Chapter 4 - THE LEDGER BENEATH THE STONE
The assassination attempt changed Aldrich.
He stopped pretending this was a personal problem.
This was war.
He ordered every Ferrante safe house checked.
He brought in trusted investigators.
He closed the family business offices temporarily.
And he sent men to locate Roland Vain.
But Roland had vanished.
So had Anel's old legal records.
Birth certificate.
Hospital records.
Mother's medical records.
Everything.
Someone had been preparing for this long before Riona came back.
Aldrich found the first clue in Cosmo's study.
Behind an old painting.
A hidden compartment.
Inside was a photograph.
Cosmo.
Riona.
And Anel.
The photograph had been taken seven years earlier.
Aldrich stared.
His grandfather had known.
On the back:
He has your eyes.
Aldrich sat down.
Cosmo had seen Anel.
Had held him.
Had protected him.
And had deliberately kept him from Aldrich.
Another note was beneath the photograph.
She will come back when the time is right.
Trust her when she does.
Aldrich folded the note.
Then he heard footsteps.
Riona.
“You found it.”
He looked at her.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“He met Anel.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Six months after Anel was born.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Cosmo told me not to.”
“You trusted him.”
“He was the only Ferrante who didn't treat me like property.”
Aldrich looked away.
“Maybe I should have been more like him.”
Riona stepped closer.
“Maybe.”
Then Aldrich held out the photograph.
“He loved him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Cosmo understood what family means.”
Aldrich nodded.
Then he noticed a symbol etched on the back of the frame.
Three letters.
S.V.C.
“What's this?”
Riona went pale.
“Samuel Voss Carver.”
“Who?”
“Your grandfather's oldest rival.”
Aldrich knew the name.
A banking magnate.
A man who had spent decades attempting to dismantle the Ferrante organization.
“He's dead.”
Riona shook her head.
“That's what everyone thinks.”
“Why would he want Anel?”
“Because your father once made a deal with him.”
Aldrich froze.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of deal?”
“A merger.”
“Between criminals?”
“Between power structures.”
Aldrich stared.
“And my mother?”
“Your mother found out.”
“What happened?”
Riona looked at him.
“She died.”
Silence.
“My mother died of cancer.”
“No.”
Riona's voice was barely audible.
“She was poisoned.”
Aldrich felt sick.
“By whom?”
“We don't know.”
“And my grandfather?”
“He suspected Voss.”
“But he never told me.”
“He was trying to protect you.”
Aldrich looked at the photograph again.
“This family is built on secrets.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you stay away?”
“Because I wanted Anel to grow up without becoming part of it.”
Aldrich looked toward the hallway.
Anel was playing with wooden blocks.
“He's already part of it.”
“Because of you.”
Aldrich nodded.
“Then I'll make sure he gets to leave it.”
Riona looked at him.
“You can't.”
“Watch me.”
That night, the boathouse ledger was recovered.
It contained transactions from twenty years earlier.
Payments.
Bribes.
Murder orders.
And at the center of everything, Roland Vain.
Roland had been working for Voss for sixteen years.
The folder that destroyed Riona had been created by him.
The evidence against her had been fabricated.
The accusation had been a setup.
But why?
Because Roland needed Aldrich isolated.
He needed the Ferrante heir angry.
Distracted.
And controllable.
Then Aldrich found the final page.
A list of planned eliminations.
Riona Mallister.
Her unborn child.
Cosmo Ferrante.
Aldrich Ferrante.
And one more name.
Anel Ferrante.
Aldrich stared.
His son's name had been written before he was born.
Someone had known the child existed.
Someone had planned to kill him from the beginning.
He closed the ledger.
“We leave tonight.”
Riona nodded.
“To where?”
“Somewhere they won't expect.”
“Where?”
Aldrich looked at her.
“My mother's old house.”
Riona's eyes widened.
“That's a trap.”
“I know.”
“Then why go?”
“Because that's where my father hid the original records.”
Riona understood.
May you like
The trap was bait.
But this time, Aldrich intended to decide who walked into it.
