Chapter 4
Roman let out a short, dry bark of laughter that sounded almost human. "You think too much like a movie villain. No. I need someone who can see things my men miss. Someone intelligent, invisible, and utterly incorruptible." He walked over to his large mahogany desk, unlocked a heavy titanium drawer, and pulled out a thick manila folder, tossing it onto the center of the table. "Donovan wasn't just losing at poker tonight. He's been skimming millions from our shipping ports through shell companies. My accountants found discrepancies, but we couldn't prove which ledger he was using. But you—you notice details. You watched him closely tonight." Paige walked over and opened the folder. Inside were dozens of corporate documents, shipping manifests, and financial logs filled with complex accounting data. Her eyes scanned the numbers automatically. Years of managing payrolls, balancing her mother's medical bills, and studying business administration before dropping out had trained her brain to spot structural anomalies instantly.
Within minutes, her finger tapped against a specific column of figures on page twelve. "Here," she whispered, tracing the line. "Look at the port storage fees for terminal four. They're routing container shipments through an offshore subsidiary named 'Vanguard Logistics.' But Vanguard shares the exact same tax ID number as a shell company registered under Donovan's wife's maiden name." Roman stepped closer, peering over her shoulder. His shoulder brushed against hers, sending a strange, warm electric current straight through her skin. He looked at the numbers, then slowly raised his gaze to meet hers. A slow, genuine smile finally broke across his hard features, transforming his face entirely. "Well, well," Roman murmured, his voice dropping an octave. "It looks like you just paid off six thousand dollars in about thirty seconds."
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Over the next three weeks, Paige’s life underwent a surreal transformation. By day, she still worked shifts at the Onyx Room—not because Roman needed her to, but because he insisted she maintain her cover while they gathered definitive proof against Donovan and his inner circle. By night, she spent hours in the brutalist fortress, sitting across from Roman at his heavy oak desk, analyzing financial ledgers, decoding illicit transactions, and helping him dismantle a massive corruption ring from the inside out. They ordered takeout late into the night. They argued over tax codes and corporate loopholes. Slowly, beneath the dangerous underworld veneer, Paige discovered a man who was fiercely protective, deeply intelligent, and burdened by a ruthless sense of duty to his people. And Roman found someone who wasn't afraid of his shadow—someone who looked past the mafia boss and saw the man holding the world together.
But enemies in the underworld do not go down quietly. On a rainy Tuesday evening, just as Paige was finishing her final analysis report, the security alarms across the fortress blared with deafening intensity. Red emergency lights began flashing along the concrete corridors. Luca burst into the office, his gun drawn and breathing heavily. "Boss, we've got a breach. Donovan's men. They bypassed the front gates with a truck." Roman didn't panic. His face hardened instantly into stone. He drew a sleek, matte-black firearm from his holster, flicked off the safety, and turned to Paige. "Stay in this room. Lock the reinforced steel door, and do not open it for anyone except me." "I'm not hiding," Paige said firmly, grabbing a heavy brass paperweight from the desk. "I helped build this case, and I'm not leaving you to fight them alone." Roman stared at her for a fraction of a second, a fierce glint of respect flashing in his dark eyes. He grabbed her hand, pulling her behind him as heavy footsteps echoed down the hallway.
