“You are still here.”

“And I am going to help you take it all back.”

The rain outside rattled the windowpanes with renewed force.

I looked at the ledger, the names and numbers blurring together.

“How do we stop them?” I asked.

“We do not just stop them,” Dante said. “We destroy them.”

“But Vanessa Hale has the legal authority,” I said. “She locked the trusts.”

“There is always a key,” Dante said.

He closed the ledger with a sharp, heavy thud.

Suddenly, a bright light illuminated the dark room.

Dante’s phone, sitting on the corner of the desk, began to vibrate violently.

The screen flashed with an incoming call from an unknown number.

Dante frowned, reaching for the device.

He swiped the screen and held the phone to his ear.

“Speak,” he commanded.

He listened in silence for several seconds, his jaw tightening.

I watched his face, my breath catching in my throat.

His eyes slowly drifted back to me, filled with a sudden, dark intensity.

“Where?” Dante asked the caller.

Another pause.

“Secure the perimeter,” Dante ordered. “I am on my way.”