Chapter 9 - Battle at the Riverfront
Don Marcone fell to his knees on the Persian rug, his hands trembling as Victor’s men held him pinned against the stone hearth.
"Victor... wait!" Marcone stammered frantically, his polished composure shattering into pure panic. "Listen to me! I didn't want to hurt the child! It was Thomas! Your chief administrator!"
Victor’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Thomas?"
"Thomas was the one who forged Elena’s death certificate four years ago!" Marcone confessed, sweat pouring down his face. "He knew that if Elena’s daughter ever returned to New York, his embezzlement of the Rossi foundation would be exposed! He paid me ten million dollars to eliminate the baby tonight!"
Down in the panic vault, Hannah watched the monitor in utter shock. Thomas was Victor's most trusted corporate attorney—the man who handled all legal contracts for the Moretti empire.
Victor reached into his suit jacket, pulling out a small satellite phone. He dialed a direct line.
"Marcus," Victor commanded into the receiver. "Pick up Thomas at his penthouse on Park Avenue. Bring him to the Hudson lodge immediately."
Thirty minutes later, the storm outside began to ease, leaving a quiet blanket of white snow over the riverbank.
The heavy vault doors opened, and Hannah carried baby Lily back up into the warm living room.
Thomas—a fifty-year-old man in a tailored grey suit—stood in the center of the room in heavy handcuffs, flanked by Marcus Hale. His face was pale, his eyes darting frantically around the room until they landed on eight-month-old Lily resting peacefully in Hannah's arms.
Victor sat in a high-backed leather chair near the fire, holding the original silver locket he had carefully removed from Lily’s neck earlier that evening.
"Thomas," Victor said, his deep voice smooth as velvet and cold as iron. "You served my father for fifteen years. You served me for ten."
"Victor... I can explain—" Thomas pleaded, taking a trembling step forward before Marcus pushed him back into his chair.
"You embezzled forty million dollars from my sister's foundation," Victor stated, opening the silver locket with a small tool. "And when you realized her daughter had given birth to an heir, you sent mercenaries into my home."
Victor pulled a tiny, micro-engraved metallic disk from inside the locket’s hidden double backing. He held it up into the firelight.
"This disk contains the master biometric key to the Rossi foundation," Victor revealed, looking at Thomas with absolute, terrifying authority. "My sister built it so that only her grandchild’s genetic print could unlock it."
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Victor turned to Marcus. "Hand Thomas over to the federal authorities along with the embezzlement files. He will spend the rest of his life in a maximum-security prison."
Marcus nodded, dragging the ruined attorney out toward the waiting security vehicles.
