Chapter 7 - An Offer You Can't Refuse
Within two hours, Leandro’s compound had transformed into an operational war room. Vincent and six senior capos surrounded a digital holographic table displaying a satellite feed of a sprawling shipping warehouse along the Hudson River in Queens.
""Salvatore has barricaded himself inside the terminal with forty men,"" Vincent reported, pointing out camera angles and thermal signatures. ""He knows Mateo failed. He has reached out to the Russian syndicate in Brighton Beach for extraction, but their boats won't arrive until midnight.""
""He won't make it to midnight,"" Leandro stated coldly. ""We move at nine.""
""Wait,"" Elara said, stepping forward from the back of the room. Every man at the table turned to look at her, surprised by her interruption.
""Miss Vance,"" Vincent said gently, ""this is an operational briefing.""
""I know,"" Elara replied, her voice gaining steady confidence. ""And I know how Salvatore launders his money. You said he used my bakery and dozens of other small businesses through Apex Lending, right?""
Leandro nodded, listening intently. ""Yes.""
""While I was managing the bakery's books, Apex sent us computerized auditing sheets every quarter,"" Elara explained, leaning over the table. ""They used a proprietary digital ledger system called Titan-Vault to synchronize interest penalties across all sixty-four accounts. My father was a baker, but I studied forensic accounting for three years before he got sick. That server doesn't just manage the foreclosures. It mirrors the bank accounts of Salvatore’s shell companies in the Caymans.""
Vincent's eyes widened. ""If we access that server, we don't just take his warehouse. We seize every dollar of liquid capital his syndicate possesses.""
""Can you breach it?"" Leandro asked Elara, his gaze burning with admiration.
""I don't need to breach it,"" Elara smiled faintly, a spark of defiant pride in her eyes. ""Apex sent me an administrative authentication token when they initiated the foreclosure seizure. They thought I was an ignorant village girl who didn't know what it meant. The access code is stored on the flash drive in my duffel bag upstairs.""
A slow, wicked smile spread across Leandro's face—the first genuine smile Elara had ever seen on him. It transformed his harsh features into something strikingly handsome.
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""You didn't just save my life at the lake, Elara,"" Leandro said, his voice filled with genuine wonder. ""You just handed me the keys to Salvatore’s entire empire.""
He turned to his commanders, his voice booming with absolute command. ""Scramble the convoy. Vincent, prepare the financial transfer protocols. Elara comes with us in the command vehicle. Tonight, we don't just defeat Salvatore Greco. We strip him of everything he ever stole.""
