Chapter 8 - The Ledger
The door opened.
No one stood outside.
Roman moved first.
He checked the corridor.
Empty.
Then he saw blood on the floor.
A trail led toward the stairwell.
Sofia whispered, “He's baiting us.”
Roman nodded.
“Exactly.”
Serena's mother grabbed her hand.
“Don't go.”
But Serena was done waiting.
She followed Roman and Sofia downstairs.
The trail ended at a locked archive room.
Roman inserted the key Sofia had given them.
The door opened.
Inside were dozens of boxes.
Old photographs.
Bank records.
Encrypted drives.
And one black ledger.
Serena picked it up.
“This is it.”
Roman nodded.
She opened the first page.
Names filled the paper.
Judges.
Police officers.
Politicians.
Corporate executives.
People she had seen at the hotel.
People who had toasted Roman that night.
She turned another page.
Then another.
A name stopped her.
Roman Duca.
She stared.
“What is this?”
Roman's expression tightened.
“I was on the list.”
“Why?”
“Because your father believed I would eventually turn against him.”
Serena looked at the next page.
There was a handwritten note.
If Roman marries Serena, he becomes family.
She looked up.
“Was that why you married me?”
Roman stepped closer.
“No.”
“How do I know?”
“Because if that were the reason, I would have left six years ago.”
Her eyes filled.
He reached for her hand.
This time, she didn't pull away.
Then a gunshot echoed from upstairs.
Sofia ran toward the stairs.
Roman stopped her.
“Stay here.”
They heard footsteps.
Someone entered the archive room.
Roman raised his weapon.
A man appeared.
Antonio Varelli.
Older.
Wounded.
Alive.
Serena stared at her father.
“You.”
Antonio looked at her.
“I came to take you home.”
“You don't have a home for me.”
He looked at Roman.
“You stole my daughter.”
Roman replied calmly.
“She chose me.”
Antonio smiled bitterly.
“You think this is love?”
Serena stepped between them.
“It is.”
Antonio's expression changed.
Then he looked toward the ledger.
“You don't understand what happens when that book becomes public.”
Roman answered.
“The city changes.”
Antonio shook his head.
“No.”
He pulled a small detonator from his pocket.
“The city burns.”
He pressed the button.
Nothing happened.
Antonio looked confused.
Roman smiled.
May you like
“You're too late.”
Then the archive walls began to shake...
