Chapter 2 - The Debt That Was Never Liam’s
Victor’s car waited beneath the hotel’s private loading dock.
It was a black armored sedan with windows dark enough to hide the people inside. Two guards stood near the rear door. Another held open an umbrella against the cold rain beginning to fall over Manhattan.
Tessa stopped before getting in.
“You are taking me to Liam?”
Victor stood beside the car, his suit jacket marked with dust and a faint streak of blood that was not his.
“I am taking you somewhere safe.”
“That is not what I asked.”
“No.”
Tessa looked back toward the St. Regis, where police lights began flashing across the wet pavement. Guests spilled from the building in confusion, expensive dresses soaked by rain and panic.
“I am not leaving without my brother.”
Victor studied her.
Then he gave an order to one of his guards.
“Call the warehouse.”
The guard spoke quietly into an earpiece. His face changed after a few seconds.
“Sir,” he said. “Gabriel’s men never checked Liam’s apartment.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“They found it empty.”
Tessa’s heart jumped.
Liam was gone.
For one second, relief nearly overwhelmed her.
Then Victor’s expression became colder.
“Find out where Gabriel sent them,” he said.
The guard nodded and moved away.
Victor turned toward Tessa.
“Your brother ran.”
“He was scared.”
“He should be.”
She stepped closer, anger replacing fear.
“Your people broke his ribs.”
“Gabriel’s people.”
“You keep saying that like it changes anything.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
It did not make him innocent. Tessa knew that.
But something about his silence suggested he knew it too.
He opened the car door.
“Get in, Tessa.”
“I need to call Liam.”
Victor handed her a secure phone.
“Try.”
She dialed Liam’s number.
It rang once.
Then twice.
Then went to voicemail.
“Liam,” she said after the beep, struggling to keep her voice steady. “It’s me. Please call me. Please tell me where you are.”
She ended the call and looked at Victor.
“What now?”
“Now,” he said, “we find out why Gabriel lied about the debt.”
The car moved through the city.
Tessa sat across from Victor in tense silence, still wearing her torn service uniform beneath the jacket one of his guards had placed around her shoulders. The rain streaked the windows, turning Manhattan into silver and black fragments.
Victor opened a leather folder on the seat beside him.
Inside were documents.
Bank statements.
Loan agreements.
Company registrations.
Tessa stared at them.
“Why are you showing me this?”
“Because you said you are an accountant.”
“I am.”
“Then read.”
She took the papers.
At first, the figures looked ordinary: a $50,000 loan from Oakmont Holdings, interest rates, collateral clauses, repayment conditions.
But after three pages, she saw the inconsistency.
The account number listed for Oakmont did not match the number used in the payment receipt.
The loan was registered to Liam Montgomery.
But the funds had been transferred through three intermediary accounts before reaching him.
And one of those accounts belonged to a company called Pendleton Urban Renewal.
Arthur Pendleton.
The real-estate CEO she had seen laughing at the gala.
Tessa turned another page.
Her stomach dropped.
“This isn’t Liam’s debt.”
Victor looked at her.
“Explain.”
“The loan was a cover.” She pointed at the figures. “The money came from Oakmont, but Oakmont did not lend it to Liam. It used Liam’s name to move funds from Pendleton Urban Renewal.”
“Why?”
“To hide the transaction.” Tessa’s mind raced. “Someone needed a disposable borrower. Someone with poor credit, gambling habits, and no legal protection. Liam was perfect.”
Victor’s eyes went colder.
“Gabriel.”
“Yes,” Tessa said. “But he was not working alone.”
She traced another transfer.
“Pendleton’s company moved nearly nine million dollars through shell accounts. Oakmont converted part of it into smaller loans. Some went to people like Liam, but the money never truly belonged to them.”
Victor took the folder from her.
“So Gabriel created debts that could not be repaid.”
“Yes.”
“And used those debts to control people.”
Tessa looked at him.
“That is what men like him do.”
Victor did not respond.
His phone rang.
He answered after one ring.
“Speak.”
The guard’s voice was too faint for Tessa to hear.
Victor’s expression changed.
“Where?”
He listened.
Then he ended the call and looked toward Tessa.
“Your brother called one of Gabriel’s runners from a burner phone.”
“Is he okay?”
“He said he has proof.”
Tessa’s breath caught.
“Proof of what?”
“Gabriel meeting with Arthur Pendleton.”
The car suddenly felt too small.
Victor leaned forward.
“Liam says Gabriel told Pendleton the assassination attempt tonight was not meant to succeed.”
Tessa stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
Victor’s face became unreadable.
“It means someone wanted me alive,” he said. “Just frightened enough to retaliate against the wrong people.”
Tessa understood.
The attack was meant to make Victor think a rival syndicate had targeted him.
If he struck back, the city could descend into violence.
Meanwhile, Gabriel and Pendleton would profit from the chaos.
But there was more.
Tessa looked at the loan documents again.
“They need you distracted,” she said.
Victor watched her carefully.
“Why?”
“Because Pendleton is moving money. He may be trying to buy property or destroy evidence while everyone watches you.”
Victor’s phone lit up again.
This time, the message came from an unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
Liam.
He was tied to a chair in a dark room, blood running from his forehead.
Below the image were six words.
BRING TESSA OR HE DIES TONIGHT.
Tessa stopped breathing.
Victor’s eyes met hers.
Then he handed her the phone.
“Gabriel has him,” he said.
Tessa’s hands shook.
“I’ll go.”
“No.”
“He wants me.”
“He wants leverage.”
“He has my brother.”
Victor leaned closer.
“So do I.”
Tessa looked at him with fury.
“You do not get to use him against me.”
Victor’s face remained calm, but his voice lowered.
“I am not asking you to trust me.”
“Good.”
“I am telling you that Gabriel has betrayed me, targeted my organization, and kidnapped your brother. He will not survive this night as the man he is.”
Tessa looked down at Liam’s photograph.
May you like
For the first time, Victor’s threat did not sound like cruelty.
It sounded like a promise.
