Chapter 5 - The Mastermind's Ledger
The red targeting lasers painted the hood of the lead transport van in a crisscrossing web of light.
Marcus Vance’s arrogant smile vanished instantly. He took a panicked step backward toward his vehicle, raising his hands. "Wait... Rocco, hold on!"
"Drop your weapons," Rocco commanded from the top of the terrace stairs. "All of you."
The mercenaries, realizing they were completely outgunned by the estate’s automated defense system, dropped their automatic rifles onto the wet gravel, raising their hands in surrender.
Rocco’s enforcers swarmed the courtyard, disarming the mercenaries and securing Marcus Vance in heavy steel cuffs.
Rocco walked down the marble steps, stopping inches from the trembling Detroit director. He reached into Marcus's heavy coat pocket and pulled out a leather-bound ledger containing physical bank transfer logs and private communication records.
Rocco opened the ledger, scanning the names listed under the offshore account transfers.
His piercing blue eyes narrowed as he reached the final page. Listed beside the master authorization code was a name he had not expected to see—Julian Moretti, Rocco’s own cousin and the chief financial administrator of the Chicago Syndicate.
"Julian..." Rocco whispered, his voice dropping into a dangerous, dark register.
Marcus Vance gritted his teeth, wiping rain from his face. "Julian was the one who set up the nursery transfer, Rocco! He offered me fifty percent of the harbor terminals if I used my Detroit men to take the heat!"
Rocco closed the leather ledger with a sharp, heavy thud. "Take Marcus to the subterranean vault," he ordered his men. "Keep him alive until the council arrives."
Ten minutes later, Rocco returned to the third-floor master suite.
Anna was sitting on the sofa, holding baby Matteo, while Lily slept peacefully beside her. When she saw Rocco enter, completely unharmed, a look of profound relief washed over her rosy face.
"Is it over?" Anna asked softly.
"The immediate threat is handled," Rocco said, sitting down across from her. He looked at the leather ledger in his hand, then looked into Anna’s brown eyes. "Julian was behind it. My own cousin tried to use my son to destroy this family."
Anna set Matteo gently into his crib near the sofa and walked over to Rocco, stopping beside his chair. "What are you going to do?"
"The Syndicate Council is meeting at the grand hall on Sunday," Rocco said, standing up to his full, towering height. "Julian thinks I don't know about his ledger. He thinks Caleb successfully destroyed the evidence."
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Rocco looked down at Anna, reaching out his broad hand to gently touch her shoulder. "I need you and Lily to stay at the estate under my personal protection, Anna. Until Sunday is over, you are not safe anywhere else."
Anna looked up into his handsome, intense face, feeling an overwhelming sense of safety despite the dangerous world around them. "We’ll stay, Rocco."
