Chapter 6 – THE BLACK LEDGER IN THE CELLAR

The cellar beneath the Moretti estate was dark, damp, and smelled of ancient wine and secrets.

The heavy iron door slammed shut, and the lock clicked, echoing in the pitch-black room.

“Let me out!” I screamed, banging my fists against the cold metal until my knuckles bled.

No one answered.

I slumped against the door, sliding down to the freezing stone floor.

Adelaide had betrayed us. The woman who had defended me at dinner, who had held my hand, was handing Leo over to a monster.

And she had Clara’s diary.

I reached into my pocket, my fingers brushing against the silver locket Luca had left in his coat. I pulled it out, flicking open the clasp in the dark. I couldn’t see Leo’s face, but I could feel the smooth surface of the photograph.

I had to get out.

I stood up and felt along the stone walls. Luca had shown me this cellar once, years ago. He told me it was used during Prohibition.

“There’s always a second way out,” he had said, pointing to a loose brick behind a massive oak wine barrel. “Never let yourself be trapped in a room with only one door.”

I stumbled through the dark, my hands running over the rough wood of the barrels until I found the largest one in the back corner.

I pushed against the stone wall behind it.

A brick shifted.

I jammed my fingers into the crack and pulled. The brick slid out. I reached inside the dark hole and found a heavy iron lever.

I pulled it with all my strength.

With a low, grinding rumble, a narrow section of the wall swung open, revealing a dusty, moonlit tunnel that led out to the estate’s sprawling gardens.

I didn’t hesitate. I squeezed through the opening and ran.

The cool night air hit my face as I sprinted across the manicured lawns. I needed a phone. I needed to warn Luca.

I slipped into the detached garage. The guards were at the front of the house, waiting for Dominic.

I found a spare set of keys in the utility drawer and unlocked one of the older sedans. I climbed into the backseat and grabbed the emergency prepaid phone Luca kept in the glove compartment.

I dialed his number.

He answered on the first ring. “Rose? Where are you? Adelaide’s men just ambushed us at the safe house.”

My heart stopped. “Did they take Leo?”

“No,” Luca panted, the sound of a revving engine in the background. “We barely got out. We’re on the move. But Dominic is hunting us. He knows.”

“Adelaide sold you out,” I said, my voice shaking. “She took the diary. She’s giving the family to Dominic.”

Luca swore violently in Italian. “If she destroys that diary, the Commission will back Dominic. He’ll have the legal right to take Leo, and they’ll authorize him to kill me.”

“Where are you going?”

“The old docks. Warehouse 4,” Luca said. “It’s the only place we have left. Stay hidden, Rose. Don’t go back to the house.”

He hung up.

I lowered the phone. Stay hidden.

For six years, I had stayed hidden. I had arranged flowers, smiled at dinners, and pretended I didn’t know the blood that paid for my clothes.

Not anymore.

I looked around the dark garage. My eyes landed on the heavy metal toolbox in the corner.

Before Adelaide’s men dragged me to the cellar, she had locked Clara’s diary in the library vault. I knew the code. Luca had given it to me on our wedding night.

But I also knew something else.

Adelaide kept her master ledger in that vault. The black book that contained every illegal bribe, every hidden offshore account, and every corrupt politician the Moretti family owned.

If Dominic wanted power, he needed that ledger.

I grabbed a heavy crowbar from the toolbox.

I wasn’t going to hide. I was going to steal the family’s crown jewels, and I was going to buy my nephew’s freedom.

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