Chapter 5 - THE MAID’S TRUE IDENTITYThe heavy oak door swung open once more, but this time, there was no trembling maid holding a bucket of soapy water.
A woman in a sharp charcoal pantsuit stepped into the room, holding a leather briefcase and a heavy stack of certified financial documents. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun, and her expression was as sharp as a razor.
Sue Miller—or rather, Special Agent Sarah Miller of the federal intelligence task force working undercover with Vescari’s internal security—walked straight past the armed guards and stood beside Nicholas.
Victor Rivas stared at her, his face twisting in absolute disbelief. "You... you were the cleaning girl. I threatened to kill your mother!"
Sarah offered him a crisp, professional smile. "My mother passed away twelve years ago, Mr. Rivas. But I appreciate your concern for elderly health care." She turned her attention to Nicholas, handing him a thick folder. "Boss. We have everything. The wire transfers from the Rivas organization to Chloe’s Swiss accounts, the shipping manifests leaked during the federal raids, and the audio recordings of every conversation in this estate for the past month."
Nicholas took the folder without looking at it, his eyes locked entirely on Victor.
"For three years," Nicholas said, his voice rising in volume, filling the expansive suite, "I let you nibble at the edges of my city, Victor. I thought you were just an ambitious punk trying to make a name for yourself on the docks. I didn't realize you were being fed from the inside by a woman sharing my bed."
"Go ahead," Victor spat, regaining a shred of his street-corner bravado as he squared his shoulders. "Kill me here. Shoot me in this room. My uncle’s entire army is waiting outside the estate gates right now. The second I don't check in by one a.m., they’re going to storm this place and burn it to the ground with all of you inside."
Nicholas let out a low, dark chuckle.
"Your uncle’s army?" Nicholas asked, walking over to the reinforced glass window and gesturing for Marcus to open the electronic blinds.
The heavy blackout curtains slid back silently, revealing the sprawling expanse of the Vescari estate grounds stretching toward Lake Michigan.
Victor and Chloe rushed to the glass, expecting to see the black SUVs and armed enforcers of the Rivas family swarming the driveways.
Instead, the grounds were bathed in the flashing red and blue lights of three dozen federal tactical vehicles and local police cruisers. Rivas enforcers were being pulled out of their cars face-down in the mud, zip-tied by heavily armed federal agents before they even realized their radios had been jammed.
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"Your uncle didn't send an army, Victor," Nicholas said calmly, leaning against the glass frame. "He sent a scout team. And my security team intercepted their comms three hours ago. By the time you walked into this room, your entire family's operation on the lakefront was already being dismantled."
Victor’s knees finally gave out. He slid down the glass pane, staring blankly at the flashing lights below, his entire criminal empire vanishing in a matter of minutes.
