Chapter 12 - The Shadows of Milan
Eva walked to the panoramic window of the private suite, looking down at the street thirteen stories below. Parked directly across from the hospital entrance was a black European luxury sedan with diplomatic plates. Standing beside the rear door was a tall, silver-haired man in a tailored overcoat, looking up directly toward her floor.
Eva recognized the silhouette instantly: Massimo Bellini, the patriarch of the Bellini shipping conglomerate in Milan, and Eleanor Cross’s estranged, ultra-wealthy ex-husband.
""Diane,"" Eva said, her voice dropping into a razor-sharp whisper. ""Come here.""
Diane stepped to the window, following Eva’s gaze. She inhaled sharply. ""Is that... Massimo?""
""Eleanor was broke because Massimo cut her off twenty years ago,"" Eva murmured, piecing together the true scope of the web. ""Weston was never Eleanor’s son by her late husband. He is Massimo’s illegitimate heir. That’s why Eleanor was desperate for the eight million. She wasn't just covering personal debts; she was paying off a massive loan shark debt that Massimo had threatened to collect with blood.""
Suddenly, the encrypted corporate terminal on Eva’s bedside table blinked with an urgent priority alert. A hostile tender offer had just been filed on the European Stock Exchange for thirty-four percent of Vance Global’s public floating shares. The buyer was an anonymous trust based in Luxembourg—a classic Bellini front.
""He's trying to buy the company out from under us before the American markets open at nine-thirty,"" Diane said, rapidly tapping her tablet. ""Eva, if Bellini acquires that thirty-four percent, combined with the shares held by Robert Sterling's disgraced allies, they could force a shareholder vote to unseat you by noon.""
Eva felt a cool wave of adrenaline wash through her veins. The physical exhaustion of childbirth vanished, replaced by the lethal, calculating instincts that had made her a billionaire before thirty.
""Massimo thinks I am lying in a hospital bed, defenseless and medicated,"" Eva said, turning toward the bassinet. She scooped up little Maya, holding her against her heart. ""He thinks American corporate law is as corruptible as his Italian shipping docks.""
""What do we do?"" Diane asked. ""We don't have the liquid capital to counter a thirty-four percent tender offer before nine AM.""
""We don't need liquid capital,"" Eva replied, a slow, predatory smile spreading across her face. ""We have the port authority records.""
Eva looked at Vance. ""Vance, contact the Department of Homeland Security's maritime division. Tell them the Vance Foundation is ready to turn over the encrypted shipping manifests from the Bellini docks in Newark. The ones Weston accidentally copied onto that hard drive when he was stealing my files.""
May you like
Diane stared at Eva, stunned. ""Weston stole Bellini's files?""
""Weston was stupid,"" Eva said softly. ""He backed up his mother’s old hard drives onto my secure server six months ago. Eleanor was blackmailing Massimo for decades. And now, those files belong to me.""
