Chapter 24 - The Ghost Revealed
The museum ambush forced us to retreat to the heavily fortified underground bunker beneath our estate.
Alessandro paced the tactical room like a caged lion, his dark eyes burning with absolute fury.
He finally explained the dark history of Victor Thorne to me.
Victor was the ruthless enforcer who had originally helped Alessandro's father build the massive syndicate.
When Alessandro took over and tried to legitimize the business, Victor viewed it as a weak, pathetic betrayal.
Alessandro thought he had eliminated Victor during a brutal warehouse explosion twenty years ago.
Victor had somehow survived the fire, hiding in Europe to slowly rebuild a massive shadow army.
He was back to reclaim the empire he believed rightfully belonged to the old, violent ways.
I looked at the logistical maps spread across the table, analyzing the assassins' movements.
I realized Victor was not trying to take our money or our shipping lines.
He was trying to systematically strip away our legitimate protection to force us back into the criminal underworld.
I refused to play his regressive, violent game on his terms.
I ordered our legal team to immediately release a massive wave of undeniable evidence exposing Victor's European front companies.
We were going to use the full, crushing weight of international law to freeze his entire global wealth.
If he wanted to fight a modern queen, he was going to drown in modern warfare.
May you like
Alessandro watched my strategic brilliance with a familiar, intoxicating look of raw adoration.
The ghost from the past was about to learn that the present belonged entirely to me.
