Chapter 6 - The Shadow in Zurich
"The call was routed through four bouncing proxy servers in Geneva, Berlin, and Montreal," Vincent said ten minutes later, leaning over the main console in the security war room. "It's untraceable through standard telecom networks."
I stood in the center of the room, my hands shoved deep into my trousers pockets, staring at the blank screen of the satellite tracer.
"It’s the Aegis Group," I said grimly.
Vincent snapped his head around. "Aegis? The private European military contractor?"
"Julian mentioned them three years ago when we were bidding on the Hamburg port expansion," I explained, my mind racing through every contract, every meeting, and every financial transaction of the last decade. "Aegis doesn't just do corporate security. They specialize in high-end asset liquidation for billionaires. If Julian signed a secondary contract with them, it means he set up a fail-safe trigger."
"A fail-safe trigger?" Sophia asked from the doorway. She had followed us down to the security wing, refusing to stay upstairs while the safety of the house was being discussed.
I turned to look at her. "If Julian was arrested or killed before completing the takeover of Moretti Enterprises, the retainer he paid Aegis automatically converts into an open bounty on Ethan's legal claim to the trust."
Sophia’s face drained of color. "They... they still want to hurt Ethan?"
"They want the money, Sophia," I said, walking over to her and taking her cold hands in mine. "Aegis doesn't care about revenge or loyalty. They are mercenaries. They care about collecting the remaining fifty million dollars sitting in Julian's Swiss escrow account, which pays out automatically if Ethan’s legal claim to the estate is terminated."
"Then we go on the offensive," Vincent declared, pulling up a map of Western Europe on the main digital board. "We know where Aegis operates out of. Their primary corporate headquarters is in Zurich, masked as a private wealth management firm called Vanguard Alpine Holdings."
"We can't fight a international mercenary syndicate with defense alone," I agreed, my eyes burning with a dark, familiar fire. "If we stay behind the walls of this estate, waiting for them to make a move, eventually they will find a crack in our armor."
"What are you going to do, Dominic?" Sophia asked, her voice trembling with deep concern as she looked up into my eyes. "You can't go to Europe! It's a trap!"
"I am not going to Europe to fight them, Sophia," I said softly, reaching up to gently touch her cheek. "I am going to buy them."
Vincent blinked, caught completely off guard. "Buy them?"
"Aegis operates on money," I explained, a cold, calculating smile spreading across my lips. "Julian offered them twenty million from a stolen trust fund. I own sixty percent of the transatlantic shipping corridors they use to move their private equipment across borders. I am going to make their Chief Executive Officer an offer that makes Julian Vance look like a street beggar."
"And if they refuse?" Vincent asked.
"Then I will use my leverage with the International Maritime Security Coalition to seize every ship, every bank account, and every asset Aegis holds in North America by midnight tomorrow," I said flatly. "They can choose to be fifty million dollars richer, or they can choose to be erased from the global financial system."
I turned back to Vincent. "Prepare my private jet at JFK. We fly to Zurich at 1:00 PM."
"Dominic, wait," Sophia pleaded, stepping directly into my path, her eyes filled with an intensity I had never seen in her before. "You're walking into the lion's den! What if they don't listen to logic? What if they try to kill you?"
I looked down at her, feeling a powerful, overwhelming surge of affection for this woman who had walked into my cold world and changed everything in less than twenty-four hours.
"They won't kill me, Sophia," I said gently, taking both of her hands and bringing them to my chest, letting her feel the strong, steady beat of my heart. "Because I have something to come back to now. Two things I refuse to leave behind."
Sophia looked into my eyes, her tears spilling over her dark lashes, but she didn't pull her hands away. She leaned up on her tiptoes and pressed a soft, lingering kiss against my cheek.
"Bring yourself back to us, Dominic Moretti," she whispered against my ear. "Ethan and Lily need you. And so do I."
My heart pounded in my chest. I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her close for one brief, powerful second, breathing in her scent, anchoring myself to the warmth of her body.
"I’ll be back before sunrise tomorrow," I promised.
Ten minutes later, I was stepping into the back of a black armored SUV on the driveway, flanked by Vincent and four of my top tactical operatives.
As the heavy vehicle rolled down the brick driveway toward the iron gates, I looked out the tinted window.
May you like
Standing on the front porch of the mansion were Ethan, Lily, and Sophia. Lily was waving her tiny hand frantically, while Ethan stood beside Sophia, his arm wrapped around her waist like a protective little brother.
I raised my hand to the window, watching my family grow smaller in the distance, knowing that no matter what waited for me across the Atlantic Ocean, nothing on earth was going to stop me from coming home.
