Chapter 3 - The Interrogation of Serena ValeDeep in the subterranean basement suite beneath Castle Maritime, the atmosphere was thick with damp concrete, burning cigar smoke, and absolute terror.
Serena Vale sat handcuffed to a heavy iron chair in the center of the windowless room. Her exquisite crimson silk dress was stained with dust, her expertly curled hair coming undone, and her mascara running down her pale cheeks in black streaks.
The heavy steel door swung open.
Gabriel Cross walked in. He didn't wear his suit jacket anymore; his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing his heavily tattooed forearms, and his right hand was wrapped in thick white medical gauze where he had punched the concrete pillar.
Behind him walked Marcus Vance, carrying a heavy leather briefcase.
Serena jerked upward, her eyes wide with frantic hope. “Gabriel! Oh, thank God! Your guards are insane! They locked me in here! You need to fire every single one of them—!”
Gabriel walked slowly around her chair, stopping just behind her right shoulder. He didn't speak. He reached down, picked up a heavy tactical flashlight from the metal table, and clicked it on, shining the blinding beam directly into her face.
Serena shrieked, squinting and thrashing against the handcuffs. “Turn it off! What are you doing?!”
“Tell me about the clinic, Serena,” Gabriel’s voice was a low, velvet purr that carried the promise of slow torture.
“What... what clinic?” she stammered, her voice cracking. “I don't know what you're talking about!”
Gabriel dropped the flashlight onto the table with a loud clatter. He leaned down, his mouth near her ear. “The Westside Women’s Health Clinic. Five years ago. My wife’s medical file crossed your desk three days before our divorce settlement was filed. You personally signed the authorization form diverting her ultrasound records to a dummy corporation registered in the Cayman Islands.”
Serena’s breath caught. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. “That’s... that’s a lie! Your mother gave me those papers to file! I was just an executive assistant! I didn't know what was inside them!”
“Victoria doesn't know how to code Python scripts to scrub cloud servers, Serena,” Gabriel replied smoothly. “But you do. You have a degree in computer science from MIT. You spent three years managing my corporate intelligence infrastructure before you wormed your way into my bed.”
Marcus Vance stepped forward, opening the leather briefcase and tossing a stack of printed server logs onto Serena’s lap.
“We recovered your private laptop from your Manhattan penthouse twenty minutes ago, Miss Vale,” Marcus stated flatly. “It contains your encrypted communication logs with Dr. Vance, your bank transfers from the Cayman shell company totaling eight hundred thousand dollars, and your personal diary entries mocking Claire for raising triplets in a walk-up apartment.”
Serena stared down at the papers, her defiant posture completely collapsing. Her shoulders slumped, and a low, hysterical whimper escaped her lips.
“I had to do it, Gabriel...” she wept, looking up at him with pathetic, tear-filled eyes. “You were obsessed with her! Even after she left, you kept her picture locked in your desk drawer! If she had stayed, you never would have looked at me! You never would have made me vice president!”
Gabriel reached out, his large, calloused hand gripping her chin with terrifying pressure, forcing her head upward.
“You thought that by hiding my family, you could become queen of the empire,” Gabriel whispered, his gray-green eyes burning with pure venom. “You thought wrong.”
He stood up, wiping his hand on a handkerchief as if she were filthy.
“Marcus,” Gabriel commanded, turning his back on her. “Deliver her to the federal prosecutor’s office downtown. Ensure she is charged with wire fraud, medical tampering, conspiracy, and extortion. Make sure the judge is one of our strict ones.”
“And her assets, Boss?” Marcus asked.
“Seize everything. Every handbag, every shoe, every square inch of her penthouse. Leave her with thirty dollars and a bus ticket out of the state.”
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Serena shrieked, thrashing wildly as Marcus unlocked the handcuffs and hoisted her to her feet. “Gabriel, you can’t do this! I know your secrets! I know where the bodies are buried!”
“Then you’ll have plenty of company in federal prison,” Gabriel replied without turning around.
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