Chapter 10 - A Traitor Inside Monza
Roman stared at the screen.
“My brother is dead.”
Nobody answered.
The steel door opened.
Gina stood inside.
Beside her was a teenage boy.
Marcus rushed forward.
“Daniel.”
His son collapsed into his arms.
Alive.
Gina's daughter was there too.
So were three other people Victor had used as leverage.
But Luca wasn't.
Sadi examined the authorization terminal.
The credential had been used remotely.
Someone wanted Roman destabilized.
Again.
Gina approached Sadi.
“I owe you an apology.”
“You owe me several.”
Gina nodded.
No excuses.
“I was cruel.”
“Yes.”
“I told myself making you quit would protect you.”
Sadi stared.
“You mocked me to protect me?”
“At first I tried making the job unpleasant so you'd leave before Victor activated the plan.”
“And after that?”
Gina looked ashamed.
“After that I became someone I don't like.”
Sadi appreciated the distinction.
Fear explained behavior.
It didn't erase responsibility.
“You'll answer for what you did.”
“I know.”
That was enough for now.
They freed everyone.
Roman examined the basement.
Luca had built it as a secure records vault before his death.
Victor converted it into a prison.
Sadi found an active server.
One connection remained open.
She traced it.
Victor had been careless.
Or wanted to be found.
The signal led to a downtown office tower.
Costa Holdings.
Roman's own headquarters.
“He's inside your building,” Sadi said.
Roman smiled coldly.
“Of course.”
Victor had hidden in the place nobody searched.
They went there before dawn.
Sadi stayed beside Roman.
Not because he demanded it.
Because she chose it.
On the elevator, Roman looked at her.
“When this ends, what will you do?”
“Sleep.”
“After.”
“Find a job.”
“You have one.”
“I resigned.”
“I continue to reject the premise.”
She smiled.
“What position?”
Roman considered.
“Chief financial investigator.”
“You invented that.”
“I own the company. Apparently that's one limitation I don't have.”
The elevator doors opened.
Victor waited in Roman's office.
Alone.
He poured himself a drink.
“You took long enough.”
Roman approached.
“Where is Arturo?”
Victor smiled.
“Always Arturo.”
Sadi stepped forward.
“Where is my father?”
Victor studied her.
“So Elena told you.”
“Answer.”
“He's dying.”
“Where?”
Victor pointed toward Roman's private conference room.
Sadi's heart stopped.
She opened the door.
An old man sat in a wheelchair.
Arturo Vega.
Smaller than she remembered.
Cancer had stripped away the terrifying figure of her past.
But his eyes were the same.
“Sadi.”
She couldn't move.
“Don't call me that,” he whispered.
“Then don't call me Isabel.”
Something like pride touched his face.
“Fair.”
Roman remained at the doorway.
Arturo looked at him.
“You have Luca's eyes.”
Roman's jaw tightened.
“You killed him.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
No denial.
No excuse.
Roman took one step forward.
Sadi touched his arm.
Roman stopped.
Arturo continued.
“Luca discovered me. I believed Victor's lie that he intended to kill Sadi.”
Sadi felt sick.
“So you murdered him?”
“I made the worst decision of my life.”
Roman's hands curled.
Victor laughed from the office.
“How touching.”
Sadi turned.
Arturo looked toward Victor.
“My brother in everything but blood.”
Victor raised his glass.
“Until you became sentimental.”
The final truth emerged.
Victor and Arturo had built the criminal network together.
Luca threatened it.
Victor manipulated Arturo into ordering Luca's death.
Then Victor betrayed Arturo.
The empire collapsed.
Sadi had unknowingly finished what Victor started when she gave investigators the records.
Victor now wanted the reserve money to rebuild.
Arturo wanted it destroyed.
Sadi looked at both men.
“You used all of us.”
Arturo lowered his eyes.
“Yes.”
Victor smiled.
“And I'd do it again.”
Roman moved toward him.
Victor drew a pistol.
Sadi froze.
Victor aimed at Roman.
Arturo suddenly stood from the wheelchair.
Frail but determined.
Victor turned the gun.
A shot exploded.
Arturo fell.
Roman tackled Victor.
The gun skidded beneath the desk.
Sadi rushed to her father.
Blood spread across his shoulder.
“Stay with me.”
Arturo looked at her.
“There's one more account.”
“I don't care.”
“You will.”
He pressed a small brass key into her palm.
“Your mother left it for you.”
Sadi froze.
“My mother?”
Arturo's eyes filled with regret.
“She didn't die.”
Sadi stared at him.
Arturo whispered an address.
Then alarms began screaming throughout Costa Holdings.
Roman looked toward the windows.
May you like
Victor was gone.
And the elevator display showed someone descending toward the garage with Roman's master security key.
