A Mafia Boss Ignored Every Beautiful Woman At His Gala — Then Chose The Woman Who Had Enough Evidence To Send Him To Prison.

PART 7

“I’ll tell him you refused to come.”

“He’ll kill her.”

“He may kill you in front of her.”

Emma faced him across the open door.

“Then we need a better plan than you walking in with a gun.”

Mateo stood beside the second vehicle, checking the surrounding rooftops through binoculars.

“We counted twelve men,” he said. “Possibly more inside.”

Damian’s people waited behind the vehicles. Every one of them was armed. A gunfight would turn the building into a graveyard.

Emma looked at the warehouse, then at her laptop.

“The warehouse still belongs to the foundation,” she said. “That means it uses the same network as the gala.”

Damian understood. “Security cameras.”

“Cameras, fire alarms, inventory scanners, and a backup connection to the charity’s cloud server.”

“Can you access it?”

“Victor thinks he needs my codes because Mercer only has authorization to submit the preliminary audit. He doesn’t know my credentials also control the foundation’s fraud-monitoring system.”

Mateo lowered the binoculars. “What can that do?”

“Record every device connected to the network and upload the data off-site.”

Damian looked at her. “You want Victor to confess while the government listens.”

“I want Paul and Elias to confess too.”

“And your mother?”

“We make them believe they’ve won until we know where she is.”

Damian’s jaw tightened.

“I don’t like plans that place you in the center of the room.”

“You placed me in the center of the ballroom.”

“I have regretted it continuously.”

Despite her fear, Emma smiled. She entered the access code and activated the warehouse network. A small green indicator appeared.

“Everything recorded inside will be copied to three servers. I’m sending the link to an assistant U.S. attorney I worked with on a banking case.”

“You trust him?” Damian asked.

“I trust that he wants the largest corruption prosecution of his career.”

“Good enough.”

Emma closed the laptop.

Damian caught her hand.

“This is the last moment when you can remain outside.”

“So can you.”

“I cannot.”

“Neither can I.”

He looked at their joined hands.

“When this ends, assuming we survive, I will turn over every record.”

“I know.”

“I may not be free for a long time.”

“I know that too.”

“You should walk away from me.”

“Probably.”

“But you won’t.”

Emma squeezed his hand.

“Not today.”

They entered the warehouse together.

Damian carried no visible weapon. Emma held the encrypted drive. Mateo and the others remained outside, waiting for her signal.

Victor stood on a metal platform above the main floor. He was in his early sixties, elegant and silver-haired, with the warm smile of a beloved uncle welcoming family to dinner.

Paul Mercer and Elias Ward stood beside him.

Emma’s mother sat in a chair below the platform with her wrists tied.

“Mom!”

“Emma, get out!” Ruth Hayes shouted. “These men have no manners, and one of them ruined my best coat!”

Even tied to a chair, her mother sounded more offended than frightened.

Emma nearly collapsed with relief.

Victor descended the stairs.

“Nancy,” he said to one of his men, “untie Mrs. Hayes.”

The man cut the ropes.

Ruth stood, rubbing her wrists.

“Let her leave,” Emma said.

“When I have the drive.”

Emma held it up. “You receive this after she reaches the door.”

Victor smiled. “You negotiate as though you have leverage.”

“She is the only person who can unlock it,” Damian said. “If you harm either woman, you receive nothing.”

Victor looked at his nephew.

For a second, affection softened his face.

“You were always too much like your mother.”

“Is that why you poisoned my father?”

The smile disappeared.

Paul Mercer glanced at Elias. Emma noticed the movement. They had not expected Damian to know.

Victor walked closer.

“Your father was destroying everything we built. He wanted to sell the ports, close the private clubs, and move the family money into legitimate companies.”

Damian’s expression remained controlled.

“So you killed him.”

“I released him from a weakness he did not understand.”

The warehouse microphones were recording every word.

Emma moved subtly toward a wall-mounted control panel.

“And the charity?” she asked. “You used it to transfer money into Blackridge.”

Victor looked at her with admiration.

“You really are as intelligent as Paul claimed.”

Mercer avoided her eyes.

“You assigned me to the audit,” Emma said to him. “You wanted me to find Damian’s companies but miss yours.”

Paul straightened his tie. “You were supposed to follow instructions.”

“You sent me into a ballroom where hired gunmen were waiting.”

“The attack was Victor’s decision.”

Elias turned sharply. “Paul.”

“What?” Mercer snapped. “The plan is already finished.”

“Not until we have the drive,” Elias said.

Emma saw the fractures forming between them. She pushed harder.

“Which one of you bombed my apartment?”

Elias said nothing.

Mercer laughed nervously. “A necessary precaution.”

Rage moved across Damian’s face. Emma stepped in front of him before he reacted.

“Why make people believe I was dead?”

“So I could submit the audit under your credentials,” Mercer said. “Your findings were excellent. Incomplete, but excellent.”

“And when federal investigators followed the money?”

“They would find Damian. Victor would inherit the surviving companies, and Elias and I would receive our shares.”

“You expected Damian to be convicted.”

Victor’s gaze remained on his nephew.

“I expected him to die at the gala.”