CHAPTER 9
The morning of the emergency hearing, the Manhattan Supreme Court building was surrounded by hundreds of reporters, news vans, and private security teams.
Chloe Sterling and her mother stood on the marble steps outside, wearing expensive black designer outfits, crying dramatically for the television cameras about their "missing family member."
Damon Cross arrived in a convoy of three armored sedans, flanked by six high-priced defense attorneys, looking utterly confident that his political power would secure his victory.
Suddenly, a fleet of five matte-black Moretti Escalades pulled smoothly up to the courthouse curb, completely blocking the media's view of the side entrance.
Dante stepped out first, impeccably dressed in a custom three-piece navy suit, stepping around the vehicle to open the passenger door for Maya.
Maya stepped onto the concrete wearing a breathtaking cream wool coat, her head held high, her hand securely wrapped around Dante's arm as high-level bodyguards formed an impenetrable wall around them.
When they entered the grand, wood-paneled courtroom, Damon Cross stood up from the plaintiff's table, his face twisting into an ugly, arrogant sneer as he locked eyes with Maya.
"You think you can play house with a gangster, Maya?" Damon shouted across the room before the judge could even hit the gavel. "That baby belongs to the Cross family!"
"Silence in this courtroom!" the judge boomed, slamming his gavel repeatedly as federal agents suddenly filed into the back of the room in precise formation.
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The lead federal prosecutor stepped forward, holding a crimson-stamped federal arrest warrant that made Damon's lead attorney turn completely pale.
"Your Honor," the federal prosecutor announced firmly, "we are intervening in these proceedings. Mr. Damon Cross is hereby arrested under federal RICO statutes for wire fraud, extortion, human trafficking, and ordering an armed assault on state soil."
