Chapter 4 - The Man Who Had Been Protecting Her From His Own Family
They took the ledger to a secure room beneath one of Emmet's warehouses.
Noel sat at the long table while three armed men stood outside the door.
She hated the sight of them.
Emmet noticed.
"They won't come inside."
"I don't care."
"I know."
"You brought me into this."
"I know."
She looked at him.
"Do you ever say anything else?"
He almost smiled.
"Not around you."
"Why?"
"Because when I'm around you, I have to choose every word."
She looked away.
The ledger lay between them.
For hours, they had been decoding it.
Payments.
Shipments.
Political favors.
Names.
Dates.
Codes.
Then they found something worse.
A list of children.
Noel's name was on it.
So was Sadie's.
Her hand began to shake.
"Why is Sadie here?"
Emmet stood behind her.
"I don't know."
"You said you investigated my family."
"I did."
"Then investigate better."
He deserved the anger.
He didn't defend himself.
Instead, he placed another file beside her.
"Read this."
It was an adoption record.
Not Sadie's.
Noel's.
Her breath caught.
"That's impossible."
"It says you were born in Boston."
"My mother told me I was born in Connecticut."
"I know."
She read the page.
The names were wrong.
The date was wrong.
The hospital didn't exist.
Then she found one line.
GUARDIAN: ANNA SARTORI.
She looked up.
"Your mother?"
He nodded.
"Why would your mother be my guardian?"
"I don't know."
A door opened.
An elegant older woman stepped inside.
Silver hair.
Perfect suit.
A calm expression.
Emmet stiffened.
"Mother."
Noel knew instantly who she was.
Lucia Sartori looked at Noel.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she whispered, "You look exactly like your mother."
Noel rose.
"You knew her."
Lucia looked at Emmet.
"He wasn't supposed to tell you this yet."
"I didn't tell her."
"I know."
Lucia walked closer.
"Your mother worked for us."
"Doing what?"
"Accounting."
Noel's pulse raced.
"The ledger."
Lucia nodded.
"Your father didn't steal it."
Emmet's eyes narrowed.
"Mother."
"He hid it."
"From whom?"
Lucia looked at Noel.
"Your mother."
Silence.
Noel felt tears gather.
"Why would my parents hide a ledger from your family?"
"Because they discovered what your grandfather was doing."
Emmet's face hardened.
"My grandfather?"
Lucia nodded.
"Your grandfather had built a second operation within the family. The official businesses were only one layer. Underneath was a network of blackmail, trafficking, political manipulation, and violence."
Emmet went pale.
"I was told the worst came from my father."
"Your father inherited the system."
"He didn't build it?"
"No."
The room became still.
Lucia looked at Noel.
"Your parents were going to expose everything."
"What happened?"
"They disappeared."
"My father died?"
Lucia looked away.
"We believed so."
Noel's voice broke.
"What do you mean believed?"
Lucia reached into her purse.
She placed a photograph on the table.
A man stood beside a shipping container at a port.
Older.
Bearded.
Alive.
Noel stopped breathing.
"That's my father."
"Taken eight months ago."
She stared at the image.
"Where?"
"Portugal."
Emmet picked up the photograph.
"Who gave this to you?"
Lucia looked at him.
"Your uncle."
"My uncle is dead."
"Not this one."
Emmet's face turned to stone.
"What the hell is happening?"
Lucia looked at him sadly.
"The war your father thought he ended was never over."
Then every light in the room went out.
Gunfire erupted upstairs.
Emmet grabbed Noel and pushed her beneath the table.
"Stay down."
She heard shouting.
Glass breaking.
Men running.
Then a heavy impact.
The room door shook.
"Emmet!"
"I'm here."
Something crashed into the door.
Another shot.
Then silence.
The door burst open.
A man stood there with a gun.
Emmet fired first.
The man dropped.
Luca rushed in.
"We're compromised."
Emmet grabbed the ledger.
"Move."
They ran through a hidden corridor.
Noel followed.
At the end was a steel door.
They emerged inside a garage.
A black SUV waited.
They climbed in.
As the vehicle accelerated, Noel looked at Emmet.
"You knew my father might be alive."
"I suspected."
"You knew?"
"No."
"And your birthday party?"
"A trap."
"For them?"
"For whoever was searching for the ledger."
She was furious.
"You used me as bait."
"I protected you."
"You put me in a room full of gunfire!"
"Because the alternative was letting them find you alone."
She stared at him.
Then she whispered, "You're not allowed to call that protection anymore."
He looked wounded.
She turned away.
The SUV stopped at an unknown location.
Luca opened the door.
"We have a problem."
Emmet stepped out.
"What?"
Luca handed him a phone.
A video was playing.
Noel watched from the back seat.
Her father sat in a dark room.
Older.
Tired.
Alive.
A man stood behind him.
Then the screen turned black.
Words appeared.
BRING NOEL TO PIER NINE.
ONE DAUGHTER FOR ONE LEDGER.
SHE WILL GET HER FATHER BACK.
Noel's eyes filled.
"I'll go."
Emmet turned immediately.
"No."
"He's my father."
"No."
"I can save him."
"It could be a trap."
"I don't care."
"You should."
"Easy for you to say."
He stepped closer.
"You think I'd let you walk into a place where armed men are waiting?"
She stared up at him.
"Would you stop me?"
"Yes."
"How?"
His voice broke.
"By locking you in a room."
"Then do it."
He looked at her for a long moment.
Then he shook his head.
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because you deserve a choice."
That was the first time Noel understood what made Emmet different from the men around him.
He had grown up surrounded by power.
But he had never confused power with love.
He could control an empire.
May you like
He could not control her.
And somehow, that made her trust him more.
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