Chapter 144: Begin The Extraction!
Vivienne stepping onto the porch only poured fuel onto the hatred raging inside Dexter.
Being forced to kneel on the cold pavement before Luca like a defeated stray was already humiliating enough. Having the woman he had been obsessed with witness every second of that humiliation shattered what little pride he had left.
He barely remembered how he and the bloodied Chainsaw made it out through the gates of Greenland Garden Villas. The entire estate had become a blur. To him, the luxurious neighborhood no longer looked like paradise. It felt like a prison he couldn’t escape quickly enough.
Luca watched the Luiz family’s car disappear down the tree-lined road without making any attempt to stop it. One arm rested around Vivienne’s slender waist as he stood calmly on the porch, his expression cold and unreadable.
He already knew what came next.
After today, every ounce of fake civility between him and Gordon was gone. The moment Gordon received the full report, he would begin planning how to erase him from the board completely.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
’Perfect... because I was already planning to do the same to him.’
---
The top floor of The Luiz Conglomerate headquarters, New Orleans.
Sharp cries and dramatic sobs echoed through the chairman’s lavish executive suite, bouncing off polished marble walls and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city skyline.
"Gordon... your only son was beaten and humiliated like a dog in broad daylight! How can you sit there acting like nothing happened?!"
"Gordon... I’m telling you this now... if you don’t crush that Hale brat and avenge Dexter, I’m filing for divorce!"
Gordon remained seated on the leather sofa, silently drawing on a dark cigar while smoke drifted lazily toward the ceiling. His face had been gloomy ever since the news arrived.
Two hours earlier, he had smashed his encrypted phone against the wall after learning that Luca had broken Chainsaw’s ribs and forced Dexter to kneel.
Now his legal wife, Francine, had stormed into his office, sobbing, screaming, and throwing an endless tantrum that only made his pounding headache worse.
Had this happened twenty or thirty years ago, when she was still young and beautiful, he might have found her fiery temper charming.
Now, watching an overweight middle-aged woman wail uncontrollably inside his executive office only filled him with disgust.
If she hadn’t been the elder sister of the chairman of Miami’s influential Sapphire-Vanguard Group, Gordon would have divorced her years ago. Her family’s influence remained a vital pillar for his expansion throughout the Gulf, making her someone he couldn’t simply cast aside.
Although Francine held the title of Mrs. Luiz, Gordon had long since lost interest in her. He kept several luxury penthouses scattered across the city, each occupied by a younger mistress. Two of them were even working in the executive secretariat just outside his office.
Even so, the threat of divorce still made him uneasy.
Much of his logistics network across Florida depended on Sapphire-Vanguard’s political and commercial connections. Losing that partnership would cost him far more than he was willing to sacrifice.
Suppressing the irritation twisting inside him, Gordon rose from the sofa and gently held Francine by the shoulders, guiding her down beside him.
"My love, calm down," he said, forcing warmth into his voice. "Dexter is my son. Seeing him forced to kneel by that Hale brat... do you think I could ever let that slide?"
"The moment I heard what happened, I began putting countermeasures in place. Before this is over, I’ll personally make Luca kneel before Dexter and beg for forgiveness."
Forcing his son onto his knees was more than an insult.
It was a slap across Gordon’s face.
He was one of the most powerful businessmen in New Orleans and across the Southern Gulf. No matter how capable some young upstart from San Fierro believed himself to be, Gordon had never feared a direct confrontation.
Hearing his promise, Francine dabbed at the mascara running down her cheeks before her expression twisted with resentment.
"And that little slut from the Day family!" she hissed. "She rejected my son and threw herself at that Hale boy instead. Don’t let her off either!"
"Naturally."
A cruel smile spread across Gordon’s face.
"I’ll deal with the Day family myself. Their export cargo is sitting at the New Orleans docks as we speak. Whether Vanderbilt’s freighters leave port or remain anchored depends entirely on my approval."
The wrinkles around his eyes did little to hide the arrogance burning beneath them.
The greatest achievement of his career had been securing a direct partnership with Vanderbilt Global Maritime Group.
Years earlier, to gain exclusive access to European shipping routes, he had surrendered forty percent of The Luiz Conglomerate’s shares to Vanderbilt, willingly giving up his position as the company’s largest shareholder.
Looking back, it had been the right gamble.
With Vanderbilt’s international shipping network supporting him, the conglomerate had exploded in size under his leadership. Its market value had multiplied many times over, transforming it into one of the region’s corporate giants.
There had once been a time when the Day family stood so high above him that he couldn’t even dream of competing with them.
Now their overseas trade depended on whether Gordon approved the logistics manifest.
As for Luca standing behind Vivienne...
Since every bridge between them had already been burned, Gordon had no intention of showing mercy.
...
Three days slipped by.
On the surface, New Orleans remained peaceful, with business carrying on as usual and traffic flowing through its bustling streets.
Behind that calm façade, however, Luca had already set his plans in motion.
Captain Rico and Crescent Security Solutions’ tactical intelligence division had been deployed around the clock, digging through every corner of Gordon’s private records in search of the weakness that would bring the powerful tycoon crashing down.
On the morning of the fourth day, the steady vibration of a phone on the bedside table pulled Luca from a deep sleep.
Still half-asleep, he reached toward the sound, only to discover his left arm refused to move. Something warm and surprisingly heavy was lying across it. Frowning, he tried using his right arm instead, but that one was trapped too.
As the lingering haze faded from his mind, the scene around him gradually came into focus.
Vivienne was curled against his chest, breathing softly in her sleep. One slender arm was looped comfortably around his neck as if she’d claimed him as her personal pillow. On his other side, Naomi clung tightly to his right arm, hugging it with both hands while sleeping peacefully, unwilling to let go even in her dreams.
Silk robes had been tossed carelessly across the room. A pair of thigh-high stockings rested on the plush carpet beside the bed, while a delicate lace cat-ear headband lay abandoned nearby.
The state of the master suite spoke for itself.
Luca couldn’t help smiling.
After all the patience, all the careful balance he’d maintained, the two women had finally accepted one another completely.
The phone buzzed again.
Vivienne stirred first. Without fully opening her eyes, she reached over the edge of the bed, picked up the phone from the nightstand, and placed it in his hand. Then she wrapped her arm around his neck once more, nestled against his chest, and drifted right back to sleep.
Seeing Captain Rico’s name on the screen, Luca answered immediately.
"Speak."
"Mr. Hale, we’ve finally made progress investigating Gordon," Rico reported.
"Go on."
"Our investigation shows he built his first fortune through underground nightclubs and illegal bathhouses when he was younger. Those were some very dirty years. Once he entered the legitimate real estate business, though, he systematically erased nearly every trace of that past."
His voice remained calm as he continued.
"After forming a partnership with Vanderbilt Global Maritime Group, he managed to legitimize his operations completely. Almost every document and witness linking him to his early crimes disappeared."
There was a brief pause before Rico spoke again.
"However, following the lead you gave us regarding his enforcer, Chainsaw, we uncovered something interesting."
Luca’s eyes sharpened.
"I’m listening."
"Chainsaw’s real name is Silas ’Chainsaw’ Vance. Publicly, he claims he was an orphan who grew up in the Everglades. Before joining Gordon’s personal security team, he spent years working as an international mercenary."
"Two days ago, he received an encrypted call routed through a burner tower near the Everglades. We traced the caller."
"It was Silas Vance Sr., fifty-nine years old. The man disappeared from public records years ago and has been living completely off the grid."
Luca’s expression turned thoughtful.
"Send a tactical unit there immediately. Search everything."
"Already done," Rico replied. "Our team reached the location about three hours ago and secured Silas Sr."
A trace of frustration crept into his voice.
"The problem is that we searched every inch of his property and came up empty. No documents. No photographs. No hard drives. Nothing that ties him to Gordon’s past."
"He also insists he’s nothing more than a distant relative of Chainsaw and claims he’s never had any dealings with Gordon. At the moment, we don’t have a single piece of physical evidence connecting him to The Luiz Conglomerate."
Luca let out a quiet chuckle.
"Physical evidence?"
He leaned back against the headboard, a cold smile forming.
"We’re not trying a court case."
There was a brief silence on the line.
"Bring Chainsaw into one of our private holding facilities."
His voice remained calm, but every word carried unquestionable authority.
"I don’t believe the old man will stay silent once his precious son is sitting right in front of him."
The logic clicked instantly.
Captain Rico’s spirits rose at once.
"Understood, Boss."
His reply was crisp and full of confidence.
"I’ll begin the extraction immediately."