Chapter 5 - The Man Leo Trusted MostLeo raised his weapon.
Carmine stared at him.
“Boss.”
“Drop it.”
“What?”
“Drop the gun.”
Carmine's eyes flicked toward Giani.
Then back.
“Leo, think.”
It was the first time Mave had ever heard Carmine use his first name.
“Giani said Carm—”
A second bullet shattered another window.
Carmine threw himself sideways.
“Get down!”
Leo covered Mave.
Carmine fired through the broken glass.
A dark SUV accelerated away.
Silence followed.
Carmine lowered his weapon.
“Now can we discuss why you're pointing a gun at me?”
Leo didn't lower it.
Giani was barely conscious.
Mave pressed both hands against his wound.
“We need an ambulance.”
“No public hospital,” Leo said.
“He's dying.”
“I have a clinic.”
“Then call them!”
Carmine did.
Leo watched every movement.
Ten minutes later, they were inside armored vehicles racing toward a private medical facility.
Carmine rode in a separate car.
Mave sat beside Giani.
Leo sat opposite.
Giani opened his eyes once.
“Carm…”
“Carmine?” Leo demanded.
Giani weakly shook his head.
“Carmelo.”
Leo froze.
Mave looked at him.
“Who's Carmelo?”
“My father's attorney.”
The man whose name appeared on Mave's trust documents.
Leo leaned closer.
“Carmelo Vescari?”
Giani nodded.
Then lost consciousness.
Leo sat back.
Mave whispered, “The lawyer.”
“Yes.”
“He created the trust.”
“Yes.”
“He knew about my mother.”
“Yes.”
“And Dominic.”
“Yes.”
Leo looked out the window.
“And I've used him as legal counsel for fifteen years.”
Carmelo Vescari was seventy-one.
Respectable.
Elegant.
A philanthropist.
His photograph appeared at charity dinners.
He donated to hospitals.
Judges attended his daughter's wedding.
Leo had trusted him more than almost anyone alive.
That trust shattered before sunset.
Carmine's men searched Vescari's office.
Empty.
Computers wiped.
Files burned.
Carmelo had disappeared.
Dominic had not worked alone.
He had used the family attorney to hide transfers, challenge trusts, manipulate ownership, and feed information to Volkov.
Leo stood inside the clinic hallway.
His hands were stained with Giani's blood.
Mave approached quietly.
“Doctor says he's stable.”
Leo nodded.
“That's good.”
“Yes.”
He didn't move.
Mave touched his hand.
“You thought Carmine betrayed you.”
“For approximately six minutes.”
“How many times did you consider killing him?”
“Several.”
“At least you're honest.”
Leo looked toward her.
“I'm getting tired of people lying to me.”
“So stop building relationships where everyone is terrified to tell you the truth.”
He laughed once.
“You always manage to turn criminal conspiracies into management lessons.”
“It's a gift.”
Leo's expression softened.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A familiar voice spoke.
“Hello, nephew.”
Leo went rigid.
Mave immediately knew.
Dominic.
“Where are you?”
Dominic laughed.
“You've grown impatient.”
“You killed my father.”
“Your father killed himself through sentiment.”
Leo's hand tightened around the phone.
“What do you want?”
“The girl.”
Mave's blood chilled.
Leo looked directly at her.
“No.”
“Then the docks burn.”
“Burn them.”
Mave stared.
Dominic chuckled.
“Always dramatic.”
“You think property matters to me?”
“Not anymore.”
A pause.
“That is exactly the problem.”
Leo's eyes narrowed.
Dominic continued.
“You've become distracted.”
“If you touch her—”
“There he is.”
Dominic sounded pleased.
“The famous Castiglion temper.”
Leo's voice became soft.
“Listen carefully. If you go near her, I will dismantle everything you've built.”
“You still don't understand.”
“What?”
“Mave is not merely leverage.”
Dominic paused.
“She is the company.”
The call ended.
Leo lowered the phone.
Mave said, “I hate when criminals speak in riddles.”
Leo almost smiled.
“He thinks your shares give him control.”
“Then I'll sign them to you.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because that is exactly what my father did.”
“What?”
“He decided for everyone.”
“Leo—”
“You deserve your own choice.”
“This isn't about money.”
“It should be.”
“I don't want the company.”
“Maybe you will.”
“I clean your toilets.”
“You also hit an assassin with French cookware.”
Mave smiled despite herself.
Leo took her hand.
“I won't take something from you because I'm afraid.”
She looked down at their joined hands.
“When did you become reasonable?”
“Temporary illness.”
“You were stabbed.”
“Probably that.”
That night, Leo moved them to a secure penthouse downtown.
Only Carmine knew the location.
Mave stood near the window.
“I hate heights.”
“You live on the fourth floor.”
“This is the forty-seventh.”
“More secure.”
“Everything with you is secure.”
“That's the idea.”
She turned.
Leo had removed his jacket.
His side still bothered him.
Mave could tell.
“Let me check the bandage.”
“I have doctors.”
“You have me.”
The words came naturally.
Leo went still.
Mave did too.
She approached.
Slowly.
She lifted the edge of his shirt.
The bandage was clean.
“Good.”
Leo looked down at her.
“Mave.”
“Yes?”
“This isn't safe.”
“The wound?”
“Us.”
She lowered her hands.
“I know.”
“If I care about you openly—”
“You already do.”
“If people know—”
“They already know.”
“If you stay—”
“Leo.”
She placed both hands against his chest.
“They blew up your gate because they knew you cared before you kissed me.”
He looked away.
She touched his jaw.
“You don't get to protect me by pretending this isn't happening.”
“What do you want from me?”
“The truth.”
Leo laughed softly.
“You ask expensive things.”
“Tell me anyway.”
He looked at her.
“I've been in love with you for almost two years.”
Mave forgot how to breathe.
Leo continued.
“I realized it when you had the flu.”
“What?”
“You were gone four days.”
“That made you fall in love?”
“I couldn't find anything.”
Mave burst out laughing.
Leo looked annoyed.
“I'm serious.”
“My absence disorganized your socks?”
“It disorganized everything.”
“That may be the least romantic confession I've ever heard.”
“I warned you.”
She smiled.
Then her eyes filled.
Leo's face changed.
“Why are you crying?”
“Because I've been in love with you too.”
He stopped.
Mave laughed through tears.
“You really are terrible at noticing things that matter.”
Leo kissed her.
This time gently.
No desperation.
No argument.
A decision.
Later, Mave fell asleep beside him.
Leo didn't.
At three in the morning, he heard something.
A click.
Very small.
Bedroom door.
Leo reached for the gun beneath his pillow.
Too late.
Gas hissed from the ventilation vent.
He sat upright.
“Mave.”
She stirred.
Leo covered her mouth with his sleeve.
“Wake up.”
His vision blurred.
Someone had found them.
He fired at the vent controls.
The bedroom door opened.
Three men in masks entered.
Leo shot one.
The others fired tranquilizer darts.
One struck Leo's shoulder.
His body became heavy.
“Mave!”
She screamed as hands grabbed her.
Leo crawled.
He reached her ankle.
Someone kicked his wounded side.
Pain exploded.
Mave fought.
Bit someone.
Kicked another.
“Leo!”
He held on.
A masked man struck his arm.
Leo's grip failed.
Mave was dragged toward the door.
Through fading vision, Leo saw one man remove his mask.
Carmelo Vescari.
The family attorney.
He smiled sadly.
“You should have stayed heartless, Leo.”
Then darkness swallowed the room.
When Leo woke, Mave was gone.
On the pillow beside him lay her broken company phone.
And a note.
BRING THE ORIGINAL LEDGER.
COME ALONE.
OR THE MAID DIES.
Leo stared at the words.
Carmine found him ten minutes later.
“Boss.”
Leo stood.
His face had become something Carmine had not seen in years.
Not rage.
Something worse.
Calm.
“Get every man we have.”
“The note says alone.”
“I know.”
“What are you planning?”
Leo loaded his weapon.
“To make them believe I'm coming alone.”
Carmine swallowed.
“And then?”
May you like
Leo looked at Mave's broken phone.
“Then I'm ending this.”
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