Chapter 3 - The Man Leo Trusted
Leo drew his weapon.
Marco did the same.
"Drop it," Leo said.
Marco stared at him.
"What the hell?"
Gabriel pointed at the ledger.
"Your name."
Marco glanced down.
Confusion crossed his face.
"That's not me."
"It's your name."
"I can read."
The person who had entered was Marco's younger brother, Enzo, another Rossi security officer.
Enzo raised both hands.
"Nobody shoot."
Leo kept his weapon aimed at Marco.
"Explain."
Marco slowly removed his pistol and placed it on the floor.
"I've worked for you since I was twenty-two."
"That doesn't answer me."
"My father was also Marco DeLuca."
Gabriel went pale.
Leo looked at him.
"You knew?"
Gabriel nodded slowly.
"The ledger is twenty years old."
Marco's father had died when Marco was seventeen.
Officially a robbery.
Gabriel explained that the elder Marco had worked directly beneath Vittorio.
Not as an enemy.
As an investigator.
CURRENT HANDLER referred to the person handling Gabriel's information.
Marco lowered his eyes.
"My father worked for yours?"
Leo nodded.
"Apparently our parents had more secrets than we do."
Ara looked at Gabriel.
"That seems impossible."
The tension eased slightly.
Then Daniel found something inside the ledger.
A bank account.
Still active.
Someone had withdrawn $250,000 three days earlier.
"Can you trace it?" Leo asked.
Daniel nodded.
"It'll take time."
Leo looked at Ara.
"You need sleep."
She almost laughed.
"My dead father came back tonight, someone shot at us, and apparently my entire career was arranged by your dead father."
"Exactly."
"And you think I'm sleeping?"
"I think you're exhausted."
"I think you're controlling."
"I've been called worse."
"I'm sure."
Gabriel watched them.
A strange sadness entered his face.
Leo noticed.
"What?"
Gabriel shook his head.
"Nothing."
"Say it."
"You two remind me of Vittorio and Elena."
Leo's expression changed.
Ara looked away.
Leo ordered rooms prepared.
Ara found him forty minutes later standing alone on a balcony.
She stepped outside.
"You followed me."
Leo didn't pretend misunderstanding.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Security."
"Try again."
He looked at the city.
Ara waited.
Leo Rossi could order men into dangerous situations without hesitation.
Yet saying one honest sentence to her seemed more difficult.
"I saw your notebook."
Her eyes narrowed.
"You read it?"
"Yes."
"You invaded my privacy."
"Yes."
"Stop agreeing. It makes it difficult to yell at you."
His mouth almost moved into a smile.
She folded her arms.
"You saw Laura."
"Yes."
"And thought I had a date."
"Yes."
"So you followed me."
Leo looked at her.
"I wanted to know who he was."
"Why?"
Silence.
Ara stepped closer.
"Why, Leo?"
He looked at her differently when she said his name.
"I didn't like imagining you with someone."
Ara's breath caught.
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one I have."
"You don't own me."
"I know."
"Do you?"
His voice softened.
"That's the problem."
Ara studied him.
The terrifying man everyone feared looked almost uncertain.
She had never seen that before.
"You can't threaten every man I have dinner with."
"I didn't threaten Daniel."
"You nearly broke his wrist."
"He'll recover."
Ara laughed once.
Leo stared.
There it was again.
That smile.
Only this time he had caused it.
He stepped closer.
Ara didn't retreat.
Their faces were inches apart.
"You should stop looking at me like that," she whispered.
"Like what?"
"Like you're considering another federal crime."
"That's usually how I look."
She smiled again.
Then the balcony door opened.
Daniel.
"Sorry."
Leo closed his eyes.
"You will be."
"I traced the money."
Romance disappeared.
They returned inside.
Daniel rotated the laptop.
The withdrawal had gone to a shell company.
SERRANO CONSULTING.
Anthony Serrano.
One of Leo's senior capos.
Leo immediately called Marco.
No answer.
He called Enzo.
No answer.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
Leo answered.
"Rossi."
A distorted voice spoke.
"You should have left the girl alone."
Leo became still.
Ara saw his expression.
"Who is it?"
The voice continued.
"Your father tried protecting her family. Look where that got him."
Leo's grip tightened.
"If you touch her—"
"We already did."
The call ended.
Ara's phone vibrated.
A photograph arrived.
She opened it.
Her face drained.
Leo took the phone.
The image showed Gabriel tied to a chair.
Behind him stood Marco and Enzo.
But both brothers were also restrained.
Three hostages.
A message appeared beneath the photograph.
BRING THE LEDGER TO PIER 40.
MIDNIGHT.
COME WITH ARA.
Leo checked the time.
11:17.
Ara whispered, "We're going."
"No."
"My father—"
"No."
"Leo."
"Absolutely not."
She stepped directly in front of him.
"You don't decide this."
"I decide whether you walk into a trap."
"Then I'll go without you."
He stared at her.
She meant it.
Leo exhaled.
"Fine."
Daniel closed the laptop.
"I'll come."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I still don't like you."
Daniel nodded.
"Fair."
Leo prepared the convoy.
At 11:52, they reached Pier 40.
The waterfront was nearly empty.
A warehouse door stood open.
Leo and Ara approached.
Inside was darkness.
A single chair sat beneath a hanging light.
Gabriel was there.
Alone.
Ara ran toward him.
Leo caught her arm.
"Wait."
Gabriel raised his head.
"Don't come closer!"
Ara froze.
Leo saw wires beneath the chair.
Then footsteps sounded above them.
A figure appeared on the metal catwalk.
Anthony Serrano.
He smiled down.
But another person stepped beside him.
Ara recognized the face.
Her mouth opened.
Leo whispered, "Who is that?"
May you like
Ara could barely answer.
"My mother."
