Chapter 5 - The Price of the HousekeeperMara stopped breathing.
"What?"
Dante moved toward her.
"Marcus is tracing her phone."
"My mother was at home."
"Not anymore."
Mara grabbed her coat.
"I'm going."
"No."
"She's my mother."
"I'm coming."
The search led them to an abandoned warehouse in Brooklyn.
Mara recognized the place.
Her father had once taken her there when she was a child.
She remembered the smell of oil.
The echo of footsteps.
Dante looked at her.
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
They entered.
Her mother was tied to a chair.
Alive.
Bruised.
Victor stood behind her.
Sienna beside him.
Victor smiled.
"Hello, Mara."
She froze.
"Let her go."
Victor laughed.
"You always were brave."
Dante stepped forward.
Victor raised a gun.
"Stay where you are."
Dante stopped.
Victor looked at Mara.
"Do you know why your father disappeared?"
"Because of you."
"Partly."
"What do you want?"
"Access."
"To what?"
"The Marcel trust."
Dante's face hardened.
Victor smiled.
"Your grandfather created an emergency trust worth billions."
Mara looked at Dante.
He nodded slightly.
Victor continued.
"And Samuel Torres discovered it."
Mara's heart broke.
"My father knew."
"Your father tried to expose us."
"Us?"
Victor looked at Sienna.
"Your friend here."
Sienna looked away.
Mara stared at her.
"You knew?"
Sienna's voice trembled.
"I had no choice."
"You always have a choice."
Victor laughed.
"She's right."
He stepped closer.
"The marriage between Sienna and Dante would merge control."
"And me?"
"You were supposed to disappear."
Dante's eyes became deadly.
Victor smiled.
"But then Dante fell in love with you."
Mara looked at Dante.
He didn't deny it.
Victor continued.
"Now you are the problem."
He grabbed Mara's mother.
Mara lunged.
Dante caught her.
"Don't."
Victor pulled the trigger.
Nothing.
The gun clicked empty.
Marcus and his team stormed the warehouse.
Chaos erupted.
Victor ran.
Sienna screamed.
Police entered.
Mara rushed to her mother.
"Mom."
Her mother sobbed.
"I knew you'd come."
Mara hugged her.
Dante stood nearby.
Victor escaped.
Sienna was arrested.
But the danger wasn't over.
That night, Mara found a letter in her father's old belongings.
It contained one sentence.
If Dante ever chooses you, trust him only if he gives you the black ledger.
Mara stared.
She went to Dante.
"What black ledger?"
His face changed.
"My father had one."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"Then find it."
"Why?"
"My father mentioned it."
Dante realized.
"Your father knew."
"Yes."
He pulled out an old key.
"My grandfather left this."
They went to the basement vault.
The key opened a hidden door.
Inside sat a black ledger.
Names.
Payments.
Murder orders.
Bribes.
Every major betrayal in the Marcel family's history.
And one final page.
The date was twelve years earlier.
The name:
Samuel Torres.
Beside it:
PROTECT HIS DAUGHTER AT ALL COSTS.
Mara froze.
Her father's last instruction had not been to protect himself.
It had been to protect her.
She began to cry.
Dante took her hand.
"He never abandoned you."
"No."
She leaned into him.
"I've been angry at him my whole life."
"I know."
"And now I know he loved me."
Dante wrapped his arms around her.
"You deserve to know."
Mara looked up.
"You knew this was here?"
"No."
"Then why did you keep the key?"
"My grandfather told me to use it only if I ever found the person he meant to protect."
Mara's breath stopped.
"Who?"
May you like
Dante looked at her.
"You."
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