The first thing I saw when I opened the mansion door after eight weeks undercover was not the pink birthday decorations I had ordered for my daughter.

Inside the underground tactical room, Damian and Evelyn stood over a detailed schematic of the Paterson syndicate’s primary distribution warehouse located near the industrial docks on the south side of Chicago.

"Marcus thinks we're going to hand over the shipping terminals by noon," Damian said, loading a matte-black sidearm and sliding it into his shoulder holster. "He thinks we're cornered."

"And what's your counter-play?" Evelyn asked, pulling on a tactical vest over her black turtleneck, her hair tied back tightly in a braid. "We can't just storm a fortified warehouse with four men. They have hostages—or worse, they know every move we make."

"We aren't storming it," Damian replied smoothly. "We're going to dismantle their financial liquidity before they even realize we're inside their perimeter."

He tapped a key on the terminal, bringing up a live feed of Marcus Vance’s primary offshore accounts—the very accounts funded by the stolen debt portfolios Vanessa had helped broker.

"You hacked their offshore servers?" Evelyn asked, surprised.

"Julian Vance taught his brother everything he knew about legal loopholes, but Julian missed one crucial detail before he was put away," Damian said with a cold smirk. "Every shell corporation Marcus operates is tied back to a holding company I secretly acquired three years ago. With your federal clearance codes and my administrative root access, we can legally freeze every asset Marcus owns within sixty seconds."

Evelyn stared at him, a sudden wave of realization washing over her. "You planned this before."

"I planned for every contingency," Damian corrected, stepping closer to her until their shoulders almost touched. "I just didn't expect my favorite undercover federal agent to be the one executing it with me."

Before Evelyn could respond, the heavy steel door of the tactical room swung open.

Carmine stepped inside, looking grim. "Boss, perimeter sensors just picked up three unlabelled vehicles approaching the north gate. They're moving fast. Heavy gear."

Damian checked his watch. 8:45 AM.