Chapter 16
Bea had commandeered the surveillance room.
Spread across the massive oak table were shipping manifests, dock schedules, personnel rosters, and surveillance photos from the night of the hijacking.
Her laptop glowed in the dim light. Multiple windows open with financial records, GPS tracking data, and encrypted communications logs.
Three hundred million dollars didn’t just vanish, but there is nothing, Bea isn’t a professional hacker but Nico was damn good and even he couldn’t find anything.
Someone had orchestrated this. Someone with access, authority, and intimate knowledge of the Marchetti operation’s timing and security protocols. Someone who could sneak a stranger into a locked down operation.
Who was the mystery man?
Who is he working for?
Where the hell was Rich?
Rich Hendricks, fifteen-year veteran. Solid record.
But his signature on the manifest looked…
off, compared to all the previous logs, this one was sloppy.
The next thing she wrote down was forged?
Or signed under duress? Was he there somewhere being told to stay hidden?
Was he jumped and killed just so the mystery man could take his place? Did anyone else notice the switch?
She was so deep in the data that she didn’t hear the door open.
“Burning the midnight oil, I see.” Bea’s head snapped up.
A man stood in the doorway, late fifties, maybe early sixties, with silver-streaked dark hair slicked back from a weathered face. He wore an expensive suit, tailored perfectly, and moved with the kind of easy confidence that came from decades of unchallenged authority.
But it was his eyes that made Bea’s instincts scream.
Cold. Calculating. Predatory.
This was not a good man.
“And you are?” Bea asked, her voice neutral.
The man smiled, warm, paternal, completely false.
“Victor Morelli. I’m the under-boss here.
Senior adviser to Dimitri and his brothers.
” He stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.
“I’ve been with this family for over twenty years.
Helped hold things together after their father passed, God rest his soul. ”
Bea’s mind cataloged every detail. The way he moved into her space without invitation.
The proprietary tone when he said “this family.” The subtle emphasis on his tenure, his authority. The way he made their father’s death sound sad.
He was pissing and marking his territory.
“Beatrice Rossi,” she said. “I’m-”
“I know who you are Miss Rossi.” Victor crossed the room slowly, his gaze sweeping over the scattered documents. “The interrogator. The fixer. The woman Dimitri hired to find our rat.”
“That’s right.” She smiled sweetly at him.
“Making progress?” as he stepped closer to her.
“Some.” She won’t give him anything more than that.
Victor stopped beside her chair, too close, invading her personal space with deliberate intent. Bea didn’t move. Didn’t flinch. Just watched him with the same cool assessment she’d use on any predator.
He reached out and picked up a strand of her hair between his fingers, rubbing it like he was assessing fabric quality. Before stepping away to the other side of the table that stood between them.
Bea’s skin crawled.
“So you’re the woman these boys are losing their balls to.” Victor said, his voice dripping with condescension.
Bea pulled her hair free from his grip, her expression unchanging. “Excuse me? I don’t believe that is any way to speak to a woman Mr. Morelli.”
Victor’s smile widened, showing too many teeth.
“I’ll speak how I want, to who I want, and I think it’s time someone gave you some friendly advice.
” He leaned against the table, his posture casual but his eyes sharp.
“The boys are just blowing off steam with you. Powerful men like them don’t have a fat girl by their side.
Not permanently. You’re a… distraction. A novelty. Holes to put their dicks in.”
Bea felt the words land, designed to wound, to diminish, to make her small.
She smiled.
“You need to leave before they break your little heart,” Victor continued, his tone almost gentle now, like he was doing her a favor. “Take your money, and go back to whatever hole you crawled out of. You don’t belong here.”
Bea leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms, her smile never wavering. “That’s sweet advice. Really. But I’ll leave when I catch whoever stole three hundred million dollars from Dimitri. Not before, and I am going to enjoy watching those ‘boys’ destroy the piece of shit who did.”
Victor’s expression flickered, just for a second, something dark and dangerous flashing behind the paternal mask.
“And if you have a problem with that,” Bea added, her voice dropping to something cold and sharp, “maybe it’s because you’re hiding something.”
The room went very still.
Victor’s jaw tightened. His hands curled into fists. The mask slipped completely, revealing the man beneath, furious, threatened, violent.
He moved fast for a man his age. One second, he was leaning against the table. The next he was lunging toward her, his hand reaching for her throat, his face twisted with rage.
Bea’s chair scraped backward, her body coiling to defend herself when the door slammed open.
“What the fuck is going on in here?”
Nico stood in the doorway, his eyes blazing, his entire body radiating lethal intent. He took in the scene in an instant, Victor’s aggressive posture, Bea’s defensive stance, the tension crackling between them like a live wire.
Victor straightened immediately, smoothing his suit, his expression shifting back to calm professionalism so fast it was almost impressive.
“Nico, son” he said evenly. “I was just introducing myself to Miss Rossi. Making sure she has everything she needs for her investigation.”
Nico’s gaze flicked to Bea. “That true?”
Bea held his eyes, her expression unreadable. She could tell him. Could expose Victor’s threats, his aggression, his barely-concealed contempt, but something stopped her.
If Victor was the rat, and every instinct she had was screaming that he was, then tipping her hand now would be a mistake. He’d cover his tracks, destroy evidence, maybe even run.
No. Better to let him think she was rattled. Let him think he’d won.
“Just getting acquainted,” Bea said lightly. “Victor was telling me about his history with the family.”
Nico’s eyes narrowed slightly. He didn’t believe her, she could see it in the way his jaw tightened, the way his hands flexed at his sides.
But he didn’t push.
“Victor,” Nico said, his voice cold. “I need to speak with Bea. Alone.”
Victor’s smile returned, smooth and easy. “Of course. I’ll leave you to it.” He headed for the door, pausing beside Nico. “I’m glad to be home, son. I’ve missed being here.”
Nico didn’t respond. Victor left, closing the door softly behind him. The silence that followed was deafening.
Nico crossed the room slowly, his eyes locked on Bea’s face. “What really happened?”
Bea stood, gathering the scattered documents with deliberate calm. “He introduced himself. Made some comments about my body and my place here. Suggested I leave before I get hurt.”
Nico’s entire body went rigid. “Did he threaten you?”
“He tried to intimidate me,” Bea corrected. “There’s a difference.”
“Bea-”
“And then I told him I’d leave when I caught the person who stole the three hundred million.” She looked up, meeting his gaze. “He didn’t like that.”
Nico’s hands curled into fists. “Did he touch you?”
“Just my hair, briefly.”
“I’m going to go get Dimitri.”
“No, you’re not.” Bea’s voice was sharp, commanding. “If you do, this will blow up and we’ll never find out if he’s involved.”
Nico froze. “You think Victor-”
“I think,” Bea interrupted, “that a man who’s been with your family for twenty years, who helped hold things together after your father died. Who has access to every operation, every shipment, every security protocol. That man would be the perfect inside player.”
Nico stared at her, his expression shifting from rage to something colder, more calculating.
“You think he’s the rat.”
“I think he’s a possibility.” Bea tapped the personnel roster.
“I have absolutely no leads, and I haven’t felt that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you know something is wrong.
I felt that just now with him and I think his reaction when I mentioned the investigation was very telling. ”
Nico was silent for a long moment, processing. Then: “Victor has been loyal to this family since before I was born. He was my father’s right hand. He’s-”
“The perfect cover,” Bea finished. “No one would suspect him. No one would question him. He could move product, falsify records, authorize absences, all without raising a single red flag.”
Nico’s jaw worked. “If you’re wrong-”
“Then I’m wrong, and we keep looking.” Bea stepped closer, her voice softening slightly. “But if I’m right, and you tip him off now, he’ll disappear.”
Nico’s eyes searched hers. “What do you need?”
“Time mostly. Access to his financial records, his communications, his movements over the past six months.” Bea paused. “And I need you to act like nothing’s changed. Like you still trust him completely.”
“That’s going to be hard after what he just did.”
“I know.” Bea reached out, her fingers brushing his. “Also please don’t tell Killian or Dimitri just yet.”
Nico caught her hand, his grip tight. “If he touches you again-”
“He won’t get the chance.”
“Bea-”
“I can handle Victor Morelli.” Her voice was steel wrapped in silk. “What I need is for you to trust me. Can you do that?”
Nico stared at her for a long moment. Then, slowly, he nodded.
“Good.” Bea squeezed his hand once, then pulled away. “Now get out of here. I have work to do.”
He didn’t move. “You’re staying in this room alone after what just happened?”
“I’m armed, trained, and extremely pissed off.” Bea’s smile was sharp. “Victor should be more worried about me than I am about him.”
Despite everything, Nico’s mouth twitched. “You’re insane.”
“You guys hired me for a reason.”
“I’m starting to remember why Dimitri also wanted to kill you.”
“Good thing I’m growing on you all.” She says with a sweet smile.
Nico turned to leave, then paused at the door. “Bea?”
“Yeah Nico?”
“Be careful.”
“I will be.” She gave him a genuine smile.
He left, Bea waited until his footsteps faded, then sank back into her chair, her hands shaking slightly.
Victor Morelli. The trusted adviser. The loyal underboss.
The man who’d held the family together. The man who’d just shown her exactly what he thought of her, and exactly how dangerous he could be.
Bea pulled her notebook closer and opened where she left off and wrote what was flashing in her mind.
VICTOR MORELLI - PRIMARY SUSPECT