Chapter 6 - What Caroline Was Protecting
Mara forgot how to breathe.
Her father had been buried eleven years ago.
She had identified his body.
Or believed she had.
“Dad?”
Daniel Ellis looked older.
Thinner.
A scar crossed one side of his face.
But it was him.
Marcus Hale rested a hand on his shoulder.
“Family reunions are exhausting, aren’t they?”
Luca stepped between Mara and Marcus.
“Let them go.”
Marcus smiled.
“There he is. Antonio’s son. Always trying to sound like a king.”
Elena appeared beside Luca.
Marcus looked delighted.
“And the dead daughter.”
Preston struggled against his restraints.
“Marcus?”
For the first time, Marcus looked at his brother.
Preston stared.
“You’re alive.”
“I’ve been alive the entire time.”
“You threatened my son.”
Marcus shrugged.
“You always needed motivation.”
Preston’s face twisted.
“That’s your nephew.”
“Blood is just another form of leverage.”
Mara looked at her father.
“Why are you with him?”
Daniel shook his head.
“I’m not.”
Marcus laughed.
“He is now.”
Luca studied the room.
Mara knew he was counting people.
Entrances.
Distances.
Risks.
Marcus noticed.
“Don’t.”
Luca stopped.
“You’re outnumbered.”
“Probably.”
“And yet you came.”
“It’s my warehouse.”
Marcus smiled.
“Still territorial.”
Mara’s father spoke.
“Caroline hid something inside the ledger.”
Mara looked at him.
“What?”
“Proof Antonio Bellandi tried to dismantle Janus.”
Elena frowned.
“We know that.”
“No.”
Daniel looked at Luca.
“Proof of who stopped him.”
Marcus’s smile disappeared.
Luca saw it.
“Your father?”
Marcus laughed again.
Too quickly.
Daniel continued.
“Marcus didn’t take control of Janus by himself.”
“Dad—”
“Caroline discovered the real architect.”
Marcus hit him.
Mara lunged.
Luca caught her around the waist.
“Easy.”
“Let me go.”
“Not yet.”
Daniel spat blood.
Marcus’s composure cracked.
“Enough.”
Mara stared at him.
“You’re afraid.”
Marcus looked at her.
“Of what?”
“My father talking.”
His eyes changed.
That was answer enough.
Mara pulled the flash drive from her purse.
Every person in the room froze.
Marcus smiled.
“There.”
Mara held it between two fingers.
“You want this?”
“Yes.”
“Let them go.”
“Mara,” Luca warned.
She ignored him.
Marcus gestured.
One of his men released Preston.
Another pushed Daniel forward.
Marcus said, “Elena stays.”
“No.”
“Then your father dies.”
Daniel shouted, “Don’t.”
Mara looked at Elena.
Elena looked at Luca.
Then at Nero.
The blind Doberman stood beside Mara.
Still.
Listening.
Elena whispered, “Trust him.”
Mara did not know whether she meant Luca or Nero.
Perhaps both.
Mara tossed the flash drive.
Marcus reached.
Nero moved.
Not toward Marcus.
Toward the lights.
He slammed into a rolling equipment case.
It crashed into an electrical panel.
Darkness.
Luca moved instantly.
Shouts.
A gunshot.
Glass shattered.
Mara dropped to the floor.
Someone grabbed her arm.
She almost screamed.
“Me,” Luca whispered.
Nero barked ahead.
Vittorio shouted.
Elena yelled her brother’s name.
Then emergency lights activated.
Marcus was gone.
Preston lay on the floor.
Alive.
Daniel crawled toward Mara.
She ran to him.
“Dad.”
He held her face.
“I’m sorry.”
She cried despite herself.
“You were dead.”
“I had to be.”
“No. You didn’t.”
“Yes.”
“No more people telling me they disappeared to protect me.”
Daniel almost laughed through tears.
“You are definitely your mother’s daughter.”
Luca approached.
“Where did Marcus go?”
Daniel pointed toward the loading bay.
Vittorio pursued with two men.
Elena helped Preston.
Mara looked at her father.
“What did Mom hide?”
Daniel’s face changed.
“Not what. Who.”
Luca stopped.
Daniel looked at him.
“Your mother.”
Luca frowned.
“My mother died when I was six.”
“No.”
Everything went silent.
Daniel continued.
“Isabella Bellandi created Janus.”
Luca stared.
“My father created Janus.”
“That is what she wanted everyone to believe.”
Elena shook her head.
“Impossible.”
Daniel looked at her sadly.
“Antonio spent the last years of his life trying to undo what Isabella built.”
Mara remembered Caroline’s video.
Antonio was not a good man. But near the end, he tried to become one.
“Where is Isabella?” Luca asked.
Daniel swallowed.
“Marcus knows.”
Luca’s face hardened.
“Then Marcus isn’t running Janus.”
“No.”
“Who is?”
Daniel looked at him.
“Your mother.”
The warehouse doors opened.
Vittorio returned alone.
“He escaped.”
Luca closed his eyes.
Elena whispered, “Where would he go?”
Mara knew.
“The ballroom.”
Everyone looked at her.
“He wants the people inside. Judges, businessmen, politicians. They are the remaining network.”
Daniel nodded.
“And Isabella will want the ledger.”
Mara looked down.
“The drive I gave Marcus wasn’t the ledger.”
Luca turned.
“What?”
She reached beneath Nero’s leather harness.
Earlier, when everyone was focused on the monitor, she had slipped the real flash drive into a clean interior strap.
Elena stared.
“You hid it on Nero?”
Mara smiled faintly.
“No one ever notices what’s on the dog until it’s too late.”
Luca looked at her for a long second.
Then he laughed.
One surprised breath.
“You are terrifying.”
“Thank you.”
“That was not entirely a compliment.”
“It was enough.”
They returned to the estate before dawn.
Police could not simply be called.
Too many officers might belong to Janus.
Instead, Luca contacted a federal prosecutor named Naomi Price, one of the few people Elena trusted.
Reporters waited remotely for the evidence release.
The ballroom remained locked.
Luca entered through the private corridor.
Mara stayed beside him.
Elena walked on his other side.
Nero between them.
When the ballroom doors opened, exhausted guests turned.
Marcus stood near the stage.
No weapon visible.
He smiled.
“You came back.”
Luca looked around.
“Where is she?”
Marcus’s smile widened.
“You know.”
“I want to hear you say it.”
A woman stepped from behind the musicians’ platform.
Elegant.
Seventy.
Silver hair.
Dark green gown.
Luca went completely still.
Elena whispered, “Mother?”
Isabella Bellandi smiled.
“My children.”
Nobody moved.
She looked at Nero.
Then Mara.
Her smile disappeared.
“So you are Caroline’s daughter.”
Mara tightened her grip on the harness.
Isabella approached slowly.
“Give me the ledger.”
“No.”
Isabella smiled again.
“Your mother said the same thing.”
Mara’s blood went cold.
“What did you do to her?”
Luca stepped forward.
Isabella ignored him.
“She chose Antonio over me.”
Mara’s voice shook.
“What did you do?”
Isabella leaned close.
“I gave her the same choice I’m giving you.”
“Which is?”
“Walk away from Luca Bellandi.”
Mara looked at Luca.
Then at Nero.
Then back at Isabella.
“No.”
Isabella sighed.
“Then history repeats.”
She raised one finger.
The gilded ballroom doors opened behind Mara.
May you like
A dozen armed men entered.
And the person leading them was wearing a federal badge.
