Chapter 6 - The Night Chicago Chose a Side
The gala could not simply be canceled.
Sal had planned for that.
Threat messages had already gone out.
If Lucian evacuated the ballroom, explosives hidden somewhere in the venue would be triggered.
If police entered visibly, the same thing would happen.
If Lucian failed to appear by eleven, Dante would die.
Sal had designed a cage.
Meline looked at the accounting records.
Then she found the weakness.
“Money.”
Lucian turned.
“What?”
“Sal plans everything through money.”
“That helps us how?”
“Payments.”
She opened the recovered files.
“Every team he hired tonight has to be paid.”
Carlo shook his head.
“Mercenaries don’t wait for invoices.”
“No.”
Meline pointed.
“But Sal uses staggered deposits. Half before, half after.”
Mateo leaned closer.
She had insisted he come.
Lucian had objected.
Meline had won.
“The second payments haven’t moved,” she said.
Mateo understood first.
“He doesn’t trust them.”
“Exactly.”
Lucian looked between them.
“So?”
“So we make them think Sal has already betrayed them.”
Meline spent twenty-three minutes doing what Mateo had mocked her for.
Using a calculator.
Accounts were frozen.
Transfer confirmations falsified.
Messages sent.
One team abandoned its position.
Another demanded payment.
A third began arguing with Sal’s coordinator.
The perfect plan began developing cracks.
At 10:51, Lucian entered the gala.
Meline walked beside him.
He wore black.
She wore the blush-pink dress from the dinner.
The same dress in which Mateo had tried to make her feel small.
Tonight nobody laughed.
People moved aside.
Lucian offered his arm.
Meline looked at it.
“This necessary?”
“No.”
She took it anyway.
Mateo followed with Carlo.
Dante stood near the ballroom stage.
The targeting dot was gone.
For now.
Lucian leaned toward Meline.
“Stay beside me.”
“You’ve said that before.”
“I’m saying it again.”
“What if I want champagne?”
“I’ll buy the vineyard.”
She looked at him.
“That was almost funny.”
“I’m under pressure.”
At eleven ten, Meline’s phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT CHICAGO.
She typed back.
YOU SHOULD HAVE BALANCED YOUR BOOKS.
Mateo saw it.
He laughed for the first time in two days.
“That was good.”
“Don’t get comfortable.”
“I’m still in trouble?”
“You stole millions.”
“Right.”
At eleven seventeen, the ballroom lights dimmed.
Lucian stepped onto the stage.
The annual foundation speech was supposed to begin.
Instead, he looked across the room.
“Most of you came tonight expecting a charity announcement.”
Guests quieted.
“You’re getting an accounting lesson.”
Meline nearly smiled.
Mateo whispered, “He planned that line.”
“Definitely.”
Lucian continued.
“For years, someone inside my family believed loyalty could be purchased.”
At the rear of the room, a man moved.
Carlo noticed.
So did Meline.
Sal.
He wore catering staff clothing.
He was heading toward the east balcony.
Meline touched her earpiece.
“Carlo.”
“I see him.”
“Wait.”
“Meline—”
“Wait.”
Sal reached the balcony.
Meline followed.
Lucian saw her leave.
His eyes flashed with anger.
But he kept speaking.
Sal stood alone beside the railing.
“You really are Elena’s daughter.”
Meline stopped ten feet away.
“And you really are terrible at accounting.”
Sal laughed.
“You think this is about money?”
“It usually is.”
“It’s about respect.”
“Men who say that usually mean control.”
His face hardened.
“You have her mouth too.”
“Good.”
Sal pulled a gun.
Meline’s pulse hammered.
But she did not move.
“Give me the card.”
“It’s copied.”
His eyes narrowed.
“To where?”
“Everywhere.”
“You’re lying.”
“Yes.”
That confused him.
Meline smiled faintly.
“I lied about that.”
Sal’s hand tightened.
“But I did make three copies.”
His eyes moved.
Trying to calculate.
Meline continued.
“One with Lucian.”
Another lie.
“One with Mateo.”
True.
“And one scheduled to upload at midnight.”
True.
Sal stepped closer.
“You think my son will choose you over me?”
“No.”
A voice came from behind him.
“I already did.”
Mateo stood in the doorway.
Sal froze.
Mateo’s face was pale.
But steady.
“You betrayed me,” Sal said.
Mateo swallowed.
“You murdered Daniel Alles.”
“He was nobody.”
Meline’s eyes burned.
Mateo stepped forward.
“He was her father.”
Sal laughed.
“And she is what to you?”
Mateo looked at Meline.
“The woman who showed me what you made me become.”
Sal’s expression twisted.
“You pathetic—”
The gun moved.
Mateo lunged.
Meline ducked.
A shot fired.
Lucian appeared in the doorway with Carlo.
Sal stumbled backward.
Carlo’s weapon was trained on him.
“Drop it.”
Sal laughed.
“You think this ends me?”
Lucian stepped beside Meline.
“No.”
His voice was quiet.
“She did.”
Sal stared at Meline.
The ballroom screens suddenly changed.
Meline’s plan.
Every display began playing Elena’s recorded statement.
Her mother appeared on-screen eighteen years younger.
Meline stopped breathing.
Elena’s voice filled the ballroom.
She named Sal Russo.
She described the stolen accounts.
She described threats.
She described Daniel’s death.
Guests turned.
Whispers spread.
Sal stared through the glass doors at the screens.
His empire of secrets collapsed in real time.
“You little—”
He raised the gun again.
Mateo stepped between him and Meline.
Sal froze.
“Move.”
“No.”
“You’re my son.”
Mateo’s eyes filled.
“I know.”
“Move.”
“No.”
Police sirens rose outside.
Sal looked toward Lucian.
“You brought cops?”
Lucian shook his head.
Meline said, “I did.”
Lucian looked at her.
“You did what?”
She shrugged.
“Compromise.”
Even Carlo smiled.
Sal backed toward the railing.
Carlo approached.
“Gun down.”
For one terrible second, Meline thought Sal might jump.
Instead he dropped the weapon.
Police entered moments later.
Sal Russo was arrested alive.
Victor Kane surrendered voluntarily to investigators and turned over decades of evidence.
Mateo was taken into custody too.
Before leaving, he stopped in front of Meline.
“I’m sorry.”
She looked at him.
“For what?”
“All of it.”
The insults.
The threats.
The money.
The fear.
The arrogance.
She understood.
“I’m not ready to forgive you.”
Mateo nodded.
“I know.”
“But tell the truth.”
“I will.”
“That’s where you start.”
He was led away.
Near midnight, the ballroom emptied.
Meline stood beside the windows.
Lucian approached.
“You called federal investigators without telling me.”
“Yes.”
“You walked onto a balcony with Sal Russo.”
“Yes.”
“You lied to an armed man.”
“Yes.”
He stared at her.
“You are the most infuriating person I’ve met.”
Meline turned.
“You called me brave yesterday.”
“Both can be true.”
She smiled.
Then he became serious.
“My world is not safe.”
“I noticed.”
“I’m not asking you to be part of it.”
The words hurt unexpectedly.
Meline hid it.
“Good.”
Lucian looked at her.
“I’m asking if you’ll let me build something different.”
She stared.
“What does that mean?”
“It means legitimate businesses. Clean books. No hidden accounts. No family excuses.”
“And you think I’m going to fix your empire?”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“I think you already started.”
The ballroom doors opened behind them.
Dante entered carrying Elena’s old steel file box.
“Meline.”
She turned.
“There’s something you need to see.”
He placed the box on the table.
Inside was a sealed envelope.
Her name was written across it.
MELINE.
Her mother’s handwriting.
Meline’s hands trembled.
She opened it.
Inside was a letter.
And beneath the letter was a photograph.
Meline looked at it.
Her breath stopped.
Lucian leaned closer.
The photograph showed Elena.
Daniel.
And a young Lucian Bellini standing beside them.
On the back, her mother had written one sentence.
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO US, TRUST LUCIAN.
Meline slowly looked up.
Lucian had gone pale.
“You knew my father.”
He did not answer.
“Lucian.”
He closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Meline stepped back.
“How?”
Lucian stared at the photograph.
May you like
Then he said the one thing she had never expected.
“Because Daniel Alles saved my life.”
