Chapter 9 - The Ultimatum
The car skidded to a violent halt on the empty highway.
Allie asked me what was wrong.
I stared at the dashboard, realizing the absolute magnitude of my mistake.
Without the ledger, I had zero leverage against Lorenzo Falco.
My estate was gone, my men were scattered, and I was holding the one thing Lorenzo wanted most.
My phone suddenly vibrated in the console.
It was a blocked number.
I answered the call, my jaw tight with fury.
Lorenzo Falco’s smooth, arrogant voice echoed through the speaker.
He told me he was watching my burning house from across the lake.
He laughed and thanked me for returning his property.
I realized with absolute horror that he meant the flash drive.
One of his divers must have retrieved it from the water after I fell.
Lorenzo told me that the game was officially over.
He demanded that I bring his daughter and the maid to his compound in exactly one hour.
If I refused, he would release the blackmail files and have the federal government dismantle my entire syndicate by morning.
I looked in the rearview mirror at the terrified woman and the sleeping child.
I told Lorenzo he could burn in hell.
I hung up the phone and smashed it against the steering wheel.
I had no army, no leverage, and no time.
But I still had the one thing that made me the most feared man in Chicago.
I had my absolute ruthlessness.
I put the car in gear and drove straight toward the downtown penthouse.
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I was not going to surrender to Lorenzo.
I was going to arm myself and slaughter every single man in his compound.
