Chapter 4 - The Poisoned Bride
Vincent stared at me for three long seconds. A slow, approving smirk spread across his lips—a look of genuine admiration that transformed his rugged features.
""Marco, get her a clean suit from the guest closet and a Glock 19,"" Vincent ordered. ""If she wants to stand on the firing line, she earns her seat.""
Ten minutes later, the private double doors of the penthouse swung open. In walked Victoria Kensington, looking every bit the high-society heiress in a pristine ivory designer suit, her platinum blonde hair styled to perfection. Behind her walked her father, Arthur Kensington, an aging patrician with cold, calculating eyes, followed closely by Leo Vance, who had his hand casually resting near his concealed sidearm.
""Vincent, darling!"" Victoria called out with melodic, practiced sweetness. ""We tried calling your cell, but it went straight to voicemail. Leo said there was some minor disturbance with one of your domestic staff on the South Side?""
She rounded the corner into the main living room and froze dead in her tracks.
I was standing beside Vincent, dressed in an immaculate charcoal-grey women's tailored suit Marco had provided. My posture was upright, my chin raised, and resting on the glass table directly in front of me was the Panasonic Toughbook, its screen mirroring the high-resolution surveillance photos of Victoria meeting Dmitri in a back-alley warehouse.
Victoria’s blue eyes widened in shock, the color instantly draining from her flawless face. ""Penelope? What on earth is this filthy little thief doing in your penthouse, Vincent? Did you interrogate her before having her arrested?""
""She’s not the one being interrogated tonight, Victoria,"" Vincent said smoothly, walking over to the marble wet bar and calmly pouring himself two fingers of neat bourbon. He didn't offer a glass to anyone else.
Leo Vance’s hand twitched toward his coat. Instantly, Marco stepped out from the hallway shadows, pressing the cold barrel of a sound-suppressed pistol directly against the base of Leo’s skull.
""Don't even twitch your fingers, Leo,"" Marco whispered harshly. ""I’ve been itching for an excuse to splatter your brains across this imported wallpaper for five years.""
""Vincent, what is the meaning of this outrage?"" Arthur Kensington blustered, stepping forward with aristocratic indignation. ""You allow a common maid and your hotheaded brother to disrespect my daughter on the eve of the biggest union in this city’s history?""
""Your daughter is a remarkably talented liar, Arthur,"" Vincent said, taking a slow sip of his whiskey. ""Almost as talented as you were when you paid Leo Vance two hundred thousand dollars to drown Thomas Abbott in Lake Michigan.""
The silence that followed was deafening. Arthur’s mouth dropped open, his skin turning the color of curdled milk.
Victoria slowly backed toward the doorway, but the heavy steel double doors had already clicked shut, locked down by the penthouse’s emergency security protocol.
""You can't prove a word of this,"" Victoria hissed, dropping the sweet debutante facade entirely. Her voice turned shrill, ugly, and venomous. ""You're listening to the lunatic ramblings of an orphaned servant girl who was scrubbing my toilets three days ago! She stole company files to extort us because she couldn't pay her father's gambling debts!""
""Show them, Penny,"" Vincent commanded quietly.
I tapped the spacebar on the laptop. A crystal-clear audio recording began playing through the penthouse surround-sound speakers.
“Make sure the snipers aim for Vincent’s chest first,” Victoria’s recorded voice echoed through the high-ceilinged room, unmistakable and horrifyingly clear. “If you shoot him in the head at the altar, it will ruin the photographs. Once Dmitri takes out his brothers, Leo will hand over the shipping codes. The city belongs to us by sunrise.”
Victoria staggered backward, her hands flying to her mouth.
""Where did you get that?"" she shrieked, glaring at me with raw, murderous hatred. ""Silas searched you! You dropped the drive!""
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""I dropped a decoy USB drive when Silas tackled the vase,"" I replied calmly, looking her straight in the eye. ""I kept the real master card taped to the inside of my maid's apron. You should have paid closer attention to the girl scrubbing your floors, Victoria. You might have noticed I was smarter than you.""
""Kill them!"" Leo suddenly screamed, spinning violently to wrestle Marco's gun away.
