Page 54 of Darius

Darius held himself back by sheer force and swore to make that man’s death excruciating. The mature voice belonged to the president, James Mattson.

The bank official continued a few seconds later, “No one else noticed a problem. Not the clients, not accounting, no one. Did someone else report funds missing, or was there some other reason you demanded to meet me?”

“You’re the one who interrupted my vacation,” Ramon stated.

“What are you talking about? I didn’t contact you. You emailed me to meet you here.”

A few seconds of silence followed. Darius could feel the tension growing inside the conference room.

“What’s going on here? An old friend of mine reported seeing Mara at Nightfall. Didn’t Mrs. Mattson warn us that Serafina Costa had expressed some concerns with the owners of Nightfall?”

“So, who arranged for us to be here? Serafina? Mara? Those Nightfall guys haven’t contacted the bank at all. They’re not involved,” James stated with a mocking tone that pissed Darius off even more. He had no clue the clan would make a much worse enemy than the Costa family. Darius passed along the information.

Bram was right. Serafina is involved in this. She initiated the first contact with the plan.

Do you need backup? Marcus asked.

No. I would like to handle this part myself. Tell Bram to block any calls from this floor.

I’ll search for Serafina’s account and start transferring money.

Enjoying the mental image of Serafina checking her funds and discovering them missing improved Darius’s mood tremendously. He’d take care of these men and then celebrate when Bram was successful. First, he needed to ensure the clan knew everything. Darius waited and listened instead of storming in to end these men.

“Damn Serafina! I would never have agreed to this if she hadn’t convinced my wife that this plan had no risks and would benefit everyone. Cecily wanted more jewelry, of course.”

“Look, James. This still could be fine. Andrew will erase Mara, and the program will continue to make us money. We can only get caught if you overreact. Stay cool. Besides, we don’t want to get on Enzo Costa’s bad side. That’s a terrible idea.”

Darius couldn’t wait to demonstrate how much worse the choice of getting on the clan’s enemy list was.

“I wasn’t aligned with anyone until this fiasco. I told Cecily this was a terrible idea. The worst way to end a career in banking.”

Darius had heard enough. He stepped through the doorway. “Not only end your career, but your life.”

The two men whirled to stare at him.

“Who are you?”

“Your worst nightmare,” Darius said in a voice devoid of emotion.

James Mattson pressed something under the edge of the table.

Guessing he’d triggered an alarm, Darius smiled. “Your guard isn’t up for rescuing anyone, I’m afraid. Mattson and Garcia, you’re about to create quite a banking scandal. Would you rather be found in a compromising sexual position with each other or have proof of your illegal banking activities discovered after your apparent suicides?”

The two men stared at him as they struggled to comprehend the choices he was offering.

“What are you talking about? I’m married. And I don’t plan to off myself today or any other day,” James Mattson said as he glared at Darius.

Ramon had reacted much faster. He stared down at his phone as he punched the screen repeatedly. “I can’t connect with anyone.” He met Darius’s gaze and shook his head before asking, “What do you want? You can have the money.”

“I have all I need. The moment you endangered my mate; your existence was over. Choose or I will.” Darius walked further into the room.

“Are you insane? Contact the police,” Ramon said, glancing at the president as he backed away from Darius.

“I’m quite sane. And vindictive.”

Obviously, James’s phone didn’t work either. He dashed to the French doors leading off the conference room and opened them. “Call 911. A crazy man is going to kill us,” he shouted out the window.

From that height, few people would hear or understand. If they did, Darius would be long gone by the time the police arrived. “Thank you,” Darius said. “Good choice.”