Chapter 4 - The File My Father Died Protecting
We returned to the estate before dawn.
Vincent locked the doors.
Luca went to the medical room.
I sat in the library.
Vincent entered carrying an old box.
He placed it on the table.
“This belonged to my father.”
I stared at it.
“Why are you showing me?”
“Because your father was mentioned inside.”
He opened the box.
There were photographs.
Documents.
Bank statements.
Shipping manifests.
And one photograph that made my entire body go cold.
My father.
Standing beside Vincent's father.
They were shaking hands.
I picked it up.
“How?”
Vincent sat opposite me.
“Our fathers were business partners.”
“My father never mentioned the Morettis.”
“Because my father told him to keep quiet.”
“About what?”
Vincent handed me a document.
It was a shipping ledger.
Several containers had disappeared.
Money had moved between companies.
Names had been coded.
At the bottom was my father's signature.
“He discovered the illegal shipments,” Vincent said.
“And?”
“He threatened to report them.”
“What happened?”
Vincent looked down.
“My father ordered his men to scare him.”
“Scare him?”
“Yes.”
“And someone killed him.”
Vincent's silence answered.
I pushed the papers away.
“You said your father ordered an investigation stopped.”
“He did.”
“And then?”
“One of his men went too far.”
“Who?”
Vincent hesitated.
“Salvatore Rizzo.”
The name meant nothing to me.
It did to Luca.
He appeared in the doorway.
“Rizzo?”
Vincent turned.
“You should be resting.”
Luca ignored him.
“If Rizzo killed her father, then why is he back?”
My blood froze.
“What do you mean?”
Luca looked at Vincent.
“He disappeared after Dad died.”
Vincent nodded.
“Until three months ago.”
“Three months?”
“Yes.”
I stood.
“That was when Madison started working for you.”
Vincent looked at me.
“You think they're connected?”
“I don't know.”
Luca's expression darkened.
“Madison worked for Rizzo.”
Silence.
Vincent's face became cold.
“How long?”
“Before she came to you.”
I looked at him.
“You had an affair with a woman working for the man connected to my father's death?”
“I didn't know.”
“Again.”
His eyes lowered.
I turned away.
I was angry.
But beneath the anger was something more painful.
Trust.
I had trusted this man.
A man I had known for less than one night.
That should have been impossible.
Yet somehow it already hurt to realize he might have lied.
Vincent came closer.
“I never wanted you involved.”
“That's not enough.”
“I know.”
“What do you want from me?”
He answered immediately.
“Nothing.”
I looked at him.
“Then why did you offer me twenty thousand dollars for a theater seat?”
His face softened.
“Because I knew someone was supposed to sit there.”
“Who?”
“My informant.”
“What happened to him?”
“He was killed yesterday.”
My stomach dropped.
Vincent continued.
“He had planned to meet me during the movie.”
“And the drive?”
“He intended to pass it to me.”
“But he didn't.”
“No.”
“Because I sat there.”
“Yes.”
I stared at him.
“So I accidentally took the place of a dead man.”
Vincent's expression tightened.
“Yes.”
The room became silent.
Then he said something I didn't expect.
“I'm sorry.”
It was simple.
No excuses.
No money.
No threats.
Just two words.
I looked at him.
“Don't apologize unless you're ready to tell me the rest.”
“I am.”
“Then tell me.”
He sat down.
“My father was not the only one involved.”
I waited.
“There were five families.”
“And?”
“One of them still controls the port.”
“Rizzo?”
“Yes.”
“Then why hasn't he come after you?”
Vincent's eyes met mine.
“Because he wants something more valuable.”
“The drive?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
May you like
Vincent looked at me.
“You.”
