Chapter 4 - The Betrayal
The room went so silent that the ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner sounded like hammer blows against iron.
Julian looked at the cufflink, then down at his left sleeve. The cuff was loose, the silver fastener visibly missing. The composure he had maintained for twelve years crumbled in a matter of seconds, replaced by a raw, hollow terror.
"Mr. Caruso..." Julian whispered, his voice trembling so violently he could barely speak. "I... I can explain."
Derek immediately reached under his jacket, his hand wrapping around the grip of his sidearm. "You son of a bitch," Derek growled, stepping forward. "You opened the safe."
"No! I didn't open it for myself!" Julian cried out, falling to his knees before the table, his hands clasped together in desperate plea. "They forced me! God help me, Vincent, they forced me!"
Vincent did not move. He did not draw a weapon. He simply sat back in his chair, his eyes dark and cold as the grave. "Who forced you, Julian?"
"The Morettis," Julian sobbed, tears spilling down his pale, wrinkled cheeks. "They... they found my son in Chicago. He accumulated two million dollars in gambling debts at their illegal casinos. They sent me a picture of him three days ago... tied to a chair in a warehouse in Gary, Indiana. They told me if I didn't give them the ledger by midnight tonight, they would send him back to me in a box!"
Hannah held her breath, pulling Lily closer against her chest. Even in her own terror, she felt a sudden, sickening wave of pity for the old man.
"So you used Hannah’s child," Vincent said, his tone dropping into a terrifyingly quiet calm. "Tell me how you did it."
Julian wiped his face with a trembling hand. "I... I knew the master wing was cleared at eight. I went to the breakroom and used my master key to unlock the door. I knew if the guards saw a little girl wandering the halls, they would assume she had slipped away from her mother. I needed a distraction... something to draw the hall guards away from your study for five minutes."
"You used a three-year-old girl as a shield?" Derek spat, his face twisted in disgust.
"I left the breakroom door open and dropped a trail of small candies toward the east corridor!" Julian wept. "I knew she would follow them! While the guard on duty went to pick her up, I slipped into your office with the lockpicking kit the Morettis gave me. I had three minutes! Just three minutes!"
"And what happened when you opened the safe?" Vincent asked.
"I got the steel panel open," Julian confessed, his voice barely a whisper. "I pulled the ledger out... but then I heard footsteps right outside the door! I panicked. I dropped the book on the floor, shoved the panel shut, and ran through the balcony doors before anyone could see me. I didn't know... I didn't know the little girl had walked in behind me!"
Vincent stood up slowly. He walked around the table until he was standing over the kneeling old man.
"You brought the Morettis into my house, Julian," Vincent said softly. "You put my life, my organization, and an innocent child at risk to save your weak-willed son."
"Kill me," Julian wept, pressing his forehead against the carpet at Vincent’s feet. "Just please... please don't let them hurt my boy."
Vincent looked at the old man for a long time. Then he turned his head toward Derek.
"Take him down to the basement," Vincent ordered flatly. "Lock him in the secure holding cell. Strip him of his phone, his keys, and his belt. Nobody speaks to him until I say so."
"And the Morettis, Boss?" Derek asked, grabbing Julian by the collar and hauling him to his feet. "They’re expecting a drop tonight."
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Vincent looked at his watch. It was nine-forty-five PM.
"The Morettis think they hold the cards," Vincent said, a dark, dangerous smile touching his lips. "It’s time to show them what happens when they touch something that belongs to Caruso."
