Chapter 10 - LUCAS SERRANO WALKS INTO THE TRAP
Lucas called me personally the next morning.
His voice was smooth.
Professional.
Almost friendly.
“I heard you’re back.”
“You heard correctly.”
“I thought you were in Dubai another two weeks.”
Interesting.
Beatriz had told him.
“I finished early.”
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
There was a pause.
“I understand there may be some confusion involving a financial transfer.”
“No confusion.”
“Perhaps we should meet.”
“That’s exactly what I was hoping you’d say.”
Elena sat across from me while the call remained on speaker.
Lucas suggested a private meeting at a restaurant near Puerto Banús.
I agreed.
Then Elena shook her head after the call ended.
“He thinks he can talk his way out.”
“He always did.”
“Don’t threaten him.”
“I won’t.”
“Don’t accuse him.”
“I won’t.”
“What will you do?”
“Let him explain something I haven’t asked about.”
Lucas arrived twenty minutes late.
Expensive watch.
Dark linen jacket.
No tie.
He smiled as though we were old friends.
“I’m glad we can handle this privately.”
I gestured toward the chair.
“Of course.”
For ten minutes, he talked.
Consulting work.
Investment opportunities.
Temporary holding structures.
Routine transfers.
He explained everything except the thing that mattered.
Finally, I leaned back.
“Lucas, I never mentioned which transfer concerned me.”
He stopped.
The restaurant suddenly seemed very quiet.
I continued.
“You’ve spent ten minutes explaining an eight-million-euro transaction I never identified.”
His expression changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
“That was the obvious one.”
“No.”
I placed a copy of the document on the table.
“The obvious question is why your company was receiving money from mine using authorization carrying a signature I didn’t provide.”
He stared at the page.
I continued.
“The second question is why you visited my home three times while I was abroad.”
Lucas stood.
“This conversation is over.”
“Probably.”
He reached for the document.
I pulled it back.
“One more thing.”
He looked at me.
“You should know the transfer wasn’t completed.”
His jaw tightened.
“And every company account connected to you is now being reviewed by forensic auditors.”
Lucas’s confidence disappeared.
He leaned closer.
“You don’t understand what Beatriz has done.”
I stared at him.
“What has she done?”
He gave a humorless laugh.
“You think I was using her.”
He stepped away.
“You have it backward.”
Then he left.
May you like
For the first time, I wondered whether Lucas Serrano was the architect of the plan.
Or another person Beatriz believed she could control.
