The Mafia Boss Thought His Secretary Betrayed Him — Until He Found Her Scrubbing Diner Floors To Pay A Debt His Empire Created

PART 6

The Fulton warehouse officially processed specialty meat for restaurants. At four thirty in the morning, Marcus Voss sat beneath a hanging work light, wrists secured with plastic ties.

“Boss, thank God,” Marcus said. “My envelopes are current.”

Weston opened the largest ledger. “Owen Ashcombe.”

Marcus’s relief faded.

“Who is making these payments?”

“His daughter.”

“Describe her.”

“Office girl. Blond. Always has the cash.”

“How did the obligation transfer from the father?”

“He died before settling. We explained the family was still responsible.”

Weston closed the ledger. The impact echoed through the warehouse. “You approached two women at their father’s funeral. You threatened the younger sister to force the older one to pay an interest rate that could never reduce the principal.”

“It was leverage.”

“Against a civilian.”

“She could afford it. She works for some rich executive downtown.”

“She works for me.”

Marcus’s mouth fell open.

“For six months, Wren Ashcombe has worked twenty hours a day because you threatened her sister.”

“I didn’t know she was yours.”

“That is your defense? You believed cruelty was acceptable because you thought no powerful man cared about her?” Weston turned to Silas. “How many civilians are being charged more than the approved monthly rate?”

Silas hesitated. “Several.”

“All civilian loans issued under Marcus’s operation are frozen. Every payment is audited. Threats against relatives end tonight.”

“Boss, that guts the profit.”

“It guts your profit. You built that book beneath my name.”

Weston removed the page bearing Owen Ashcombe’s account, tore it free, and placed it on the steel table. “Write cleared.”

Marcus wrote the word across the page. Signed it.

“What happens to me?”

“You leave the city before noon. You surrender every account, property, and business financed by unauthorized collections.”

“You can’t take everything.”

“You threatened the sister of the woman who protects every account I own. You exhausted her until she could barely hold a coffee pot.” Weston’s voice became quiet. “You will leave with your life because she asked whether correcting her debt would cost a man his. I intend to answer that question honestly. She saved you without knowing it.”