Chapter 7 - Gregory's Panic
|
Across the city, in a high-rise glass office overlooking Central Park, Gregory Whitmore was screaming at his phone.
“What do you mean she’s married to him?!” Gregory roared, his face turning an ugly shade of mottled red. He paced the length of his office, his expensive leather shoes squeaking against the polished floor.
On the other end of the line, Vanessa Thorne sounded incredibly hysterical. She was sitting in the back of a luxury town car, speeding away from the Castellano estate.
“I’m telling you, Gregory, I saw it with my own eyes!” Vanessa cried. “He walked into the foyer, called her his wife, and had his gorillas throw me out of the house! Meridian Capital just lost their biggest legitimate investor because of your pathetic ex-wife!”
Gregory gripped the edge of his desk, his mind spinning wildly out of control. Nora was supposed to be living in a roach-infested studio apartment. She was supposed to be crawling back to him, begging for alimony. She wasn't supposed to be married to the head of the Italian syndicate.
“Did she say anything about the accounts?” Gregory demanded, panic finally piercing his arrogant armor. “Vanessa, did she mention the Russian funds?”
“No! She was dressed like a maid! I thought she was just a nanny!” Vanessa sobbed. “But Gregory, my purse fell open. My master access card is missing.”
The blood completely drained from Gregory’s face. The master access card held the encryption keys to the offshore shell companies. If Luca Castellano’s hackers got their hands on that card, they would see that Gregory had been skimming millions off the top of the money he was laundering for the Volkov crime family.
“You stupid bitch,” Gregory hissed, pure terror making his voice shake. “If Volkov finds out I’ve been stealing from him, he won't just kill me. He’ll torture me for weeks. Cancel the card. Call IT right now and cancel the card!”
“I tried!” Vanessa shrieked. “The servers are completely locked! Castellano’s people have already initiated a brute-force firewall block. I’m locked out of my own system!”
Gregory dropped the phone onto his desk, his hands trembling violently.
He was trapped. His quiet, submissive, plain ex-wife had just handed his head to the mob on a silver platter. He needed to get the card back. He needed to talk to Nora. He needed to convince her that she was making a massive mistake before she handed the data over to the Russians.
May you like
He looked at his calendar. The Mayor’s Charity Gala was tomorrow night. Castellano never missed a political event.
Gregory walked to his private bar, poured three fingers of scotch, and downed it in one gulp. He was going to the gala, and he was going to get his life back.
