Chapter 7 - The Unmasking of Gregory Bell
The failed ambush at the cemetery ignited an all-out intelligence war across Chicago.
While Dominic’s tactical teams hunted down the surviving Moretti mercenaries, Marco uncovered a disturbing piece of intelligence that linked the attack directly back to the very beginning of Chloe’s journey.
Late Thursday night, Dominic called Chloe into his private war room beneath the estate.
The room was equipped with dozens of surveillance monitors, intelligence walls, and secure communication lines. Standing near the central table was Marco, holding an encrypted laptop.
"We interrogated the driver of the utility truck," Marco reported as Chloe sat down in a leather chair. "He admitted that Victor Moretti knew exact details about Arthur's cemetery visit schedule. Someone leaked our internal movement logs."
Chloe’s eyes widened. "A mole inside the estate?"
"No," Dominic said, his voice cold as liquid nitrogen. "Not the estate. Someone outside who had been tracking you since the day you left Le Jardin."
Marco pressed a key on the laptop, projecting a series of bank statements and encrypted text logs onto the wall monitor.
The name at the top of the financial records made Chloe’s blood run cold: Gregory Bell.
"Gregory Bell?" Chloe whispered, stunned. "My old manager?"
"Gregory Bell wasn't just an arrogant restaurant manager," Dominic revealed, leaning over the table. "He was heavily indebted to Moretti’s illegal gambling dens in South Chicago. He owed Victor Moretti over six hundred thousand dollars."
"When Gregory fired you three weeks ago," Marco explained, "he realized he had made a fatal mistake by offending Mr. Russo. In desperation, Gregory went to Victor Moretti. He traded information about you—your name, your past, your old apartment, and eventually your employment at this estate—in exchange for Moretti wiping out his gambling debts."
Chloe felt a cold wave of disgust wash over her. Gregory hadn't just fired her out of cruelty; he had sold her out to a mob boss to save his own miserable skin.
"Where is Gregory now?" Chloe asked, her voice steadying into a calm, hard edge.
Dominic stepped closer to her, his hand resting gently on her shoulder. "He’s currently sitting in a private holding facility near the Port of Chicago, waiting for me to decide his fate."
Dominic looked down into her eyes, giving her full authority. "He tried to destroy your life, Chloe. He put you and my father in danger. Tell me what you want done with him."
Chloe looked at the image of Gregory Bell on the screen—a pathetic, greedy coward who used power to crush the weak.
"I don't want him hurt, Dominic," Chloe said quietly, looking into Dominic’s dark eyes. "That would make us like him. I want him to face the law. I want his financial crimes, his money laundering for Moretti, and his treason exposed to every news channel in this city."
May you like
Dominic studied her face for a long moment, admiration shining brightly in his gray eyes.
"As you wish, my love," Dominic whispered softly, using the term of endearment for the very first time. "Marco, deliver the evidence file directly to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Make sure Bell spends the next twenty years in a federal penitentiary."
