Chapter 167 The Queen's Gambit

• The hotel ballroom sparkled like sin. Chandeliers glittered overhead, music hummed low beneath the clink of champagne glasses and polite laughter. Knox stood near the wall, arms crossed over his chest, dressed in all black with a gun holstered beneath his suit jacket. His expression was pure menace—and intentionally so.
• Ellerei was in the middle of the room, radiant in a crimson gown that hugged her curves like second skin, her hair swept up, lips painted to match the silk draped over her body. She looked the part: elegant, approachable, and just naive enough to make the mark believe he had a chance.
• The mark was a man named Alonzo Morelli—an arrogant bastard who had inherited wealth, power, and an attitude from the very same backdoor deals her father had once made. He was also one of the men her father owed a sizable debt to. Ellerei's goal tonight was simple: get close enough to steal the codes that unlocked one of Lorenzo Bellanti's hidden offshore accounts—an account that would settle one name off the growing list.