Chapter 3 - The Threat in the ShadowsWhile Mateo was experiencing his first physical relief in twelve years, a far darker storm was gathering on the outskirts of Chicago's underground.
The unexpected arrival of a skilled civilian coach inside Mateo’s private warehouse had not gone unnoticed by his internal rivals.
Julian Vance—Mateo’s thirty-six-year-old stepbrother and junior executive VP of Moretti Global Shipping—sat inside an armor-plated SUV parked two blocks from the West Side warehouse.
Beside him sat Enzo, the loud guard who had been humiliated on the blue mat hours earlier.
"She’s a physical therapist?" Julian asked coldly, sipping a glass of scotch, looking at a digital profile of my background displayed on a tablet.
"She's a wrestling coach," Enzo corrected bitterly, rubbing his neck. "She touched his back for two minutes and figured out the chair secret. The boss took her upstairs to the private suite an hour ago."
Julian’s face darkened into an ugly, paper-white mask of fury.
For twelve years, Julian had been secretly building a network of off-ledger shipping terminals in South America, waiting for Mateo’s deteriorating health to force him into retirement. Julian knew that if Mateo’s chronic pain destroyed his sleep for another year, the senior board members would vote to transfer operational control to the younger stepbrother.
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A five-foot-five female wrestling coach who could heal Mateo Moretti was a direct threat to Julian’s multi-billion-dollar corporate takeover.
"She can't stay in Chicago, Enzo," Julian spat, tossing the tablet onto the leather seat. "Find out where she lives. If she refuses to pack her bags and leave the state by tomorrow morning... make sure she never walks onto a wrestling mat again."
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