Dante POV
They arrived twenty minutes later.
I watched them on the lobby security cameras. It was a pathetic sight.
Luca looked like he hadn't showered in three days. His tie was loose, his eyes wild and bloodshot. Serena was wearing oversized sunglasses, trying to hide her face, but her body language screamed pure desperation.
They tried to push past the front desk.
My security team stopped them. Imposing figures. Former military. They didn't care about Mafia titles. They cared about the paycheck I signed.
"I don't think you understand who I am!" Luca was shouting at the guard, spittle flying from his mouth. "I own this city!"
I pressed the intercom button.
"Actually, Luca, you owe this city," I said, my voice echoing through the marble lobby. "About forty million dollars, last time I checked."
Luca spun around, looking for the source of the voice. He looked up at the camera lens.
"Dante! You coward! Come down here and face me like a man!"
"I am a CEO now, Luca," I said, my voice calm over the speakers. "I don't take meetings in the lobby with street trash."
He lunged at the turnstile.
The guard grabbed him by the collar and shoved him back effortlessly. Luca stumbled, falling onto the polished marble floor.
Serena grabbed his arm, trying to pull him up. "Stop it, Luca! You are making it worse!"
She looked up at the camera. She took off her glasses. Her eyes were red-rimmed and swollen.
"Dante, please," she said. "Just five minutes. We have the transfer papers. We will sign over fifty percent of the company to you. Just give us the encryption key."
I leaned into the microphone.
"I don't want fifty percent of a corpse, Serena."
"You sabotaged us!" Luca yelled, scrambling to his feet. "I went to the press! I told them everything!"
I paused. "You did what?"
"I told the underground blogs," Luca sneered, thinking he had played a trump card. "I told them you are a rat. That you locked the system to blackmail us. Everyone knows, Dante. Your reputation is dead."
I looked at Marco. He was holding his phone up, showing me a livestream.
Luca had posted a video an hour ago. He was ranting, high on something, accusing me of cyber-terrorism.
I smiled.
"Luca," I said. "Did you admit on that video that you are the Underboss?"
"Yeah! I am the boss!"
"And did you admit that the shipments contain illegal contraband?"
"I..." Luca paused. His brain was trying to catch up, but the gears were rusted.
"Because if you claimed ownership of the network," I said, driving the final nail in, "then you claimed ownership of what is inside the containers."
Sirens wailed in the distance.
Serena's head snapped toward the door. She realized it instantly.
"Dante," she whispered, her face draining of color. "What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything," I said. "I just called security. But it sounds like the FBI was watching your livestream too."
The flashing blue and red lights reflected off the glass doors of the lobby.
"Police! Everybody down!"
A SWAT team burst through the entrance.
Luca tried to run. It was instinct. Stupid instinct. He turned toward the elevators.
Two officers tackled him before he made it three steps. His face hit the marble with a sickening crunch.
Serena stood frozen. She raised her hands slowly.
I watched on the monitor as they cuffed Luca. He was screaming about his rights. He was screaming my name.
Serena looked directly into the camera lens. She knew I was watching. She mouthed one word.
Why?
I pressed the intercom button one last time.
"Because you fired the only man who knew how to keep the lights on."
I turned off the monitor.
