Chapter 3 - The Ledger of Dead MenThe key opened a safe-deposit box beneath Union Station.
Elena finally admitted that much.
She didn't tell Luca where the original key was until he agreed that Gabriel, not Luca, would accompany her.
"You still don't trust me."
"I trust you more than yesterday."
"That's almost romantic."
"This isn't romance."
"Good."
Yet the look between them lingered slightly too long.
Elena hated that.
Luca terrified her.
Not because he had harmed her.
Because he hadn't.
Everything she had been told about him said Luca Moretti was ruthless, cold, incapable of mercy when business was involved.
Yet the man who discovered her injuries had immediately stepped backward when she looked afraid.
That contradiction unsettled her.
At noon, they entered a private vault.
The box contained no money.
Only a black notebook, three flash drives, and an envelope bearing Elena's name.
Her hands shook opening it.
Ellie,
If you're reading this, I failed to keep you out of this world. I'm sorry.
She stopped.
Gabriel pretended not to watch.
Elena continued.
Her father explained that he had discovered an unauthorized network operating inside the Moretti organization.
Matteo had been using legitimate shipping contracts to hide narcotics trafficking, extortion payments, and violent collections specifically forbidden under Luca's rules.
Worse, Anthony Russo had recorded names.
People who learned too much.
Witnesses who vanished.
Competitors who died in conveniently timed accidents.
And eventually employees who questioned the accounts.
One entry made Elena's stomach turn.
DANIEL MORETTI — warehouse fire — ordered M.M.
Daniel.
Luca and Matteo's uncle.
The man whose death six years earlier had allowed Matteo to inherit control of the family's freight division.
When Luca read the page that evening, he became eerily calm.
"Uncle Daniel raised us."
Elena stood across from him in his office.
"I know."
"He taught Matteo to drive."
"I know."
"He gave him his first legitimate company."
She said nothing.
Luca closed the notebook.
"Get Gabriel."
That night, Luca gathered only three people he trusted.
Gabriel.
His attorney, Rebecca Sloan.
And Rosa Moretti.
Luca's seventy-two-year-old aunt.
When Rosa saw Daniel's name, she collapsed into a chair.
"I knew."
Luca stared at her.
"What?"
"I didn't know Matteo did it. But I knew the fire was wrong."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you were already drowning."
Luca looked away.
His father had died the same year.
He had inherited the organization at twenty-nine and spent months surviving assassination attempts from rivals.
Rosa reached for his hand.
"I'm sorry."
Luca pulled away.
Not cruelly.
He simply couldn't be touched at that moment.
Rebecca examined the financial data.
"This is enough to trigger federal attention."
"That's precisely what I don't want."
"You may not get to choose."
Luca paced.
"If Matteo realizes we have this ledger, he'll eliminate everyone connected to it."
Including Elena.
That thought entered Luca's mind before all the others.
He didn't like what that meant.
At midnight, Gabriel received an alert.
One of their storage facilities was burning.
Twenty minutes later, another.
Then a third.
Matteo was destroying evidence.
By 1:00 a.m., Luca knew the conflict had begun.
"What do we do?" Elena asked.
"We make him believe the ledger burned too."
"How?"
Luca stared at the fireplace.
Then smiled without warmth.
At 8:00 the following morning, word spread that Luca had confronted Elena, discovered her "blackmail scheme," and thrown her out.
Matteo heard before noon.
By two, Elena checked into a downtown hotel under her own name.
Alone.
Or so everyone believed.
Gabriel had men on three floors.
Luca watched through surveillance from a neighboring building.
"This is insane," Rebecca told him.
"It's Elena's plan."
"That doesn't make it less insane."
At 9:14 p.m., Matteo arrived.
Alone.
He knocked.
Elena opened the door.
"Can I come in?"
She hesitated deliberately.
Then stepped aside.
Matteo entered smiling.
"I told you Luca wouldn't believe you."
Elena lowered her eyes.
"You were right."
"Where's the ledger?"
"He took it."
Matteo stopped smiling.
"What?"
"Luca took everything."
"And?"
"I don't know. He said he was burning it."
Matteo studied her.
"You're lying."
Elena's heartbeat hammered.
"I'm not."
He came closer.
Through the surveillance feed, Luca's hand tightened.
Gabriel said quietly, "Wait."
Matteo touched Elena's cheek.
She recoiled.
"Don't."
"Still afraid of me?"
"Yes."
"Good."
Across the street, Luca stood.
Gabriel blocked him.
"Boss."
"If he touches her—"
"This works only if he talks."
Back inside, Matteo whispered, "Your father was afraid too."
Elena stared at him.
"What did you do to him?"
Matteo smiled.
"Exactly what I told you I'd do."
Her voice cracked.
"You killed him."
"Your father's heart stopped."
"Because of you?"
Matteo leaned closer.
"He should've given me the records."
Elena's eyes filled.
"What did you do?"
"I scared an old man who already had a weak heart."
He shrugged.
"Nature handled the rest."
Across the street, Luca's expression changed.
They had the confession.
Enough.
Gabriel reached for his radio.
Then the hotel feed died.
Every screen went black.
"What happened?"
"Signal jammer."
Luca didn't wait.
He ran.
Inside the hotel room, Elena heard a click behind her.
Matteo held a gun.
His smile disappeared.
"Did you really think I wouldn't notice the second microphone?"
Elena's blood went cold.
He reached beneath her collar and tore the device free.
Then he looked directly toward the hidden camera.
"Luca."
He knew.
"Come get her."
May you like
Matteo smashed the camera.
And dragged Elena toward the service elevator.
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