Chapter 9 - The Ruin of Vivien Sterling
Panic erupted like a contagion across the grand dining room. Vivien’s brother and her legal team scrambled out of their chairs, their fair faces pale with terror as they realized they had walked directly into the lair of Boston's most feared Mafia boss.
"Lorenzo! What is the meaning of this?!" Vivien shrieked, standing up so fast her emerald gown caught against her chair. "Why is this man here? This is an outrage! Security, remove him!"
"The security in this house answers to me, Vivien," Lorenzo stated, his deep baritone cutting through her screams like a steel blade. "And as of twenty minutes ago, Frankie Vance—the guard you paid two hundred thousand dollars to disable my mother's security cameras—is currently sitting in a federal interrogation room singing every detail of your arrangement."
Vivien froze. The color drained from her skin, leaving her as pale as marble. Her blue eyes darted wildly toward Rocco, then toward the doors, finding every exit sealed by broad-shouldered men in dark suits.
Rocco stepped forward, setting a sleek digital tablet on the mahogany table directly in front of Vivien’s legal team.
"On that drive," Rocco announced coldly, "you will find complete bank records tracing wire transfers from the Moretti syndicate in Chicago directly to the Sterling family holding accounts. You will also find video recordings from infrared cameras stationed at the boathouse, capturing Ms. Sterling handing classified estate blueprints and security schedules to Julian Vane."
Vivien’s brother stumbled backward, his hands shaking. "Vivien... what did you do?"
"I did it for us!" Vivien screamed, her polished mask shattering completely into hysterical, ugly desperation. She turned to Lorenzo, tears of panic ruining her expensive makeup. "Lorenzo! Please! Listen to me! They forced me! The Moretti family threatened my father! I had to do it!"
Lorenzo slowly stood up from his chair. His towering, broad-shouldered frame dominated the magnificent room. He unbuttoned his tuxedo jacket, stepping around the table with slow, deliberate, terrifying grace.
He stopped two feet away from her. The height difference was immense. His intense gray eyes looked down at her not with rage, but with absolute, crushing disdain.
"You came into my home," Lorenzo whispered, his voice a low, vibrating growl that sent a visible shiver down her spine. "You drugged my recovering mother. You sold my family's security to my enemies. And you threatened a innocent three-year-old child and her mother."
Vivien collapsed to her knees on the hardwood floor, her expensive emerald gown pooling around her, clutching at the hem of his trousers.
"Lorenzo, please!" she sobbed, holding up her left hand, showing the massive diamond ring. "I love you! We are supposed to be married! Forgive me!"
Lorenzo looked down at her hand. Without a word, he reached down, took her finger, and slowly, deliberately pulled the diamond engagement ring from her hand. He tossed the ring carelessly onto the table, where it landed with a hollow, metallic clink beside the broken champagne glass.
"You are nothing to me," Lorenzo stated, his voice flat and final. "Rocco."
"Boss?" Rocco stepped forward.
"Hand Julian Vane and the Sterling legal team over to federal authorities along with the wiretap evidence," Lorenzo ordered. "As for Vivien... strip her of every asset associated with the Duca name. Blacklist her family from every financial institution from Boston to Miami. If she or anyone carrying her name ever sets foot in this city again... handle it."
"Understood, Boss," Rocco replied.
May you like
Four guards stepped forward, hauling Vivien to her feet as she shrieked and wept, dragging her out of the grand dining room alongside her terrified co-conspirators. The heavy oak doors slammed shut behind them, plunging the room into a sudden, magnificent silence.
Lorenzo stood alone at the head of the table. He took a deep breath, adjusted his cuffs, and smoothed down his tuxedo jacket. The dark clouds that had hung over his estate for three months had finally been swept away.
