Chapter 2 - The File Hidden Beneath The Floor
Dante waited until Lucy woke before opening the drive.
He didn't want to leave her alone with strangers.
He didn't know why that mattered so much.
Maybe because when he had first seen her in the corridor, something had shifted in him.
His men feared him.
His enemies feared him.
His employees respected him.
But Lucy had looked at him and simply expected him to help.
That was somehow more dangerous.
At nine in the morning, she came downstairs carrying the black rook.
Dante was at the dining table, speaking quietly with Raphael.
Lucy stopped when she saw them.
"Is Mama here?"
"Not yet."
Her face fell.
Dante stood.
"But we're looking."
She walked toward him.
"Did you find Ethan?"
"Not yet."
"He can hide very good."
"I believe you."
She studied him.
"Are you mad at him?"
"No."
"Because he ran?"
"No."
Lucy looked relieved.
"He said I had to stay quiet."
"He was protecting you."
She nodded solemnly.
Dante crouched.
"You did the right thing."
"Because I hid?"
"Because you stayed alive."
She didn't understand the weight of the words, but she understood the tone.
She wrapped her arms around his neck.
Raphael looked away.
Dante froze for a second before gently patting her back.
"Let's have breakfast."
"I want pancakes."
Rosa gasped from the doorway.
"I'll make them."
Lucy smiled.
It was the first smile Dante had seen on her face.
It made the entire room look different.
An hour later, the estate was surrounded by additional security.
Dante had ordered every camera rewired into a closed system.
The USB drive was placed into an isolated laptop brought by a cybersecurity specialist he trusted.
The first file contained nothing but audio.
A woman's breathing.
Then Anna's voice.
"Dante, if you are hearing this, I'm already gone."
Dante's fingers tightened around the chair.
"Don't trust the people closest to you."
The recording crackled.
"I wanted to come to you myself. I tried three times."
A pause.
"Someone inside the Bellucci organization is working with the people who killed my husband."
Dante's eyes narrowed.
Anna's husband had died two years earlier.
According to the records, a construction accident.
But Dante had never investigated.
Why would he?
Anna had never asked.
"I found financial transfers," Anna continued. "Payments made through shell companies. Money leaving Bellucci-owned properties and ending up in accounts connected to the Santoro family."
Raphael looked at Dante.
The Santoros were old enemies.
Dante leaned closer.
"I found the first transfer while cleaning the west office."
Her voice trembled.
"The second one was inside the basement records room."
She took a breath.
"The third one terrified me."
Silence.
"It was dated three days before my husband died."
The recording stopped.
Another file opened.
This one was video.
Anna was sitting in a dark room.
Lucy was asleep beside her.
Ethan sat on the floor.
Anna looked exhausted.
"If you're watching this, I couldn't get out."
Dante felt something tighten in his chest.
"My husband wasn't killed in an accident."
She looked toward the door.
"He was investigating someone in the Bellucci organization."
The video ended.
Raphael whispered.
"Jesus."
Dante stared at the screen.
"Find everything Anna accessed."
"I already have."
"What did you find?"
Raphael handed him a tablet.
"West office. Basement archive. Personnel files."
"Names."
Raphael hesitated.
"We need to talk about the staff."
"Why?"
"Because only six people had access to all three locations."
Dante looked at him.
"Who?"
Raphael named them.
One was Rosa.
One was an accountant.
One was a security supervisor.
One was a house manager.
The last two were Dante's personal drivers.
He stared at the list.
"Where's the sixth?"
"Marco Bellucci."
Dante went still.
His younger half-brother.
Marco.
The man who had shared his childhood.
The man who had stood beside him at their father's funeral.
The man Dante had made vice president of the legitimate side of his empire.
Dante shook his head.
"No."
Raphael didn't argue.
"There's more."
"What?"
"Anna accessed Marco's private office six days before she disappeared."
"Why?"
"We don't know."
Dante looked toward the kitchen.
Lucy was coloring at the table.
She had drawn three people holding hands.
Mama.
Ethan.
And a third person.
Dante pointed toward the drawing.
"Who's that?"
Lucy looked up.
"You."
He stared at the picture.
"Why am I there?"
"Because Mama said you're safe."
Dante couldn't speak for a second.
Then Lucy added:
"She said you don't know yet."
"Know what?"
Lucy lowered her crayon.
"That you're the good one."
Dante looked away.
He had never considered himself good.
Useful, yes.
Dangerous, certainly.
Loyal, absolutely.
But good?
No.
Not in his world.
That afternoon, Dante returned to the west office.
Anna's desk had already been cleared.
But something bothered him.
The room was too clean.
He opened one drawer.
Nothing.
Second drawer.
Nothing.
Third drawer.
A loose panel.
He removed it.
Inside was a small envelope.
Dante opened it.
One photograph.
Marco.
Standing beside Anna's husband.
On the back:
He knows who ordered it.
Below that:
But he isn't the only one.
Dante's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A woman's voice whispered:
"Your little guest has something that belongs to us."
Dante stood very still.
"Who are you?"
"Someone who knows where Ethan is."
His grip tightened.
"Where?"
"You'll find him if you bring Lucy to the old train station tonight."
"Alone."
"One hour."
The line went dead.
Dante's entire body went cold.
Raphael entered.
"Sir?"
Dante looked at him.
"We have a problem."
He told him everything.
Raphael's face hardened.
"They want the child."
"They want the drive."
"No."
Dante shook his head.
"They called her a guest."
Raphael understood.
"They know she's here."
Dante looked at the ceiling.
Someone was watching the estate.
He ordered every exit sealed.
Nobody left.
Nobody came in.
Then he went upstairs to Lucy.
She was asleep with the rook under her arm.
Dante stood over the bed.
He realized something he hadn't wanted to admit.
He wasn't thinking like a boss anymore.
May you like
He was thinking like family.
And that was exactly what made him vulnerable.
