Chapter 8 - THE RECKONING AT THE REGENCY
Room 612 at the Regency Hotel smelled of stale cigars and cheap whiskey.
Julian Bennett sat on the edge of the unmade bed, counting a thin stack of hundred-dollar bills. He was thirty-eight, with thinning brown hair, sharp, greasy features, and the twitchy, nervous demeanor of a chronic gambler who was always one hand away from disaster.
Across from him sat two heavy-set men in leather jackets—loan sharks from the South Side of Chicago to whom Julian owed nearly one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
"Are you sure she's living at the Moretti estate?" one of the loan sharks growled, cracking his knuckles. "Because if you brought us to New York on a wild goose chase, Julian, we're going to take it out of your ribs."
"I'm positive!" Julian insisted, his voice shrill. "Her name was in the papers! She's working for Luca Moretti! The guy is a billionaire! When I tell her I'm taking Mia back to Chicago, she'll pay us whatever we want to leave her alone!"
"Using your own daughter for extortion?" a deep, smooth voice asked from the doorway. "That's remarkably low, even for a piece of trash like you."
Julian whirled around.
The heavy oak door of Room 612 had been opened without a sound.
Luca Moretti walked into the room. He was alone, wearing a bespoke black suit, his hands casually tucked into his trousers pockets. He didn't carry a weapon. He didn't bring security guards. He walked into the room as if he owned the hotel, the street, and the air they were breathing.
The two loan sharks immediately stood up, their hands reaching inside their leather jackets for concealed weapons.
Luca didn't even look at them.
"If either of you pulls a gun in my city," Luca said calmly, his voice cool and indifferent, "you will never leave Manhattan alive. Sit down."
The sheer authority radiating from Luca made both loan sharks hesitate. They looked at his expensive suit, his immaculate posture, and the terrifying coldness in his gray eyes. They knew who Luca Moretti was.
They slowly sat back down.
Julian backed up against the headboard of the bed, his face turning pale. "Who... who the hell are you?"
"I'm Luca Moretti," Luca replied, stepping into the center of the room. "And you are sitting in a room you can't afford, planning to extortion the mother of my child."
Julian blinked, stunned. "Your child? Mia is my daughter!"
"Mia stopped being your daughter the night you threw a whiskey bottle at her crib when she was six months old," Luca said, his voice dropping into a register of terrifying quietness.
Julian swallowed hard, trying to summon a wave of bravado. "She's legally my kid! I have parental rights! I can file for emergency custody tomorrow!"
Luca reached into his inner suit pocket and pulled out a thin leather folder. He tossed it casually onto the bed beside Julian.
"Open it," Luca commanded.
Julian hesitated, then opened the folder with trembling fingers.
Inside were certified financial documents, arrest warrants from the State of Illinois, and an official extradition order signed by a Cook County judge.
"What... what is this?" Julian stammered.
"That," Luca explained, leaning against the wooden dresser, "is a complete record of your unpaid gambling debts, your wire fraud indictments in Illinois, and an arrest warrant for felony child abandonment."
Julian’s eyes widened in sheer terror. "How did you get this?"
"I bought your debt fifteen minutes ago," Luca said calmly. "All one hundred and fifty thousand dollars of it. Which means you don't owe money to those two gentlemen sitting across from you anymore. You owe it to me."
Julian looked up at Luca, sweating profusely now. "Luca... Mr. Moretti... please. I can work it off! I'll leave Elena alone! Just give me time!"
Luca stepped up to the edge of the bed, leaning down until his face was inches from Julian’s.
"You have two choices, Julian," Luca whispered, every word sharp as a diamond. "Option one: I sign those extradition papers right now, and you spend the next fifteen years in an Illinois state penitentiary."
Julian shook his head frantically. "No! No! What's option two?"
"Option two," Luca said, "you sign the voluntary parental termination papers inside that folder. You surrender every legal right to Mia Bennett forever. You take fifty thousand dollars in cash—which I have waiting downstairs in a briefcase—and you board a one-way flight to Lisbon tonight. If you ever set foot in North America again, or if you ever say Elena's name out loud, I will enforce the warrants and ensure you spend the rest of your natural life in a cage."
Julian stared at the folder, then at Luca’s unyielding gray eyes. He knew he had no leverage. He knew he was completely outmatched.
He grabbed the pen from the nightstand with shaking fingers and signed every page of the termination agreement.
Luca picked up the folder, verified the signatures, and tucked it back inside his suit jacket.
He looked down at Julian with absolute disgust.
May you like
"The briefcase is at the front desk," Luca said coldly. "Your flight leaves at 11:00 PM. Don't miss it."
Without another word, Luca turned around and walked out of the room, leaving Julian and the two loan sharks sitting in stunned silence.
