Chapter 2 - The Dinner No One Was Supposed to Survive
Lucian Bellini did not look at Mateo first.
He looked at Meline.
That surprised her.
She had imagined meeting Chicago’s most feared man differently.
Perhaps with bodyguards.
Perhaps with threats.
Perhaps never.
Instead, Lucian stood in the doorway in a charcoal three-piece suit, one hand holding a torn accounting page as casually as if it were a restaurant menu.
He was in his early forties.
Tall.
Dark-haired.
Controlled.
Nothing about him needed exaggeration.
Men like Mateo performed power.
Lucian seemed to assume it.
“Meline Alles?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“I’m Lucian Bellini.”
“I know.”
The faintest movement touched his mouth.
Not quite a smile.
“I assumed you did.”
Mateo remained behind him.
Tense.
Lucian lifted the torn page.
“You were looking for this?”
Meline glanced at Mateo.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Someone told me to.”
“Who?”
“Unknown number.”
Lucian held out his hand.
“Phone.”
Meline stiffened.
Mateo smirked.
“There you go. Maybe now you understand whose building you’re in.”
Lucian turned his head.
“Mateo.”
The smirk disappeared.
Lucian looked back at Meline.
“You may refuse.”
That surprised her more.
She unlocked the phone and handed it to him.
Lucian read the messages without speaking.
When he reached the photograph of her mother’s grave, his expression changed.
Barely.
But it changed.
“Did you tell anyone where your mother is buried?”
“No.”
“Public obituary?”
“Yes.”
He handed the phone back.
“You’re coming to dinner tonight.”
“That sounds less like an invitation.”
“It’s an invitation.”
Mateo stepped forward.
“Lucian, she’s exhausted. This can wait.”
Lucian looked at him.
“Then why are you worried?”
“I’m not.”
“Good.”
Lucian faced Meline again.
“Eight o’clock.”
She looked at the missing page in his hand.
“What’s on that?”
“You’ll see tonight.”
“Why not now?”
Mateo gave a short laugh.
Lucian did not.
“Because tonight everyone who needs to see it will be in one room.”
Meline understood.
This was not dinner.
It was a test.
Possibly hers.
Possibly Mateo’s.
Possibly everyone’s.
“Fine,” she said.
Mateo stared at her.
Lucian nodded once.
“Dante will send a car.”
“I can drive.”
“No.”
That was the first answer Lucian gave that sounded like an order.
Meline raised an eyebrow.
Lucian added, “Someone photographed you outside your apartment. Until I know who, you don’t travel alone.”
It was difficult to argue with that.
Lucian left.
Mateo waited until the hallway was empty.
Then he stepped close.
“You have no idea what you’re doing.”
Meline put the ledger into the cabinet.
“I’m beginning to.”
“You think Lucian respects you?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You think finding a few strange numbers makes you important?”
“No.”
Mateo leaned closer.
“Then understand something. People who become important around here become targets.”
Meline met his eyes.
“Was that advice?”
His voice dropped.
“It was mercy.”
She locked the cabinet.
“From you?”
Mateo smiled.
“You’ll wish you’d taken it.”
At 7:48 that evening, Meline arrived at the Bellini penthouse.
She had slept for three hours.
Showered.
Changed.
Almost canceled.
Instead she chose the blush-pink wrap dress hanging in the back of her closet, the one she had bought for a wedding and never worn again.
It was not armor.
But it made her feel like herself.
That mattered.
Dante met her at the elevator.
“You came.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I’ve known grown men who invented hospital emergencies to avoid dinners with Lucian.”
“Should I have done that?”
“Too late now.”
He led her through a glass-walled living room into a private dining area.
The city glittered beyond floor-to-ceiling windows.
A crystal chandelier hung above a long polished table.
Three men in black suits stood near the walls.
Meline recognized one as security chief Carlo Vieri.
Mateo was already seated.
He wore a pale beige suit and an expression of relaxed confidence that Meline no longer believed.
Lucian stood at the head of the table.
Beside him were Dante and two senior captains Meline had seen around the office.
No wives.
No assistants.
No unnecessary witnesses.
Lucian gestured toward the chair opposite Mateo.
“Sit.”
Meline did.
Dinner appeared.
Nobody ate much.
Conversation remained painfully ordinary.
A development project.
A restaurant lease.
A union dispute.
Meline understood what Lucian was doing.
Waiting.
Watching.
Letting Mateo wonder.
Finally Lucian set down his wineglass.
“Now.”
Dante placed the leather ledger on the table.
Mateo leaned back.
“There’s nothing in that book that can’t be explained.”
Lucian looked at Meline.
“Then let her explain first.”
Mateo scoffed.
“She’s been here ninety days.”
Lucian’s gaze remained on Meline.
“How long do numbers need before they tell the truth?”
Meline opened the ledger.
“Sometimes one minute.”
“And these?”
“Three days.”
She slid copies across the table.
“The suspicious transfers start small. Forty thousand. Fifty-five. Seventy.”
One captain frowned.
“That’s nothing.”
“Exactly.”
She looked at him.
“Small enough not to trigger internal review.”
Then she opened another page.
“After six months, they increase.”
She laid out the totals.
“By the end of last quarter, four point eight million was gone.”
Mateo shook his head.
“Reclassified.”
“To what?”
“External expenses.”
“Which ones?”
“I don’t memorize every invoice.”
Meline nodded.
“I expected that answer.”
She produced three invoices.
“These vendors invoiced us for refrigeration installations.”
“So?”
“The addresses are apartment buildings.”
Mateo’s mouth tightened.
Meline continued.
“One vendor claims to employ twenty-seven technicians.”
She placed another sheet down.
“The company has no payroll.”
Another sheet.
“No workers’ compensation policy.”
Another.
“No commercial vehicle registration.”
Mateo looked at Lucian.
“She searched beyond her authority.”
Lucian leaned back.
“That is not the same as being wrong.”
“She violated protocol.”
Lucian looked at Meline.
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
Mateo smiled.
Lucian asked, “Why?”
“Because whoever created the fraud understood your protocol.”
The smile vanished.
Dante lowered his eyes, hiding what might have been approval.
Lucian looked at Mateo.
“Answer her findings.”
Mateo’s tone sharpened.
“I already told you. These accounts are legitimate.”
“Then name the owners.”
Silence.
Meline watched Mateo’s fingers.
His left thumb rubbed the edge of his ring.
He did that whenever the questions narrowed.
She had noticed it in the accounting room.
“Can’t?” Lucian asked.
Mateo laughed.
“Won’t.”
The room changed.
Carlo shifted near the wall.
One captain stopped pretending to eat.
Lucian remained perfectly still.
Mateo realized his mistake.
“I mean the vendors are compartmentalized. You created that system.”
“I created it so outsiders wouldn’t know everything.”
Lucian’s voice stayed calm.
“Not so I wouldn’t.”
Meline turned another page.
“There’s more.”
Mateo pointed at her.
“Of course there is.”
Meline looked at the finger.
Then at him.
“Please don’t point at me.”
Mateo stared.
One of the captains almost smiled.
Mateo slowly lowered his hand.
Meline took out the payment schedule marked V.K.
“Six payments.”
Lucian examined it.
“V.K.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know who that is?”
“No.”
Lucian looked around the table.
Nobody answered.
Then he unfolded the missing page.
“This might help.”
Mateo’s face drained.
Lucian placed page ninety-one in the center of the table.
Meline leaned forward.
There were handwritten notes beside several transactions.
Not Mateo’s handwriting.
Someone had written dates.
Locations.
Initials.
A few abbreviated names.
At the bottom was an entry that had never appeared in the digital records.
V.K. — FINAL TRANSFER AFTER L.B. REMOVED.
Meline looked at Lucian.
“L.B.”
Lucian’s eyes remained on Mateo.
“Lucian Bellini.”
Nobody moved.
Meline read the sentence again.
Final transfer after L.B. removed.
Removed could mean many things.
In that room, none of them sounded harmless.
Mateo stood.
“This is insane.”
Carlo moved away from the wall.
Lucian lifted one hand.
Carlo stopped.
Mateo pointed to the missing page.
“You don’t know who wrote that.”
“No,” Lucian said.
“Anybody could have.”
“Yes.”
“You’re going to believe some scribble because she found it?”
Lucian looked at Meline.
“I haven’t decided what I believe.”
Mateo exhaled.
“But I know someone wanted this page hidden.”
Lucian’s voice grew quieter.
“And someone knew exactly when Meline found the ledger.”
Mateo sat back down.
Meline felt every eye in the room.
Lucian continued.
“That means the problem is inside.”
Dante nodded.
Mateo suddenly smiled.
“Then maybe you should look at the newest person in the building.”
Meline stared at him.
Mateo spread his hands.
“Think about it. She arrives. Finds fraud no one else sees. Gets anonymous messages conveniently directing her to evidence. Then she walks into Lucian’s home and accuses one of his oldest associates.”
Meline’s stomach turned.
Because it was clever.
Not true.
But clever.
One captain looked at her differently.
Mateo saw it.
He leaned forward.
“Who hired you, Meline?”
“Human resources.”
“Who referred you?”
“A recruiting firm.”
“Which one?”
“North Coast Financial Staffing.”
Mateo smiled.
“That company doesn’t exist anymore.”
Meline froze.
“What?”
“I checked this afternoon.”
Lucian’s eyes shifted to her.
Mateo continued.
“Closed eight months ago.”
Meline felt heat move up her neck.
“That’s impossible.”
“Is it?”
“I spoke to a recruiter.”
“Name?”
“Elaine Porter.”
Mateo looked at Dante.
“Know her?”
Dante shook his head.
Mateo looked at Lucian.
“So tell me, cousin. Who planted her here?”
Meline stared at him.
Cousin.
She had not known.
Lucian and Mateo were family.
The tension suddenly made more sense.
Lucian looked at Meline.
“Did you know the agency was closed?”
“No.”
“Did you know Elaine Porter before this job?”
“No.”
“Do you still have her number?”
“Yes.”
“Call it.”
Meline pulled out her phone.
Her fingers were cold.
She selected the contact.
Pressed call.
A recorded message answered immediately.
The number you have dialed is no longer in service.
Mateo leaned back.
“There.”
Meline lowered the phone.
For the first time, uncertainty hit her hard.
Who had hired her?
Why?
And why had someone specifically placed her near these records?
Lucian watched her.
Not angrily.
Carefully.
Meline hated how vulnerable that made her feel.
“I didn’t know,” she said.
“I believe that you believe that,” Mateo replied.
“Enough,” Lucian said.
Mateo went silent.
Lucian picked up the missing page.
“Meline.”
“Yes?”
“Show me the authorization codes again.”
She did.
He compared them with the handwritten sheet.
Then he asked, “Could these codes be forged?”
Meline considered.
“Copied? Yes.”
“How?”
“You’d need system access and knowledge of Mateo’s rotating approval sequence.”
“Who has both?”
Mateo answered immediately.
“Half the finance department.”
Meline shook her head.
“No.”
Mateo glared.
“Excuse me?”
“The rotation changed last spring after the software upgrade. Old sequences still appear in historical records, but only three users can generate active approvals.”
Lucian’s eyes narrowed.
“Names.”
Meline swallowed.
“Mateo.”
She turned one page.
“Dante.”
Dante’s face went still.
“And?”
Meline looked toward the far end of the room.
The third name had bothered her since noon.
Because that user had supposedly left the organization two years earlier.
“Victor Kane.”
A wineglass slipped from someone’s hand.
It struck the floor.
Everyone turned.
The man who had dropped it was one of the captains.
Rafael Conti.
His face had gone pale.
Lucian stood.
“Rafael?”
Rafael looked toward the door.
Carlo reached inside his jacket.
Rafael moved first.
He shoved the table sideways.
Glasses crashed.
Meline jumped back.
Mateo shouted.
Rafael ran toward the hallway.
Carlo and the two guards chased him.
Lucian remained beside Meline.
Dante stared at the broken glass.
“Victor Kane is dead.”
Meline looked at him.
“What?”
“Three years ago.”
“Then why does his access still work?”
Lucian’s face turned cold.
A gunshot cracked somewhere beyond the dining room.
Meline flinched.
Another.
Then silence.
Lucian stepped between her and the hallway.
Carlo’s voice came through his earpiece.
“Boss.”
Lucian touched the device.
“What?”
Carlo answered.
“We caught Rafael.”
A pause.
“But you need to see what he had in his pocket.”
Lucian looked toward the hallway.
A bodyguard appeared in the doorway holding a sealed photograph.
He opened it.
His expression changed.
May you like
Then he looked directly at Meline.
“Boss,” he said quietly. “It’s a photograph of her.”
