Chapter 3 - THE FIRST DOMINO
Matteo pulled a satellite phone from his coat—the only device programmed to bypass the jammer frequencies—and pressed a single button.
"Notice to all dock supervisors at Terminals 1 through 7," Matteo spoke into the receiver, his voice flat. "Full lockdown. Every crane stops. Every container carrying raw steel, cement, and glass bound for the Cole Riverfront Project gets impounded indefinitely for customs inspection."
Richard Cole—Adrian’s father, who had remained silent near the bar—instantly went pale as ash. He dropped his whiskey glass, the crystal shattering against the marble floor.
"Wait!" Richard yelled, stumbling forward, his voice choked with sudden panic. "You can't do that! We have twelve hundred tons of structural steel sitting at Terminal 4! If those cranes stop, the riverfront foundation pours fail! We lose fifty million dollars a day in penalties!"
Matteo hung up the phone and slipped it back into his pocket. "Then I suggest you get a shovel and start digging, Mr. Cole."
The guests in the ballroom began to whisper frantically. The riverfront project was the crown jewel of the city's commercial development—and half the wealthy men sitting in this room had invested their life savings into Cole Infrastructure’s stock to fund it.
"This is insane!" Vanessa Hart screamed, stepping out from behind Adrian, her ruined silver gown dragging on the floor. "Adrian, do something! Call the guards! Have these thugs thrown out!"
Dominic finally turned his head to look at Vanessa.
He looked at her ruined gown, then at the half-empty wine glass sitting on the table beside her.
"Nico," Dominic said.
From the shadow of the doorway, Nico—my youngest brother, the private investigator—stepped into the light. He held a thick white folder in his hands.
"Vanessa Hart," Nico read aloud in a conversational tone. "Senior Vice President of Procurement at Hart Logistics. Currently under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service for wire fraud, embezzlement of two million dollars from her previous employer, and running three unregistered shell accounts in the Cayman Islands."
Vanessa stopped breathing. The color drained completely from her face, leaving her looking like a ghost under the chandelier.
"How... how do you know that?" she gasped.
"Gabriel built the paper trail three hours ago," Nico smirked, flipping a page in the folder. "Oh, and by the way, Vanessa... your father’s medical supply firm in Chicago? Its commercial lease was held by one of Matteo’s holding companies. As of five minutes ago, the lease was terminated for safety violations. Eviction notices are being served to his office right now."
"No!" Vanessa shrieked, clutching her head in horror. "No, please! My father has nothing to do with this!"
"You stood under that chandelier and smiled while my sister bled," Dominic said, his voice lowering into a deadly pitch. "Every person who smiled tonight loses everything they love. Starting with you."
Vanessa dropped to her knees right there on the ruined carpet, bursting into frantic, pathetic sobs.
Adrian looked around the room in absolute horror. The powerful, wealthy friends who had cheered him on ten minutes ago were now stepping back away from his family, desperate to distance themselves from the radioactive wreckage the Coles had just become.
"Elena..." Adrian gasped, turning to me with wide, pleading eyes, taking a desperate step forward. "Elena, baby, please... listen to me! This was a mistake! I was drunk! I didn't mean—"
May you like
Before Adrian could finish his sentence, Dominic moved.
It was a blur of movement. Dominic crossed the distance between them in a single stride, grabbed Adrian by the throat with his bare left hand, and lifted my six-foot-two husband completely off the floor.
