Chapter 3 - The Cold War
Down in the soundproof basement of the mansion, the air was freezing and smelled of damp concrete.
Adrian stood with his arms crossed, watching Evelyn tremble in a metal chair.
Mason stood behind her, his face an emotionless mask of pure discipline.
“What exact time were they supposed to hit the docks?” Adrian asked, his voice devoid of any warmth.
“Noon,” Evelyn sobbed, her hands shaking violently.
Adrian pulled a sleek, encrypted phone from his jacket pocket and checked the time.
It was eleven-forty.
He dialed his dockmaster at the southern ports, his eyes never leaving Evelyn's terrified face.
“Lock down Pier Four immediately and arm every man on site,” Adrian commanded into the phone.
“The Morettis are making a move on the electronics shipment in twenty minutes.”
“If anyone not wearing our colors steps onto that concrete, you put them in the river.”
He hung up the phone and slipped it back into his pocket.
He looked back at the disgraced estate manager, feeling absolutely nothing for her pitiful tears.
“Mason, hand her over to the police detectives on our payroll.”
“Give them the evidence of her embezzlement over the last three years, the files I have been ignoring.”
Evelyn’s eyes widened in sheer horror.
“You knew about the money?” she choked out.
“I let you steal pennies because you were remarkably good at managing the household schedules,” Adrian said coldly.
“But you crossed a line when you laid a hand on Sophie.”
“For that, you will spend the next ten years in a federal prison cell.”
Adrian walked out of the basement, his mind already shifting from the traitor to the impending war.
The Morettis were getting bold, mistaking his preference for corporate buyouts as a sign of weakness.
They thought he had forgotten how his father used to run the streets.
They were about to learn a very painful, irreversible lesson.
Adrian walked back up to the third floor, the heavy guilt of his violent life settling on his shoulders.
He knocked gently on Sophie’s door before entering the suite.
She was sitting by the large bay window, wearing a soft emerald-green sweater from the closet.
The color made her skin glow, and she wore the new, delicate gold-framed glasses Mason had delivered.
She looked absolutely breathtaking, and for a moment, Adrian forgot how to breathe.
“Did you stop them?” she asked softly, her voice pulling him back to reality.
Adrian stopped in his tracks, surprised that she would ask about the dangerous side of his life.
“My men held the docks, the shipment is secure,” he confirmed.
Sophie stood up, her nervous demeanor suddenly replaced by a strange, quiet resolve.
“Mr. Vale, Evelyn was not the only one communicating with the Moretti family.”
Adrian frowned, his protective instincts flaring instantly.
“What do you mean?”
“I told you, I am invisible,” she said, offering a sad, knowing smile.
“Your chief financial officer, Mr. Sterling, uses a burner phone in the library every Tuesday at four o'clock.”
“I hear him speaking in Italian when he thinks the staff is gone.”
Adrian’s blood ran completely cold as the depth of the betrayal became clear.
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But as he looked at the brilliant, observant woman standing bravely in his guest room, he realized something else.
She had just handed him the absolute advantage in this war.
