Chapter 7 - The Trap at the DocksBy morning, the estate was silent again. The bodies had been cleared, the glass swept away, and the perimeter reinforced by fifty heavily armed guards.
Marius was standing in his command center, staring at a digital map of Naples displayed on a series of flat-screen monitors. His arm was bound neatly under a dark suit jacket. I stood beside him, holding a cup of hot espresso—back to my role, yet everything between us had irrevocably changed.
Katya, the stern, stone-faced woman who had interviewed me three years ago, entered the room. Her expression was darker than usual.
"The attackers were mercenaries hired through a shell company in Zurich," Katya reported, her sharp eyes flicking briefly to me before returning to Marius. "The transaction was routed through an IP address traced to the Port of Naples—specifically, Pier 14."
"Pier 14," Marius mused, his jaw tightening. "That's my shipping hub. Someone inside my network authorized their entry into the city."
"There's more," Katya added, pulling out a leather tablet. "A shipment of illegal arms is scheduled to land at Pier 14 at midnight tonight. The shipment carries your personal digital signature, Boss. If Interpol raids that dock tonight, they won't just seize the cargo—they’ll have enough evidence to put you away for life."
Marius’s eyes flared with cold rage. "Someone is trying to decapitate my empire and hand the remains to Interpol."
"Let me look at the ledger codes," I said, stepping forward.
Katya hesitated, holding the tablet close. "Bianca, this is high-level syndicate intel—"
"Give her the tablet, Katya," Marius commanded strictly.
Katya handed it over without another word. I quickly swiped through the encrypted manifest files, my fingers flying across the screen. My degree in international business and three years of studying Marius’s financial routing kicked into overdrive.
Within two minutes, I caught it.
"This signature isn't yours, Marius," I said, pointing to a string of alphanumeric code embedded in the bottom of the manifest. "It’s an older encryption key. It uses a triple-layered routing algorithm that hasn't been used in your company since 2021."
Marius leaned over my shoulder, his warm breath fanning against my cheek. "Who used that key?"
"Only two people had access to the 2021 legacy keys," I whispered, my heart dropping as I realized the horrific truth. "You... and Katya."
The room went dead silent.
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I turned around quickly, but Katya was already stepping back toward the door, a cold, ruthless smile touching her thin lips. A sleek, silenced pistol was already drawn from her jacket, pointed directly at Marius’s heart.
"You always were too smart for your own good, Bianca," Katya said smoothly.
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