Chapter 12 - Confessions in the Dark
The Cicero warehouse smelled of stale beer, wet concrete, and old iron dust.
Shadows stretched long and jagged across the concrete floor beneath the sickly yellow glow of a single overhead bulb.
Julian Vane sat tied to a heavy wooden chair, his expensive Brioni tailcoat torn, his silver hair disheveled over his bruised forehead.
When the heavy steel door groaned open, the fallen patriarch of Chicago raised his head with difficulty.
His eyes widened in sheer disbelief as Evelyn stepped out of the darkness into the pool of light.
"Evelyn," Julian rasped, his voice cracked and dry like grinding stones.
"You're... you're supposed to be dead."
"Your security team was very thorough, Julian," Evelyn said, stepping forward until she stood inches from him.
"They burned my apartment down to the floorboards."
"They killed my neighbors' peace of mind and terrorized the block."
"Too bad for you that I wasn't inside."
Julian snarled, his patrician arrogance flashing behind his swollen eyelids like a dying ember.
"You're nothing more than a glorified waitress who got lucky in a high-stakes game you don't understand!" he spat out.
"Moretti will discard you the moment he gets what he wants!"
"Julian," a deep, velvet voice cut through the damp air from the shadows.
Lorenzo stepped forward into the light, his dark suit immaculate, his expression completely devoid of mercy.
"She didn't get lucky."
"She outsmarted you, outplayed you, and brought down your entire federal network with a cocktail napkin and a stolen pen."
Lorenzo placed a heavy hand on Evelyn’s shoulder, his fingers offering a quiet, unshakeable anchor of strength.
"And now, you are going to tell us where the offshore accounts for the weapons shipments are hidden."
"Or I will let Marcus handle your interrogation without my supervision."
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Julian looked from Lorenzo’s merciless gaze to Evelyn’s unblinking eyes, and the final illusion of his invincibility finally cracked.
He slumped forward in the chair, his shoulders shaking with silent, bitter defeat.
