Signora's Theatrical Revenge

Racing against time, I headed into my office at dawn. Since midnight, I’d been relaying diversion orders to set up a trap and gain the upper hand. At this point, I couldn’t trust anyone inside the fold, so I had to bring in an ace from the outside.

Not long after I sat down at my computer, an encrypted video call came through. I quickly logged in the password and answered.

“Heya, darling! Looks like you’ve gotten yourself caught in a tricky snare. Getting out won’t be easy,” he greeted me.

This guy was a notorious hacker in the business—no one had ever tracked him down or figured out his background. He always hid behind a silly mask, and having his contact was pure luck. Although he looked quite untrustworthy, he would never turn on a client and risk a bad reputation.

“What’ve you got for me, Fox?”

“Everything, darling. Everything, for the right price.”

I frowned. I couldn’t see his face, but I knew he had a smug smile behind that mask.

“I’m in a bind here, Fox. Name your price later. Spill.”

“I’ll hold you to that, hun!” His tone shifted, and he immediately shared a file on the screen.

The anger I hadn’t felt last night erupted with the force of a supernova as I looked at the information.

“Someone in the Russo family played you like a fiddle,” Fox began, his tone serious. “That busted Russian deal five years ago wasn’t the end of it. Salvatori has been sabotaging Russo operations from the shadows ever since the Viridian bloodshed.”

“How the hell did I miss all this?” I was in disbelief. Massive operations were happening right under my nose, and I hadn’t caught a whiff of it.

“You would’ve noticed if you hadn’t locked yourself away in Ravensgate.”

I slammed my hand on the table, frustration boiling over. “There’s no way the Russos would take that quietly. Why didn’t they raise hell?”

Fox chuckled, opening another folder. “Oh, they did. Someone’s been busy sweeping everything under the rug.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered, dumbfounded.

The folder was filled with investigation files dating back six years ago—secret transactions, unauthorized psyops, records of Russo’s deals getting compromised, and countless attacks on their businesses. And all of it was being traced back to me.

I was starting to think I was the idiot and not Dominic.

There was only one person who could’ve hidden something this big from me, and I was boiling with rage just thinking about making him pay.

“Don’t get too worked up yet. We’re just getting to the best part.”

He showed me another file, this one detailing Talia’s activities over the past five years. Subtle, but there were clear signs of her involvement in each incident linked to Salvatori. Not only that, but the missing Salvatori funds were being funneled straight into her pockets.

“That swine bitch!”

“I know, right?” Fox’s voice took on a jubilant tone. “Here’s the kicker—Talia’s been missing for the last 24 hours, and Don Russo’s been tearing through every city trying to find her. But guess what? I caught her on CCTV last night.”

“Where was she?”

“She went to a countryside hospital, pregnant, the day she disappeared. But by midnight, she slipped out quietly, and let’s just say, the balloon had popped.”

A dry laugh escaped my lips, almost involuntarily, as the pieces started to click into place.

As I watched the footage, something caught my eye—she wasn’t alone. A man was waiting for her inside an unidentified car, but the footage was too dark to make out his face.

I leaned closer to the screen. “Did you get an ID on the guy in the car?”

Fox went silent, the line thick with tension. “Amore,” he finally said, his voice low, “you know the rules. I can’t divulge a client’s information.”

“Hah!” I laughed in disbelief. Every piece of intel from Fox made me want to set the world on fire.

This guy was part of the reason nothing was reaching me, and I hired him to help me out. Damn irony!

“Do you flirt with all your clients, or just me?” I asked, needing to distract myself from making him an enemy too.

“Only because I like you,” he teased, but I could hear a serious edge to his voice.

“Fine. I'll pay you whatever you ask. I want everything you can dig up on her and the scum she’s working with, especially this guy,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Now, we’re talking!” He rejoiced.