Chapter 13 - the checkmate maneuver
Julian leaned forward over the table, his eyes narrowing into venomous slits. "You speak out of turn, Clara. You might have been high society before Roman bought you, but in this room, you are merely collateral. One phone call from me, and the regulatory seizure goes live."
"Make the call," Clara replied smoothly, crossing her legs and leaning back in her chair.
Julian let out a harsh, condescending laugh. He reached into his coat pocket, pulled out an encrypted satellite device, and dialed a rapid three-digit speed code. He put the phone to his ear, staring directly into Roman's unflinching eyes. "Execute the freeze on Vance Logistics. Shut down the eastern corridor immediately."
There was a long pause on the other end. Julian's confident expression began to flicker. "Repeat that? Speak up," Julian snapped into the receiver.
A voice came through the speaker, frantic and strained, audible even across the silent table: *"Sir, the transaction failed! The Swiss central depository flagged our primary clearinghouse for sovereign sanctions evasion five minutes ago! Every single euro in our operational accounts has been locked down by Interpol’s financial crimes division!"*
Julian sprang to his feet so violently that his dining chair crashed onto the carpet. His face flushed a deep, humiliated crimson. "What are you talking about?! Who authorized an Interpol flag?!"
"I did," Clara said, pulling a slender titanium flash drive from her clutch and placing it onto the white tablecloth. "My father left behind a direct audit trail of your father’s illicit money laundering operations through Geneva. You made the foolish mistake of routing your Chicago takeover through the exact same shell corporations your father established thirty years ago. I simply uploaded the matching forensic cryptography to the Hague twenty minutes before we walked into this building."
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Julian looked between Clara and the flash drive, his chest heaving, the veins along his neck bulging against his collar. The untouchable financier had suddenly realized the ground beneath his feet had turned into quicksand.
"You ruined Nolan Whitmore because he touched my wife's dress," Roman said, his voice dropping into a register that made Julian’s armed guards exchange uneasy glances. "Did you really think I wouldn't let her tear your entire kingdom down to the foundation?"
