Chapter 6 - The Shadow of Moretti|
The name Moretti hung in the air like a cloud of poisonous gas.
I knew enough about Chicago logistics to know that the Moretti family controlled the illegal import docks along the southern canal. They were the primary rivals to the DeLuca organization, and the feud between Gabriel and Victor Moretti was bathed in blood.
Gabriel set Sophie down gently on the leather couch, giving her a soft pat on the shoulder before turning back to Daniel.
“Did she speak to Victor directly?” Gabriel asked, his voice dropping into a deadly whisper.
“The call lasted forty-two seconds,” Daniel replied. “We’re running the cell tower triangulation now, but based on the length of the call, she gave him an update. Probably told him the wedding was off and the plan failed.”
Gabriel turned his eyes to the stolen papers lying on his desk—the logistics software files that had belonged to his late wife, Elena.
“She wasn't just selling Elena’s files for money,” Gabriel realized out loud, his hand clenching into a tight fist against the walnut desk. “She was delivering my wife’s encryption keys to Victor Moretti.”
I stepped forward, my pulse racing. “Encryption keys? For what?”
Gabriel looked at me, his eyes dark with an ancient, heavy pain. “Elena wasn't just a philanthropist, Hannah. She was a brilliant software engineer. Before she died, she wrote a proprietary tracking algorithm that controls my family’s entire legal shipping fleet. If Moretti gets those encryption keys, he can track every container, every vessel, and every shipment my company moves across the Great Lakes.”
He looked at his daughter sitting on the couch, entirely oblivious to the dark web closing around her.
“And if he gets those keys,” Gabriel added softly, “he controls the evidence surrounding Elena’s death.”
My breath caught in my throat. “Elena didn't die in an accident, did she?”
“No,” Gabriel growled softly. “Her car was tampered with. And four years later, the woman I almost married was trying to hand the evidence over to the man who ordered the hit.”
He walked over to me, stopping mere inches away. The scent of cedarwood, rain, and cold leather radiated from his tall frame.
“Hannah,” Gabriel said, staring deep into my eyes. “This house is no longer safe. Moretti knows the plan failed. He knows Isabella is exposed. He will make a move before I can restructure my security.”
“What do you want me to do?” I asked, holding his intense gaze without flinching.
“I want you and Sophie taken to my private compound in Door County, Wisconsin,” Gabriel instructed. “It’s a fortified estate on the lake. You’ll leave tonight under armed escort.”
May you like
“And you?”
Gabriel’s lips curved into a dark, lethal line. “I’m staying in Chicago to finish what started four years ago.”
