Chapter 2
Back at the villa, Victoria was frantically throwing diamond necklaces and bearer bonds into a leather duffel bag.
Her heart pounded wildly against her ribs.
She had seen the look in Elias's eyes. It wasn't a threat; it was a promise. She needed to be out of the country before his lawyers could freeze her offshore accounts.
She pulled out her phone and opened her Swiss banking app to wire the funds to an untraceable shell company.
Error. Account Terminated.
She gasped, her manicured thumb repeatedly smashing the screen.
She tried her Cayman accounts. Her real estate portfolio. Her private crypto keys.
Zero. Terminated. Seized.
"No, no, no!" she shrieked, throwing the phone against the terracotta wall.
She grabbed the duffel bag and ran toward the front door.
But as she reached for the brass handle, the heavy oak doors swung open from the outside.
It wasn't Elias's men.
It was a group of terrifyingly silent men wearing tactical gear, bearing the insignia of the Romanov Syndicate.
Victoria stumbled backward, dropping her bag.
The Syndicate was the shadow bank she had borrowed twenty million dollars from to maintain her luxurious facade. She had promised them Elias's estate as collateral once Clara was out of the picture.
The lead enforcer stepped into the foyer, crushing a dropped diamond beneath his combat boot.
"Mr. Sterling just bought your debt, Victoria," the man smiled, drawing a pair of heavy iron zip-ties. "And he requested we collect it in flesh."
Before Victoria could scream, a small voice echoed from the top of the stairs.
"Mommy?"
May you like
Victoria froze. Her seven-year-old daughter, Mia, was standing on the landing, holding a drawing.
The enforcer looked up at the little girl, his smile widening into something monstrous. "Well. Looks like we get to collect interest, too."
