Chapter 7 - The Cornered Wolf
Two weeks after the gala, the autumn air had turned biting and cruel.
Serena Voss sat in the cramped waiting room of a second-tier bail bondsman in East Boston, chewing her acrylic nails down to the quick. Her designer bag was scuffed, her bank cards had all been declined, and her landlord had changed the locks on her luxury condo on Newbury Street due to frozen assets.
The frosted glass door opened, and Luca stepped in.
He didn't look like a kingpin anymore. He wore a heavy wool peacoat with the collar pulled up against the chill, his face shadowed with a dark beard, his eyes sunken and bloodshot.
""Did you bring the money?"" Serena demanded, jumping up from her chair, her voice shrill with panic. ""My lawyer says the state is preparing an indictment for wire fraud! They're looking into the funds you moved through my Milan accounts!""
Luca looked at her. For the first time, he saw her without the intoxicating perfume and the dim lights of exclusive lounges. He saw an aging, desperate grifter whose greed had lured him into destroying everything he had built.
""There is no money, Serena,"" Luca said quietly, his voice hollow.
""What do you mean there's no money?!"" she shrieked, grabbing his lapels. ""You're a Corvino! You have millions hidden away! You promised me we would take over the European expansion together!""
Luca pushed her off him with a single, contemptuous shove. ""The expansion is dead. The accounts are frozen. The commission gave my territorial rights to Vincenzo’s nephew yesterday. I am stripped, Serena. I have nothing.""
""You dragged me into this!"" she cried, tears ruining her expensive mascara. ""I had a career! I had clients!""
""You had a scheme,"" Luca spat back, leaning in close, his old menace flaring for a brief, terrifying second. ""You wanted Lena’s life. You wanted her seat at the table. Well, look around you. This is what you get when you try to steal from a woman who built the room you're standing in.""
He turned his back on her and walked out into the cold drizzle, leaving her weeping hysterically in the dingy office.
Luca walked through the city on foot. For twenty years, he had traveled Boston in armored Suburbans, surrounded by men who would take a bullet for him. Now, people brushed past him on the sidewalk without a second glance. He was invisible.
He pulled his phone from his pocket. He had one number left to call.
He dialed.
The phone rang three times before a calm, melodic voice answered.
""Hello, Luca.""
Luca closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against the damp brick wall of an alleyway. ""Lena.""
""If you're calling to threaten me, Luca, this line is recorded by Pendelton & Warren,"" she said without emotion.
""I'm not threatening you,"" he croaked, the words tasting like ash in his mouth. ""I... I need to talk to you. Just once. Face to face. No lawyers. No screens.""
There was a long silence on the other end of the line. For a moment, Luca thought she had hung up.
""Meet me at the harbor pavilion,"" Lena said finally. ""Thirty minutes. Come alone, Luca. If anyone follows you, I hang up, and the marshals will execute the search warrants on your Dover estate tonight.""
May you like
""I'll be alone,"" Luca promised.
He hung up, pulling his coat tighter against the wind. He was walking into the lion’s den, and for the first time in his life, he was the prey.
