Chapter 4 - The Traitor at the Table
Meline did not show Lucian the message.
Not immediately.
That was her first mistake.
Her second was believing she could hide fear from a man who had survived by reading rooms before anyone else understood there was danger.
Lucian watched her lock her phone.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
His expression changed.
“That answer works better when your face agrees.”
Meline looked toward Rafael’s body.
“I need air.”
“No.”
She turned.
“Excuse me?”
“Someone just killed a man inside my building.”
“And?”
“And nobody leaves until we know how.”
“You don’t own me.”
“No.”
His voice was calm.
“But right now somebody wants you dead or framed, and I’m not pretending otherwise so you can feel independent.”
Meline glared.
Under different circumstances she might have hated him.
Instead, beneath the anger, there was an uncomfortable awareness that he was right.
Carlo approached.
“Ventilation shaft leads to a service corridor.”
“Camera?”
“Looped.”
“For how long?”
“Four minutes.”
“Inside access?”
“Yes.”
Lucian’s gaze moved toward Mateo.
Mateo stood near the door.
“You think it was me?”
“I think too many things are possible.”
Mateo stepped closer.
“Rafael said ask me. So ask.”
Meline watched him.
Lucian did.
“Who is Victor Kane?”
“A dead accountant.”
“Try again.”
Mateo looked at Meline.
“My father worked with him.”
Lucian’s eyes narrowed.
“You never told me that.”
“You never asked.”
Dante muttered, “Bad answer.”
Mateo exhaled.
“My father handled transport. Victor handled money. They worked together in the nineties.”
Meline stepped forward.
“Did your father know my mother?”
Mateo’s gaze flickered.
“Yes.”
That hurt more than she expected.
“How well?”
“I don’t know.”
“Mateo.”
“I was fourteen.”
“Did he ever mention Elena Alles?”
“Yes.”
Lucian’s voice turned cold.
“And you kept that from me?”
“I didn’t know she was Meline’s mother until today.”
Meline studied him.
“Are you sure?”
Mateo stared back.
“Yes.”
She believed he was lying.
Not about everything.
About something.
Her phone felt heavy in her pocket.
COME ALONE OR HE DIES.
Who was he?
Lucian?
Dante?
Mateo?
Her father?
Impossible.
Unless everything she had been told about his death was another lie.
The address was across the city.
An abandoned accounting office near the river.
Meline made her decision.
At 2:13 a.m., after security moved everyone into separate rooms, she slipped into a guest bathroom.
There was a service balcony beyond the window.
Twenty minutes later she was in a taxi.
She hated deceiving Lucian.
That irritated her too.
Why should his opinion matter?
She had known him less than a day.
But he had spoken about her mother as if Elena’s courage mattered.
He had listened when Meline told him not to treat her as fragile.
He had stood between her and gunfire.
None of that meant she owed him obedience.
It did mean she suspected he would be furious.
The building at the address looked abandoned.
Meline stepped from the taxi and waited until the taillights disappeared.
Then she entered.
Inside, one fluorescent bulb flickered above a reception desk.
“Meline.”
She froze.
A man emerged from the hallway.
Gray hair.
Thin face.
Scar beside his chin.
Victor Kane.
Alive.
Meline’s hands curled.
“You were at my mother’s funeral.”
“Yes.”
“You killed my father.”
Victor stopped.
“No.”
She laughed once.
It sounded broken.
“Everyone says you did.”
“Everyone has been wrong about many things.”
“Then tell me why I’m here.”
Victor looked tired rather than dangerous.
That frightened her more.
“Because Lucian Bellini is about to kill the wrong man.”
“Mateo?”
“Yes.”
“Why should I care?”
“Because Mateo is innocent.”
“Of stealing?”
“Mostly.”
Meline stared.
“Mostly?”
Victor gestured toward an office.
“Come.”
“No.”
He stopped.
“You told me someone would die.”
Victor looked at her.
“That part was true.”
“Who?”
“Lucian.”
Meline’s breath caught.
Victor saw it.
Interesting.
“You care about him already.”
“Don’t.”
Victor smiled faintly.
“Your mother did the same thing.”
“What does that mean?”
“Not romantically.”
His smile disappeared.
“She believed the Bellinis could be saved from themselves.”
Meline stepped closer.
“You have five minutes.”
Victor opened a folder.
Inside were photographs.
Mateo meeting unknown men.
Rafael exchanging envelopes.
Bank documents.
Security schedules.
Then Victor placed one photo on top.
Dante Bellini.
Meline stared.
“No.”
“He’s the traitor.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“He protected my mother.”
Victor laughed sadly.
“That’s what he told you?”
Meline’s pulse sped up.
Victor sat.
“Your mother discovered theft eighteen years ago. Yes.”
“Yours.”
“No.”
“Then whose?”
“Dante’s brother.”
Meline froze.
“Lucian’s father?”
“No.”
Victor looked at her.
“Mateo’s father.”
The room felt smaller.
Victor explained.
Mateo’s father, Sal Russo, had siphoned money.
Victor discovered it.
Elena helped him.
When Sal realized they had evidence, he tried to destroy it.
Meline’s father had been killed because he drove Elena to meet Victor.
“Then why did everyone believe you did it?”
“Because Sal framed me.”
“Why fake your death?”
“To keep watching the money.”
“That makes no sense.”
“I thought Sal’s network was dead.”
Victor tapped the ledger copies.
“It wasn’t.”
Meline shook her head.
“And Dante?”
“Dante knew part of the truth.”
“Did he betray Lucian?”
Victor looked toward the hallway.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s a convenient answer.”
“It’s the honest one.”
Meline stared at him.
“Then who is trying to kill Lucian?”
Victor slid one final document across the desk.
An event schedule.
Bellini Foundation charity gala.
Tomorrow night.
Meline saw a handwritten note.
11:20 — EAST BALCONY.
“What is this?”
“An assassination window.”
Her blood ran cold.
“Who wrote it?”
“Rafael.”
“He’s dead.”
“I know.”
“How?”
Victor looked at her.
“I still have people inside.”
Meline’s eyes narrowed.
“Then you could have sent the anonymous messages.”
“Yes.”
“You photographed me?”
“No.”
“My mother’s grave?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
Victor leaned forward.
“That’s what you need to understand. There are two groups operating inside Bellini’s organization.”
“One is yours.”
“Yes.”
“The other?”
“I thought it was Mateo.”
“And now?”
Victor’s expression darkened.
“Now I think Mateo is being framed too.”
Meline picked up the assassination schedule.
“Why should I believe you?”
“You shouldn’t.”
Victor looked at her.
“You should verify me.”
That sounded like something she would say.
And that bothered her.
A vehicle stopped outside.
Victor’s face changed.
“You were followed.”
Meline looked toward the window.
Black SUV.
Lucian stepped out.
Two bodyguards followed.
Victor cursed.
“You told him?”
“No.”
“Then he tracked you.”
The front door opened.
Lucian entered.
His face was colder than Meline had ever seen.
He looked at Victor.
Then at Meline.
“Step away from him.”
Victor lifted his hands.
“You still give orders like your father.”
Lucian ignored him.
“Meline.”
She held up the assassination schedule.
“Wait.”
“Move.”
“Lucian.”
Something in her voice stopped him.
“He says there’s a plan to kill you tomorrow.”
Lucian looked at the paper.
Victor spoke.
“East balcony. Eleven twenty.”
Lucian’s expression did not change.
“You expect me to trust you?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Victor smiled.
“I expect you to trust her.”
Lucian looked at Meline.
The anger in his face softened.
Only slightly.
“You left a secured building after a murder.”
“Yes.”
“You told no one.”
“Yes.”
“You came alone to meet a man you were told killed your father.”
“Yes.”
He stared.
Meline folded her arms.
“I’m beginning to hear how bad that sounds.”
One bodyguard coughed to hide a laugh.
Lucian did not laugh.
But his eyes warmed for half a second.
Then gunfire erupted from outside.
Glass shattered.
Lucian tackled Meline behind the desk.
His body covered hers.
Victor pulled a weapon from beneath the table.
The lights went out.
A vehicle roared away.
Then silence.
Lucian lifted his head.
“You hit?”
“No.”
“Victor?”
“I’m alive.”
The bodyguards cleared the entrance.
Meline realized Lucian’s hand was still around hers.
He noticed too.
Neither moved immediately.
Then Victor spoke from the darkness.
“They know she found me.”
Lucian stood.
“Who?”
Victor answered.
“The same person who scheduled tomorrow’s assassination.”
Meline picked up the papers scattered beneath the desk.
One sheet had landed face down.
She turned it over.
A photocopy of an old payroll record.
At the bottom was a signature.
SALVATORE RUSSO.
Mateo’s father.
Beside it was another signature approving the account.
Meline stared.
Lucian saw her expression.
“What?”
She handed it to him.
Lucian read the second name.
His face went completely still.
Dante Bellini.
Then Lucian’s phone rang.
Carlo’s voice came through.
“Boss, Dante’s gone.”
Lucian’s eyes hardened.
“When?”
“Seven minutes ago.”
“With who?”
May you like
A pause.
“Mateo.”
