Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Had Been Hiding in Plain Sight
Sadi did not sleep.
She sat in the guest room staring at the pendant.
Her mother had died without telling her the truth.
She had spent her whole life believing her family was ordinary.
Now she had learned that her aunt had been married to Chicago's most feared crime boss.
And that the Russo family had been connected to her father.
Dante entered quietly.
“You should rest.”
Sadi didn't look up.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“Did you know my mother?”
“No.”
“Did Clara know me?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Dante sat opposite her.
“She protected your mother.”
“From my father?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Patrick Gallagher was stealing from my family.”
Sadi shook her head.
“My mother never told me that.”
“She was probably trying to protect you.”
Sadi looked up.
“There it is again.”
“What?”
“That word.”
Dante frowned.
“Protect.”
“Every lie becomes acceptable when someone calls it protection.”
He had no answer.
Sadi continued.
“What was the key?”
Dante looked toward the pendant.
“Something Clara hid.”
“What?”
“A ledger.”
“Financial?”
“More than money.”
“What was in it?”
“Names.”
Sadi understood.
Politicians.
Judges.
Police.
Businessmen.
People who depended on secrecy.
“If that ledger exists…”
“People would kill to destroy it.”
“And Clara?”
“May have been killed because she wouldn't give it to them.”
Sadi looked at him.
“What does that have to do with me?”
Dante hesitated.
“Your mother may have been carrying it.”
Sadi touched the pendant.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't anyone find it?”
“Because Clara hid things well.”
Sadi stood.
“I want to know everything.”
Dante nodded.
Together they searched the mansion.
The old records room was locked.
Dante opened it.
Inside were boxes from nine years earlier.
Photographs.
Letters.
Bank statements.
Medical records.
Then Sadi found a letter addressed to her mother.
Isabel,
If anything happens to me, take her to the place by the lake.
Sadi read the rest.
Patrick cannot know. Dante cannot know. Nobody can know where the girl came from.
Her hands shook.
“She knew about me.”
Dante took the letter.
The final sentence was underlined.
Because once they know who her father is, they will hunt her until she dies.
Sadi stared.
“Who is my father?”
Dante turned the page.
The name was missing.
Torn out.
Sadi slammed the file shut.
“Who was he?”
“I don't know.”
“You know everything else.”
“No.”
“Then find out.”
“I will.”
Something about the way he said it made her believe him.
That night, an alarm sounded.
Dante grabbed a weapon.
“Sadi, stay here.”
“No.”
“I mean it.”
She followed him.
The mansion was under attack.
Men moved through the lower floors.
Dante's security team engaged them.
Sadi stayed close.
A gunman appeared around the corner.
Dante moved.
Sadi pulled him back before the bullet struck.
They fell behind a stone pillar.
Dante looked at her.
“You saved me again.”
“You're welcome.”
He stared.
“You shouldn't be here.”
“I work here.”
“This isn't cleaning.”
“I noticed.”
He almost laughed.
Then something exploded downstairs.
The floor shook.
Dante grabbed her hand.
“Run.”
They reached the hidden passage beneath the library.
Inside, Sadi stumbled.
Dante caught her.
They stopped inches apart.
Her breathing was fast.
His was too.
“Are you afraid?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Of me?”
She looked at him.
“No.”
He felt something change.
“What then?”
“Losing you.”
The words were barely audible.
Dante stared.
He wanted to kiss her.
He didn't.
Instead, he touched her cheek.
“Don't say that.”
“Why?”
“Because I might start believing I have something to lose again.”
Her eyes softened.
Then someone opened the hidden door.
Rosa stood there.
“Dante.”
He turned.
“Report.”
She hesitated.
“The attackers were not after the ledger.”
“What were they after?”
May you like
Rosa looked at Sadi.
“Her.”
