Chapter 9 – THE ACCOUNTANT’S LEDGER

The sunlight felt cold as Luca took the burner phone from Daniel.

“Which underboss?” Luca asked, his voice dropping back into that dangerous, quiet register.

“Silvio,” Daniel replied. “He was sitting three rows behind Carlo. The moment Vanessa pulled the gun, he slipped out the side door. The security feed shows him carrying the leather ledger you brought from the penthouse.”

My stomach plummeted. “The ledger with the forged handwriting? The one proving Vanessa stole the money?”

Luca nodded grimly. “If Silvio destroys that book, the Commission has no physical proof of Vanessa’s embezzlement. Her father, Carlo, will claim I fabricated the whole thing to get out of the marriage and steal their territory. It will mean war.”

“We need that book,” I said, gripping Leo’s hand tighter.

“Take Emma, her mother, and the boy back to the estate,” Luca ordered Daniel. “Lock it down. Nobody gets in.”

“No,” I said, stepping forward. “I’m coming with you.”

Luca looked at me, surprised. “Emma, it’s too dangerous. Silvio is a killer.”

“He’s trying to erase my father’s innocence,” I said fiercely, my voice steady. “My dad died with the world thinking he was a thief. I am not letting that man destroy the only proof we have. Besides, you need me.”

“Why?”

“Because Silvio doesn’t know you know it’s a forgery. He just thinks it’s a list of accounts. I know how my father coded his real files. If Silvio tries to manipulate it, I’m the only one who can spot it.”

Luca stared at me for a long moment, seeing the determination in my eyes. He finally nodded.

“Daniel, get the family to the estate. Emma comes with me.”

We jumped into Luca’s armored sports car. The engine roared as we tore through the downtown streets.

“Where would he go?” I asked, gripping the leather seat as Luca took a corner at sixty miles an hour.

“Silvio is old school,” Luca said, shifting gears. “He won’t just burn it. He’ll want to leverage it. He’ll take it to the one place the Bellinis feel untouchable. The old shipyard.”

Twenty minutes later, we arrived at the abandoned industrial docks on the edge of Lake Michigan. Rusting shipping containers were stacked like metal mountains against the gray sky.

Luca parked the car behind a dilapidated warehouse. He pulled a fresh magazine from his glove compartment and loaded his pistol, sliding it into his shoulder holster.

“Stay behind me,” he instructed. “Do exactly what I say.”

We crept through the side entrance of the warehouse. The smell of salt and motor oil hung heavy in the damp air.

At the center of the massive room, surrounded by three armed Bellini thugs, stood Silvio. He had the ledger open on a metal barrel, clicking a lighter open and shut.

“Burn it,” Silvio ordered one of his men. “Once this is ash, Moretti has no proof. We take the city tonight.”

Before the man could take the lighter, a gunshot echoed through the warehouse.

The lighter exploded in the thug’s hand. He screamed, dropping to his knees.

Luca stepped out of the shadows, his gun leveled directly at Silvio’s chest.

“Close the book, Silvio,” Luca said calmly.

The other two thugs raised their weapons, but Luca didn’t even blink. “Shoot me, and my snipers on the roof will put a bullet through both of your heads before my body hits the floor.”

There were no snipers on the roof.

But Luca’s confidence was absolute. The thugs hesitated, lowering their guns slightly.

Silvio sneered, grabbing the ledger and holding it up like a shield. “You’re too late, Luca. The ink is on the paper. Without this, you’re a liar to the Commission.”

“I don’t need the book,” Luca said. “I have the accountant’s daughter.”

Silvio looked at me, stepping out from behind Luca. His eyes narrowed.

“Her?” Silvio laughed. “What does she know?”

“I know that my father hid a second ledger,” I lied smoothly, my heart racing. “A digital copy. Encrypted. And I know the password.”

Silvio’s smirk vanished.

“If you burn that book, it just proves you’re hiding something,” I continued, projecting absolute certainty. “Keep it, and we match it against the digital copy for the Commission tomorrow.”

Silvio hesitated. He looked at the book, then at Luca.

In that split second of doubt, Luca closed the distance. He grabbed Silvio’s wrist, twisting it violently, and snatched the ledger free. With his other hand, he struck Silvio across the jaw with the butt of his gun.

The underboss collapsed.

Luca grabbed my hand. “Run.”

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