Chapter 11 - Two Daughters of Lucia Russo
Adrian read the message once.
“No.”
Elena folded her arms.
“She contacted me.”
“That does not mean you go.”
“She has information about Hale.”
“She also stole Marco’s credentials.”
“She could have killed Marco.”
Marco frowned.
“Appreciate the optimism.”
Elena ignored him.
“She didn’t.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“You’re looking for reasons to trust someone you’ve never met.”
“She’s my sister.”
“She helped the people who killed your father.”
“At fourteen.”
“She works with them now.”
“So did my mother.”
Lucia looked away.
Adrian had no answer.
The message included a location.
An old ferry terminal in Brooklyn.
Midnight.
Elena negotiated.
Not alone.
Adrian could remain nearby.
No visible guards.
No tracking devices.
“Those are her terms,” Elena said.
“They are not mine.”
“Adrian.”
He stared at her.
She lowered her voice.
“For three days everybody has told me what I’m allowed to know, where I’m allowed to go, and which lies were supposedly meant to protect me.”
His expression softened.
“I’m not them.”
“Then don’t make their choices.”
He hated it.
But he nodded.
At 11:55 p.m., Elena entered the abandoned terminal.
One overhead light burned near the old ticket booths.
A woman stood beneath it.
Thirty-five.
Tall.
Dark hair.
Lucia’s eyes.
Elena stopped.
Sofia studied her.
“So.”
Elena almost laughed.
“That’s your opening?”
“I had better ones in the car.”
“You should’ve used them.”
A faint smile.
They looked at each other.
Two strangers carrying the same blood and completely different histories.
Sofia spoke first.
“You look like Salvatore.”
“He raised me.”
“I know.”
“You knew him?”
“Once.”
“When?”
“When I was fourteen.”
Elena’s heart tightened.
“The message.”
Sofia’s face hardened.
“Alessio told you.”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t know what was inside.”
“I believe you.”
That surprised her.
“Why?”
“Because if you wanted me dead, you wouldn’t need this meeting.”
Sofia smiled slightly.
“You’re smarter than they said.”
“Who?”
“Everyone.”
Elena stepped closer.
“Where is Hale?”
“Moving money.”
“Where?”
“Bellandi Tower.”
Adrian’s corporate headquarters.
Elena’s stomach tightened.
“Why there?”
“Hale wants to frame Adrian as the financial controller of the Founders.”
“How?”
“Transfers. Documents. bodies if necessary.”
“And you’re helping him?”
“No.”
“Who are you helping?”
Sofia looked tired.
“Myself.”
“That’s not enough.”
“It has kept me alive.”
Elena recognized the worldview.
Not evil.
Survival.
“Why warn me?”
Sofia looked at her.
“Because Hale intends to kill Adrian before sunrise.”
Elena swallowed.
“Why?”
“Your evidence release hurt him. He needs a villain before journalists finish authenticating everything.”
“So Adrian becomes the villain.”
“Yes.”
“And you?”
“I’m supposed to plant records.”
“Will you?”
Sofia did not answer.
Elena stepped closer.
“You came here.”
“Yes.”
“That means you haven’t decided.”
Sofia laughed quietly.
“You think this is some family reunion where you say the right sentence and I become good?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“I think you’re afraid.”
The smile vanished.
Sofia’s eyes sharpened.
“Careful.”
“I think you’ve spent your whole life around people who told you fear was intelligence.”
Sofia stared.
Elena continued.
“And maybe you don’t know what you want because nobody ever let you want anything.”
Something moved in Sofia’s face.
Then disappeared.
“You really are Salvatore’s daughter.”
“So are you in every way that mattered to him.”
Sofia’s eyes widened.
“What does that mean?”
“He tried to bring you home.”
Lucia had told Elena before the meeting.
Salvatore spent years trying to remove Sofia from the Founders’ control.
Legal petitions.
Private negotiations.
Money.
Threats.
He never succeeded.
Sofia looked away.
“Alessio said Salvatore hated me.”
“He lied.”
“He said I reminded Lucia of a mistake.”
“He lied.”
“He said—”
“He lied.”
Sofia’s eyes filled.
She looked furious about it.
“Stop.”
Elena did.
For several seconds, only the river could be heard outside.
Then Sofia handed her a drive.
“Hale’s current transfers.”
Elena took it.
“Come with me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I still have work to do.”
“For whom?”
Sofia looked toward the dark river.
“For the girl Salvatore tried to save.”
Before Elena could respond, headlights swept across the terminal.
Sofia’s expression changed.
“You were followed.”
“No.”
“Someone was.”
Gunfire shattered the windows.
Elena dropped.
Sofia drew a weapon and fired toward the entrance.
Adrian appeared from behind a concrete pillar.
Elena shouted, “You followed me!”
“I stayed nearby.”
“This is your definition?”
“Discuss later.”
Marco’s men returned fire from outside.
The attackers retreated.
Sofia grabbed Elena’s arm.
“Hale knows.”
“How?”
“He has people everywhere.”
Adrian reached them.
He and Sofia stared at each other.
“So you’re the sister.”
“So you’re the man my sister apparently thinks can’t follow directions.”
Elena almost laughed despite the danger.
Sofia handed Adrian a keycard.
“Bellandi Tower. Executive level.”
“I already have access.”
“Not tonight.”
“Why?”
“Hale replaced your security.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
Sofia continued.
“He’s staging your arrest.”
“When?”
“Four a.m.”
“For what?”
“Murder.”
“Whose?”
Sofia looked directly at him.
“Your mother’s.”
Adrian froze.
Elena whispered, “Isabella?”
Sofia nodded.
“Hale has her.”
“Alive?”
“For now.”
Adrian started toward the exit.
Sofia blocked him.
“That’s what he wants.”
Adrian’s voice became dangerous.
“Move.”
“If you go without proof, he kills her and arrests you beside the body.”
Marco appeared.
“She’s right.”
Adrian stopped.
Elena plugged Sofia’s drive into a secure tablet.
Nina, connected remotely, began scanning.
“There are transfers,” she said through the speaker. “Millions routed through Bellandi shell accounts.”
“Can you prove they’re forged?” Elena asked.
“Maybe.”
Then Nina gasped.
“What?”
“There’s a scheduled transaction.”
“How much?”
“Four hundred million.”
Adrian stared.
“To where?”
Nina read the destination.
A charitable foundation.
One Adrian had created after his father’s death.
The Carlo Bellandi Foundation.
Sofia shook her head.
“That’s not the destination.”
“What?”
“It’s the cover.”
Nina traced deeper.
Her voice changed.
“The final beneficiary is…”
She stopped.
“Who?” Adrian demanded.
Nina whispered:
“Elena Russo.”
Elena stared at the screen.
Someone was preparing to transfer four hundred million dollars into her name.
May you like
At 4:00 a.m.
At the exact moment Adrian was supposed to be arrested for murder.
