Vanessa swallowed hard, her eyes darting to the door, then to the gun in Dante’s hand.

“It’s… it’s zero-nine-eight-four-eight,” she whispered.

Dante typed the numbers with one hand.

“What are you doing?” Marcus demanded through the speaker. “Russo, stop!”

“Your primary reserve in Switzerland is currently being liquidated,” Dante said.

“That is twelve million dollars!” Marcus screamed. “You can’t just take it!”

“I am not taking it,” Dante replied calmly.

He hit a key on the keyboard.

“I am routing it directly to the O’Leary syndicate,” Dante said.

I watched Dante’s fingers move across the keys, his face completely expressionless.

“They were quite upset about the cargo you lost in the harbor last month,” Dante added.

“No, no, no,” Marcus stammered. “They’ll kill me. Russo, please.”

“That is between you and them,” Dante said.

He clicked another link on the screen.

I stood close to him, the cold metal of my own gun still heavy in my hand.

I felt a sudden, sharp flutter in my lower abdomen.

I placed my left hand over my stomach, holding my breath.