Family business
Chapter 12
Family Business
Amara Queen had been inside the Vitale mansion for exactly twenty-seven minutes.
Twenty-seven.
And she had already diagnosed:
One untreated shoulder injury.
Two bad knees.
Three stress ulcers.
One probable rotator cuff tear.
And an alarming number of men with blood pressure problems.
The entire organization needed vegetables.
Immediately.
The realization disturbed her.
Deeply.
?
She sat in a leather chair inside Lorenzo's private office while a strategy meeting unfolded around her.
Maps covered the walls.
Financial reports littered the table.
Security footage played on nearby screens.
The atmosphere felt tense.
Dangerous.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
A dozen powerful men occupied the room.
Capos.
Lieutenants.
Trusted advisors.
The people responsible for helping Lorenzo run an empire.
?
Every single one of them kept sneaking glances at her.
?
The betrayal.
The staring betrayal.
Undefeated.
?
Amara ignored them.
Professionally.
Mostly.
?
One older man finally cleared his throat.
Immediately regretting it.
?
Lorenzo looked up.
"What?"
?
The man pointed toward Amara.
?
Again.
The audacity.
?
"Why is she here?"
?
Silence.
Immediate silence.
?
Every eye turned toward Lorenzo.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
The mafia don leaned back in his chair.
Calm.
Comfortable.
Dangerous.
?
"Someone shot at her."
?
The explanation changed absolutely nothing.
?
The older man blinked.
?
"What does that have to do with this meeting?"
?
Silence.
Absolute silence.
?
Lorenzo slowly placed his glass onto the desk.
?
The room temperature dropped.
Immediately.
?
Because everyone recognized that movement.
?
Danger.
Danger.
Danger.
?
The mafia don smiled.
?
A very bad sign.
?
"A lot."
?
Silence.
?
Nobody asked another question.
?
Smart.
Very smart.
?
Amara continued reading through one of the reports she'd found lying on the table.
Because honestly?
The organization was fascinating.
?
The financial structure alone deserved an award.
Or an indictment.
Possibly both.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
One of the younger captains suddenly frowned.
?
Then frowned harder.
?
Then looked directly at Amara.
?
The poor man had courage.
Unfortunately.
?
"Why are you reading that?"
?
Amara looked up.
?
The entire room froze.
?
Because apparently nobody interrupted her voluntarily.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
The man pointed toward the report.
?
"That's financial information."
?
Silence.
?
Amara blinked.
Once.
Slowly.
?
"Yes."
?
The captain waited.
?
Then:
"Why are you reading it?"
?
Silence.
Absolute silence.
?
The room collectively lost faith in him.
Immediately.
?
Amara looked down at the document.
?
Then back at him.
?
"Because the accounting is terrible."
?
Silence.
?
The captain laughed.
?
Then stopped laughing.
?
Because nobody else was laughing.
?
At all.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
Amara pointed toward a section of the report.
?
"You've got money disappearing here."
?
A pause.
?
"Here."
?
Another.
?
"And here."
?
Silence.
Immediate silence.
?
The room transformed.
?
Every head turned toward the financial records.
?
Then toward the accountant.
?
Then back toward the records.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
The accountant suddenly looked nervous.
?
Very nervous.
?
Sweating nervous.
?
Lorenzo noticed immediately.
Of course he did.
?
The room grew quiet.
Dangerously quiet.
?
"Explain."
?
The single word hit harder than a punch.
?
The accountant swallowed.
Hard.
?
Then harder.
?
Because unfortunately...
The doctor was right.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
Fifteen minutes later security escorted a former accountant out of the mansion.
?
The betrayal.
The embezzlement betrayal.
Undefeated.
?
Amara sipped coffee.
?
Completely unbothered.
?
One of the captains stared.
Then stared harder.
?
Finally he spoke.
?
"You figured that out in five minutes."
?
Amara frowned.
?
"It took five?"
?
Silence.
Absolute silence.
?
The room collectively reconsidered their life choices.
?
Again.
?
Lorenzo looked delighted.
?
Entirely too delighted.
?
The traitor.
?
The complete traitor.
?
The meeting continued.
?
Plans formed.
Strategies developed.
Information moved.
?
Amara listened.
?
Quietly.
?
Observantly.
?
Then something caught her attention.
?
A photograph.
?
Small.
Easy to miss.
?
Tucked inside one of the intelligence reports.
?
A man.
?
Older.
Gray hair.
Expensive suit.
?
Viktor Romano.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
Amara picked up the photograph.
?
Studied it.
?
Then tilted her head.
?
Immediately.
?
Lorenzo noticed.
Of course he did.
?
"What?"
?
Silence.
?
Amara looked at the photograph.
Then at Lorenzo.
Then back at the photograph.
?
Finally:
?
"He has heart disease."
?
Silence.
Immediate silence.
?
The room froze.
?
Again.
?
The captains exchanged glances.
?
One rubbed his forehead.
?
Immediately.
?
Because apparently this was happening now.
?
Lorenzo blinked.
?
"What?"
?
Amara pointed toward the photograph.
?
"The swelling around the eyes."
?
A pause.
?
"The skin discoloration."
?
Another.
?
"The weight distribution."
?
Silence.
?
The room stared.
?
Because once again...
She wasn't guessing.
?
She was observing.
?
Analyzing.
?
Dissecting.
?
Without touching a scalpel.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
Amara placed the photo down.
?
Then casually added:
?
"If I had to guess..."
?
A pause.
?
"He's hiding medication from someone."
?
Silence.
Absolute silence.
?
The room exploded.
?
Questions.
Theories.
Possibilities.
?
Lorenzo remained quiet.
?
Watching her.
?
Studying her.
?
The same way he always did.
?
And for the first time...
The mafia don realized something.
?
He hadn't recruited a doctor.
?
He hadn't even recruited a genius.
?
He'd recruited a weapon.
?
And judging by the smile slowly appearing on Amara's face...
?
The Queen had finally decided to join the game.
End Chapter 12