Chapter 6 - The Man Behind the Entire Empire
The next morning, I learned the most terrifying truth of my life.
My father was alive.
Victor Costa had not died in a shipping accident eighteen years ago.
He had vanished.
And according to my mother, he had spent years working from the shadows to dismantle the organization he once helped build.
Roman struggled to accept it.
“You're telling me my father is alive?”
My mother nodded.
“He has been alive all these years.”
“Where?”
“Moving constantly.”
“Why didn't he contact me?”
“To keep you safe.”
Roman laughed bitterly.
“You all love that excuse.”
My mother looked at him.
“You don't know what he sacrificed.”
“He left me.”
“He watched you from a distance.”
Roman's jaw tightened.
“I needed a father.”
“And Chloe needed a mother.”
Neither spoke.
I stood between them.
“Enough.”
They looked at me.
“I don't care who abandoned whom.”
I held up the memory card.
“I care about ending this.”
My mother nodded.
“That is why Lucia will come.”
Roman stared at the card.
“What is on it?”
“The names.”
“Whose names?”
“Everyone.”
Harrison stepped forward.
“And the evidence.”
Roman looked at him.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because my father used a dead-man switch.”
Roman's face hardened.
“If the ledger is copied incorrectly, the evidence is released.”
I stared.
“To whom?”
“Federal investigators.”
My heart pounded.
“That could bring down half of New York.”
“Yes.”
“Then why not release it now?”
Harrison shook his head.
“Because Amelia is still missing.”
Silence.
My mother spoke.
“Lucia won't hurt Amelia until she has the ledger.”
“Then we trade.”
“No.”
Roman's answer came immediately.
“We don't negotiate with kidnappers.”
I looked at him.
“Then what do we do?”
“Take her.”
Roman spread a map across the table.
“There are three possible locations.”
He pointed.
“A warehouse.”
“A private club.”
“An old shipping terminal.”
“Which one holds Amelia?”
Harrison answered.
“The terminal.”
“Then we go there.”
Roman stared at me.
“No.”
“I’m going.”
“You’re six months pregnant.”
“She’s my cousin.”
“You're not going into a gunfight.”
“I’m not asking permission.”
Roman looked at me for a long time.
Then, surprisingly, he smiled.
“You sound like your father.”
I blinked.
“You knew him?”
Roman nodded.
“He was stubborn.”
“Still is.”
Everyone turned.
A man stood near the doorway.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Walking with a cane.
My heart stopped.
Roman whispered, “Dad.”
Victor Costa looked at his son.
“I’m sorry.”
Roman's eyes filled with something I had never seen before.
Anger.
Grief.
Love.
All at once.
Victor turned toward me.
“You have your mother’s eyes.”
I stared.
“So you're my father.”
“Yes.”
I took a step toward him.
“You disappeared.”
“Yes.”
“You let me think you were dead.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
His eyes filled with tears.
“Because I failed your mother.”
I didn't know what to say.
He continued.
“Daniel wanted control.”
“Daniel Cole?”
“Yes.”
“He was your brother.”
Victor nodded.
“And he betrayed you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Power.”
Victor looked toward Roman.
“Lucia's family controlled the ports. Daniel wanted them.”
“And Amelia?”
“She was leverage.”
“Against you?”
“Against everyone.”
Victor looked at me.
“You were never supposed to become part of this.”
“But I did.”
“Yes.”
“Because of Harrison?”
“Because of all of us.”
I looked at Harrison.
He lowered his head.
“I’m sorry.”
This time, I believed him.
But forgiveness would come later.
There was still a woman waiting somewhere with Amelia.
We moved at dusk.
Roman's team surrounded the shipping terminal.
Harrison stayed with me.
My mother remained in the vehicle.
I stepped carefully through the snow.
Then I heard a voice.
“Chloe.”
Lucia appeared on the upper level.
Elegant.
Calm.
Almost beautiful.
A woman who looked like she belonged in a boardroom rather than a war.
Beside her stood Amelia.
She was older now.
Twenty-eight.
Terrified.
I whispered her name.
“Amelia.”
She looked at me.
A tear ran down her cheek.
“Chloe.”
Lucia smiled.
“You've grown into exactly what your mother feared.”
I stared at her.
“What do you want?”
“The ledger.”
I held up the memory card.
“You can have it.”
Roman looked at me.
I ignored him.
“But Amelia comes with me.”
Lucia nodded.
“A fair exchange.”
Harrison whispered, “Don't trust her.”
Lucia laughed.
“Your husband never learned patience.”
Then the lights went out.
Gunfire erupted.
Roman pulled me down.
Chaos swallowed the terminal.
I heard screams.
Metal crashed.
Someone shouted my name.
Then Amelia disappeared.
Lucia was gone.
And in my hand, the memory card was missing.
Someone had taken it.
I looked at Harrison.
He shook his head.
Not me.
Roman stared at his empty hand.
Then he looked toward the darkness.
One of his men was missing.
A traitor.
He had been inside the group from the beginning.
My phone suddenly vibrated.
One message.
COME TO THE COSTA HOUSE ALONE.
Attached was a photograph.
Amelia tied to a chair.
Alive.
And beneath the photograph:
BRING THE GIRL.
I read it twice.
“The girl?”
My mother's face went pale.
She whispered,
“They don't mean Amelia.”
May you like
She looked at my stomach.
“They mean your baby.”
