Chapter 6 - The Unraveling of Valentina"Don't look at her, Alessandro!" Valentina screamed wildly from her chair, her face contorting into an ugly, sweat-slicked mask of rage. "She's a traitor! She’s been working with Vance Global for a year! She orchestrated the seizure of your secondary Chicago shipping lines!"
I walked slowly down the steel stairs of the catwalk, my heels clicking sharply against the metal steps until I stood on the wet concrete floorboards, ten feet from my husband.
I pulled an encrypted digital tablet from my coat, projecting high-definition audio recordings and bank transfers onto the massive LED screen above the terminal crane.
The red typography lit up the rain-soaked pier:
INTERCEPTED AUDIO LOGS: Capturing Valentina Russo leaking Alessandro Moretti’s private travel itineraries to the Genovese Syndicate eighteen months ago.
ILLEGAL EXTORTION FRAUD: Documenting twelve million dollars stolen from the Moretti Foundation into Valentina’s private accounts in Switzerland.
FEDERAL RICO ARREST WARRANTS: Issued against Valentina Russo and the entire Genovese Syndicate leadership.
Alessandro’s head snapped slowly toward Valentina.
His storm-gray eyes went dark as mountain ice, a cold, lethal fire igniting behind them that dropped the temperature on the pier below zero.
"Valentina..." Alessandro spoke softly, his baritone dropping into an apocalyptic register that made Valentina’s voice freeze in her throat. "You were giving my movements to the Genovese family while my wife was sitting alone in Chicago?"
"No! Alex! She's lying! She forged those documents!" Valentina wept hysterically, thrashing wildly against her restraints.
BOOM!
The heavy double side gates of the pier were thrown open as forty fully armed Federal Marshals and NYPD tactical officers swept onto the docks, their weapons trained directly on Valentina.
"DROP YOUR WEAPONS! FEDERAL AGENTS!" the lead marshal bellowed.
CLICK. CLICK.
Heavy steel handcuffs locked around Valentina Russo’s wrists behind her back as she thrashed frantically, weeping in total, groveling defeat, dragged away through the wet rain in chains to face lifetime federal RICO imprisonment without parole.
Alessandro didn't look at her as she was dragged away.
He took three fast, trembling steps toward me, dropping flat onto his knees right on the wet concrete floorboards before my feet.
May you like
The broad, feared Don of Chicago knelt flat in the freezing rain, his hands clutching together in a desperate, weeping plea.
"Elena... my queen... my life..." Alessandro sobbed, pressing his forehead against the wet concrete near my shoes. "Forgive me... I was a fool... I was insane! I kept you in the dark because I was terrified of losing you! Kill me... destroy my empire... but don't leave me again!"
