Chapter 10 - The Price of Massimo Costa
Massimo answered.
No voice.
Only a recording.
Marcello Costa spoke from twenty-two years in the past.
“If this message has activated, someone opened Matteo’s medical file.”
Massimo gripped the phone.
Marcello continued.
“Massimo, if you are hearing this, Salvatore survived longer than I hoped.”
Alessandra looked at Matteo.
“You knew?”
“Not this.”
The recording gave coordinates.
A storage facility beneath an old Costa warehouse.
Then Marcello said something stranger.
“The child must never inherit the organization.”
Massimo frowned.
“What child?”
The recording ended.
They traveled to the warehouse after Matteo stabilized.
Beneath a false floor they found Marcello’s archive.
Boxes.
Tapes.
Ledgers.
Photographs.
Enough evidence to dismantle Salvatore’s empire.
But Alessandra found another file.
LEONARDO.
Inside was a legal document prepared years before Leo was born.
It established a trust for “the first surviving male descendant of Matteo Costa.”
Leo.
“How could Marcello know?” Alessandra asked.
Massimo examined the date.
“He didn’t.”
The document had been altered.
Recently.
Salvatore had modified Marcello’s estate.
If Massimo died and Matteo remained legally deceased, control of billions in legitimate Costa holdings passed to Leo.
“That’s why he wants him,” Alessandra whispered.
Massimo understood.
Leo was not merely an heir.
He was leverage.
Salvatore could control the Costa fortune through a child.
Unless Massimo changed the trust.
His attorney had betrayed him.
So Alessandra suggested someone impossible to manipulate.
Her.
Massimo looked at her.
“You want control of my estate?”
“No. I want Leo removed from succession.”
“That requires a new beneficiary.”
“Choose charity.”
Massimo shook his head.
“Salvatore would contest it.”
“Then choose someone with standing.”
Their eyes met.
Alessandra realized what he meant.
“No.”
“Marriage would give you standing.”
“No.”
“It protects Leo.”
“You are not proposing marriage in a basement full of murder evidence.”
“I’m discussing legal strategy.”
“That is somehow worse.”
Massimo smiled.
Then the smile disappeared.
“I would never ask you to marry me for protection.”
“Good.”
“If I ask you, it will be because I want you.”
Silence.
Alessandra’s heart betrayed her.
“Massimo—”
“Not now.”
He stepped away.
“When this is over.”
Before they could say more, Vanessa called.
Salvatore had issued a public ultimatum.
Massimo surrendered the archive by midnight.
Or Salvatore would release fabricated evidence tying Alessandra to the missing fifty million.
Her name would become synonymous with the theft.
Her future would disappear.
Massimo’s response was immediate.
“He can have me.”
“No,” Alessandra said.
“He wants me more than the archive.”
“No.”
“I can end this.”
“You can get killed.”
“If that keeps you and Leo—”
She slapped him.
Not hard.
Enough.
Massimo stared.
“You do not get to turn yourself into a sacrifice and call it protection.”
His expression shifted.
“Nobody has ever slapped me before.”
“Then surround yourself with more honest people.”
He almost smiled.
Alessandra stepped closer.
“We finish this together.”
He looked at her.
“Together.”
At 11:48 p.m., Salvatore sent an address.
An abandoned courthouse.
Massimo opened the message.
A photograph followed.
Vanessa was tied to a chair.
Rachel’s two daughters were beside her.
Then another photograph arrived.
Teresa.
Bound.
Massimo went still.
Salvatore had taken everyone.
The final message appeared.
May you like
BRING ALESSANDRA.
SHE IS THE PRICE.
