Chapter 6 - I Walked Into the Trap to Save the Man I Loved
I didn't tell Arthur everything.
Not because I didn't trust him.
Because Roman had taught me something.
When everyone is watching your moves, sometimes the only advantage is allowing them to think they know the plan.
I carried the pendant.
But I removed the chip first.
I gave Arthur the empty casing.
“Can you track this?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
We followed Luca's instructions to an abandoned warehouse near the river.
I entered alone.
At least, that was what Luca believed.
Roman was tied to a chair.
His face was bruised.
When he saw me, fury crossed his face.
“You shouldn't be here.”
I smiled.
“Nice to see you too.”
“Leave.”
“No.”
“Emma.”
“I told you I don't like being ordered around.”
He almost laughed.
Even tied to a chair, he looked annoyed.
Luca appeared from the shadows.
“Touching.”
“Untie him.”
“Eventually.”
He walked toward me.
“The pendant.”
I handed him the casing.
He inspected it.
Then smiled.
“Not enough.”
“You said the key.”
“I said the pendant.”
He pressed a button.
A screen lit up.
“Your father built a biometric lock.”
I looked at Roman.
“Of course he did.”
“You have five minutes.”
“For what?”
“To open the account.”
“And if I don't?”
Luca looked at Roman.
“I'll make you watch him die.”
Roman's eyes hardened.
“Don't listen to him.”
“Roman.”
“Do not give him anything.”
I walked toward the terminal.
My hands shook.
The account requested three things.
The chip.
A passphrase.
And a fingerprint.
I had the fingerprint.
I didn't have the passphrase.
Unless…
I remembered my father's favorite phrase.
Money leaves fingerprints.
I typed it.
The system rejected it.
I tried again.
Nothing.
Roman watched me.
“Think.”
I looked at him.
Then remembered what he had told me during my interview.
“The truth gets more expensive.”
I typed.
THE TRUTH GETS MORE EXPENSIVE.
The system unlocked.
Luca's smile disappeared.
“What?”
I clicked the account.
A message appeared.
WELCOME, EMMA DANIEL CARTER.
Then another.
IF LUCA ROSSI IS PRESENT, BEGIN PROTOCOL BLACK.
Luca moved.
Too late.
The warehouse doors slammed shut.
Security lights turned red.
Arthur entered with Roman's men.
Luca pulled a gun.
Roman threw himself sideways.
Arthur tackled Luca.
The gun fell.
The fight lasted seconds.
Luca was restrained.
Roman looked at me.
“You knew?”
“No.”
He laughed.
“Good.”
We escaped the warehouse.
The contents of the hidden account were transferred to federal investigators.
The ledger was real.
It contained names.
Payments.
Dates.
Connections.
And proof that Luca had been orchestrating everything.
Roman was cleared of the specific financial fraud he had been framed for.
But another revelation emerged.
The network had been operating for years.
And Roman had been unknowingly benefiting from it.
That meant the government could still prosecute him.
He knew it.
I knew it.
He met me in the office that night.
“You should leave.”
I stared.
“What?”
“You have a clean record.”
“So do you.”
“No.”
“Roman…”
“I'm going to cooperate.”
“With the investigation?”
“Yes.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I may lose everything.”
I stepped closer.
“Then we'll start again.”
He shook his head.
“You don't understand.”
“I do.”
“I can't ask you to stay with me through prison.”
“Then don't ask.”
He looked at me.
“I love you.”
The words stopped me.
He had never said them before.
“I love you,” he repeated.
I swallowed.
“I love you too.”
He closed his eyes.
For one moment, everything felt simple.
Then Arthur knocked.
“Roman.”
“Yes?”
“We found Luca's backup files.”
Roman turned.
“And?”
Arthur's face was grim.
“Someone else signed them.”
Roman frowned.
“Who?”
Arthur handed him the page.
Roman stared.
His expression became completely blank.
I stepped closer.
“Who is it?”
He gave me the paper.
The signature belonged to my mother.
I stared at it.
“No.”
“Emma.”
“My mother wouldn't.”
Arthur spoke quietly.
“She may not have known what she was signing.”
“But she knew.”
Roman took a breath.
“Let's go.”
We drove to Michigan.
My mother opened the door.
When she saw the document, she began to cry.
“I had no choice.”
I felt my heart break.
“What did you do?”
“I signed papers.”
“Why?”
“They had your father.”
My mother covered her face.
“Luca told me if I cooperated, he'd let him live.”
My father stepped from the hallway.
“He lied.”
I turned.
“Dad?”
He looked furious.
“He never had me.”
My mother froze.
I understood.
Luca had manipulated everyone.
He had told my mother my father was in danger.
He had used her signature.
He had used Roman's name.
He had used me.
He had used fear itself.
But there was one problem he hadn't anticipated.
He had underestimated how many people were finally willing to tell the truth.
My father looked at Roman.
“Now you know.”
Roman nodded.
“I'm finished running.”
“What do you mean?”
Roman looked at me.
“I am going to confess to everything I actually did.”
I stared.
He was willing to lose everything.
For me.
For his future.
May you like
For a chance to become something other than the man who inherited the empire.
And that decision would change all of our lives.
