“Something go wrong?” he asks.
I nod. There’s no two ways of putting it. “We have a problem." I stand at the opposite end from Rafael, both hands braced on the table. "Lorenzo Ferraro has hired Genesis to counter the marriage contract I signed with Sloane and to enforce his. Harlon gave me ten days. Either I turn her over or I find a way to shoot down the contract Lorenzo and Harrison signed. He didn't spell it out, but the implication was clear."
The room shifts. Rafael's jaw tightens. Drake uncrosses his arms. Luca's fingers pause on his tablet. Kon doesn't move but the quality of his stillness changes.
"Genesis." Rafael's voice is level. "Harlon took the contract?"
"According to Harlon it's clean. Harrison's signature and Lorenzo's. That's it. Harlon had no legal grounds to refuse so he accepted the job of enforcing it."
"Then we give him grounds." Luca leans forward, his tablet forgotten. "The contract is clean on paper but the circumstances aren't. Harrison signed under duress, right? Financial coercion, leveraged business records, dead man's switches on everything. If we can prove the signatures were obtained through extortion, the contract becomes voidable."
"Proving it is the problem. Lorenzo's father built this trap over eighteen months. The financial entanglements are layered through shell companies and offshore trusts. Untangling them in ten days requires resources we don’t have and Harlon and his crew can’t help. Their hands are tied."
"Then we mobilize some sleeping contacts we have. All we need is to get Harrison to talk. We offer him protection and he'll talk." Drake's voice rumbles through the room. "But let’s start at the top. What do you need?"
"Everything. Financial forensics on every Ferraro shell company. Digital surveillance on Lorenzo's communications. Physical intelligence on his movements, his meetings, his contacts. I need to know who he talks to, who he owes, and who owes him. From there, we can build a case that the Ferraro contract was obtained through extortion and present Harlon with grounds to void it."
"Samuel's crew has been gathering intel for three days." Kon speaks for the first time, his deep voice carrying the faint Russian accent. "His people have eyes on Lorenzo's River North property. Two warehouses and a residential address. He'll have a full report by tomorrow."
"Good. Coordinate with Luca on data sharing, would you? Whatever Samuel's crew finds on the ground, I want it cross-referenced against the financial records. No one erases everything."
The door opens and Julian drops into the empty chair between Luca and Rowan with a tumbler of bourbon in one hand and a deck of cards in the other. He's the youngest in this room, sharp-jawed with dark hair pushed back from his forehead and pale gray eyes that give away nothing unless he wants them to from my experience with him. Rafael brought him into the Syndicate's orbit two years ago as an intelligence asset, and in that time the only thing I've learned about Julian Mercer is that he always knows more than he's willing to share. And he never plays a hand without knowing every card on the table.
He's proven useful enough to earn an invitation when things get complicated and I’m assuming that is why he is here.
He sets the glass down, tilts his chair back on two legs, starts shuffling one-handed, and scans the room. "Started without me. Rude."
I grunt. “You must have a sixth sense for when trouble is brewing.”
His mouth lifts with a smirk. “That and Luca called. Somebody catch me up. Which direction is the trouble coming from?”
Rafael leans his weight forward on his elbows. "You up to speed on Massimo’s recent marriage to the Whitmore girl and why he stepped in?”
“Luca was thorough, yes.”
“Good,” I answer. “Harlon’s tipped me off that Lorenzo hired him to enforce the Harrison/Ferraro contract.”
Gray eyes turn to mine. “How long did he give you? He’s not known for his generosity with information.”
“Benefits of having a nice working relationship. And ten days,” Luca answers without turning from his screen.
"More than usual. He must like you." Julian flips a card and the ace of spades lands on top of the deck. "So we're on a clock."
"We're on a clock."
He flips another card. King of hearts. He studies it with an expression that could be amusement or calculation or both. "I ran into a Ferraro associate last week at a poker game in River North. Man named Giordano. Mid-level, handles logistics for the family's legitimate operations. He was three bourbons deep and talking too much about a 'big acquisition' the family has been planning." Julian sets the card down and meets my eyes. "He didn't say a name. But the way he described it, he wasn't talking about real estate. And he wasn't talking about just one woman either."
"Can you get back to him?"
"I can get back to anyone." He picks up his bourbon, takes a slow sip, and sets it down. His index finger taps the rim of the glass twice before he stills it. "Give me two days."
The meeting runs another forty minutes. Strategy, assignments, contingencies. Rafael coordinates resources. Drake volunteers muscle. Luca maps the digital landscape. Kon connects with Samuel's ground team. Rowan offers connections I didn't know he had and doesn't explain where they came from. Julianshuffles his cards and listens with the sharp patience of a man who plays long games.
By the time the room empties, I have the framework of a plan and the gnawing awareness that ten days is not enough time to execute it.
Luca lingers in the doorway after the others file out. His hand rests on the frame and his gold-flecked eyes hold mine with an expression I haven't seen on him before. Not playful. Not teasing. Troubled.
"There's something else." He steps back into the room and closes the door. The click of the latch sounds heavier than it should in the empty boardroom.