting his empire. He pulled me close by the waist with one arm, his other hand reaching out for the tablet.
"Trace it," Lorenzo commanded, his voice dropping an octave. "Who has clearance to even look at those files?"
"Nobody inside Moretti Holdings," Eleanor replied, sliding the tablet into Lorenzo’s hands. "That’s what makes this terrifying. The signature doesn't belong to a corporate rival or a hacker. It belongs to the Consortium—a shadow syndicate we thought dissolved five years ago."
My blood ran cold. The Consortium? Even as an executive assistant, I had read classified threat assessments about that global syndicate. They were a network of elite criminals, corrupt politicians, and black-market arms dealers who operated above the law, controlling syndicates across Europe and Asia.
"They aren't just after financial data," I whispered, the puzzle pieces clicking together in my mind. "When Richard Vance was embezzling money, he wasn't just hiding it for himself. He was funneling it to them as protection money."
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Lorenzo looked down at me, a mixture of fierce pride and deep worry flashing in his dark eyes. "Smart girl. They lost their favorite inside man when Richard went to prison. Now, they're looking for a new way to sink their claws into Moretti Holdings—and they know you're the one who exposed them."
The threat wasn't a corporate rival anymore. It was war. And this time, they weren't aiming for our bank accounts; they were aiming for us.
