Chapter 4 - The Letter From a Dead ManMaggie's mother had been dead for twenty-four years.
Yet the letter was real.
Sebastian read it twice.
Maggie read it once.
Then again.
It described a secret alliance between the Morettis and Rinaldis.
Their fathers had been working together to dismantle a network.
The network had been controlled by a group of businessmen who used legitimate corporations to move illegal money.
Malcolm Veseri's father had been one of them.
So had another man.
Thomas Moretti.
Maggie's uncle.
“He betrayed them,” she whispered.
Sebastian nodded.
“He probably killed your father.”
“But why?”
“Money.”
Maggie shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“My father didn't care about money.”
“How do you know?”
“He taught me that money was useful only when it served someone.”
Sebastian looked at her.
The statement sounded like something from another time.
“What happened to your uncle?”
“He disappeared.”
“But Selena says he's alive.”
“She may be lying.”
“She warned us.”
“People can warn you for selfish reasons.”
Maggie stared at the photograph.
Then she noticed something.
A symbol on the back.
Three crossed lines.
She knew it.
“The archive.”
“What about it?”
“That symbol isn't Moretti.”
“Whose is it?”
“I've seen it in Veseri records.”
Sebastian's eyes narrowed.
“This goes deeper.”
Maggie nodded.
At midnight, Theo found another account.
Millions had been transferred through a company owned by a dead man.
The beneficiary was unknown.
But the bank used an old Veseri authorization code.
They traced it.
It led to a trust controlled by Thomas Moretti.
Maggie felt sick.
“My uncle is still operating.”
Sebastian looked at her.
“Then we find him.”
Two days later, they found a location.
A private estate outside Milwaukee.
They traveled with a security team.
Maggie sat beside Sebastian.
“Are you afraid?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
She looked at him.
“Good?”
“It means you're taking this seriously.”
“I didn't expect you to be so calm.”
“I’m not calm.”
“What are you?”
She thought.
“Focused.”
He nodded.
“That I believe.”
They arrived at the estate.
The house was empty.
But in the study, they found dozens of photographs.
Maggie as a child.
Maggie at university.
Maggie meeting Sebastian.
Maggie entering the archive.
She stepped back.
“He's been watching me.”
Sebastian moved in front of her.
“How long?”
“Years.”
A monitor turned on.
A man's voice filled the room.
“Maggaret.”
Maggie froze.
Nobody called her that.
Nobody except her father.
“Uncle Thomas.”
The screen showed an older man.
Gray hair.
Cold eyes.
A scar across his cheek.
“You survived.”
“So did you.”
He smiled.
“Not because I wanted to.”
“What do you want?”
“You.”
“Why?”
“Because you know where your father hid the ledger.”
Maggie's heart stopped.
“I don't.”
“You do.”
“No.”
“You were eight.”
“I don't remember.”
“You remember the book.”
She froze.
A memory surfaced.
A red leather book.
Her father giving it to her.
Telling her never to let anyone take it.
Maggie whispered:
“The archive.”
Thomas smiled.
“Yes.”
Sebastian looked at her.
“What is he talking about?”
“I don't know.”
Thomas laughed.
“You always were better at pretending than your father.”
The screen went black.
Then the building alarm sounded.
Security shouted.
“Move!”
The floor beneath them exploded.
Sebastian grabbed Maggie.
They fell.
Dust filled the room.
He pulled her into his chest.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Look at me.”
She did.
“You're okay.”
She nodded.
Then Sebastian kissed her forehead.
Not romantic.
Instinctive.
Protective.
Maggie closed her eyes.
She had spent years surviving alone.
Now she had someone standing between her and the danger.
And she realized she did not want to lose him.
Later, in the car, she finally told him about the red book.
“It was hidden at the archive.”
“Do you still have it?”
“I think so.”
“Then we'll find it.”
“What if it contains evidence against your family?”
“Then we face it.”
“What if it destroys everything?”
Sebastian looked at her.
“Then we rebuild.”
She smiled.
“You make it sound easy.”
“It won't be.”
“Then why say it?”
“Because you shouldn't have to be afraid of what I will do when the truth appears.”
He took her hand.
“I want the truth more than I want the family name.”
Maggie's heart moved.
She had never heard anyone say that before.
They returned to Chicago.
And the next morning, Maggie found the red book.
But when she opened it, every page had been removed.
Except one.
A single handwritten sentence.
Sebastian is not the enemy. His brother is.
May you like
Maggie looked at the name beneath it.
Theo.
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