MAFIA BOSS BROUGHT HIS NERDY SECRETARY TO AN ELITE SUMMIT AS A HUMILIATING JOKE—UNTIL SHE WALKED IN LOOKING LIKE A RULING EMPRESS AND EXPOSED HIS ENTIRE EMPIRE'S DARKEST SECRET

Gregory slid down the wall, clutching his bleeding shoulder, his face twisted in a mask of panic and hatred.

"Vincent... Vincent, listen to me!" Gregory begged, his charm completely disintegrated. "Khnets forced my hand! He threatened my family! He said if I didn't help him clear the ports, he’d wipe out the entire Romano bloodline!"

"You don't have a family, Gregory," Vincent said coldly, walking over and kicking Gregory’s discarded gun across the floor. "You sold out my father’s shipping routes for ten million dollars in offshore crypto. And six years ago, you provided the satellite coordinates that let Khnets massacre the Volkov family in St. Petersburg."

Gregory’s eyes went wide with pure terror. "How... how do you know about the Volkovs?"

The door to the control tower swung open.

Elena stepped inside, drenched in rain, holding a blood-stained tactical blade in one hand and Khnets' encrypted radio in the other.

"Because I told him, Gregory," Elena said, her voice dripping with ice.

Gregory stared at her, blinking frantically. "Penelope...? What the hell is this? Why are you dressed like—"

"My name is Elena Volkova," she interrupted, stepping forward until the tip of her blade rested directly against Gregory's throat. "The daughter of Viktor Volkov. The girl you left for dead in the burning dacha outside Moscow."

Gregory began to hyperventilate, the color completely draining from his face. "No... no, it's impossible. She died in the fire!"

"I survived," Elena whispered, leaning down until her hazel eyes burned into his soul. "I watched you take your blood money. I watched you steal my father's empire. And for two years, I sat ten feet outside Vincent’s office, typing your emails, filing your taxes, and watching you sign your own death warrants."

Suddenly, the encrypted radio on Elena’s belt crackled to life with Roman Khnets' frantic voice:

"Gregory! The generators are blown! Someone is wiping out my men on the docks! Send reinforcements to the lead ship now!"