Chapter 8 - The Secret Buried in Her Father’s House
Danny confessed everything.
Their father had once worked for the Moretti organization.
Chloe had never known.
He had disappeared when she was twelve.
Her mother had told her he left because of debt.
The truth was darker.
Their father had stolen a ledger containing decades of illegal transactions.
He had hidden it.
Everyone believed the ledger was destroyed.
It wasn’t.
It was in Chloe’s childhood home.
Vincent wanted it.
Leo wanted it first.
Chloe refused to let Leo go alone.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“It’s my house.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“So is everything else.”
Leo stared at her.
Then sighed.
“You’re impossible.”
“You knew that.”
They traveled under heavy protection.
The old house looked smaller than Chloe remembered.
Every hallway carried memories.
Her father’s workshop.
Her mother’s kitchen.
The cracked staircase.
Chloe found herself crying.
Leo stood beside her without speaking.
Then Danny noticed a loose floorboard.
Underneath was a metal box.
The ledger was inside.
Leo opened it.
Names.
Payments.
Judges.
Police.
Politicians.
Businessmen.
And one name that made him stop.
Moretti.
His own father.
Chloe looked at him.
“What is it?”
“My father sold information to the Valentis.”
Leo turned the page.
Then he saw the final entry.
A payment made sixteen years ago.
Recipient:
Evelyn Bennett.
Chloe’s mother.
She gasped.
“My mother?”
Leo looked at the date.
“Your father paid her to disappear.”
“Why?”
Before he could answer, footsteps sounded outside.
Vincent.
He entered with four armed men.
“Thank you,” he said.
“For what?”
“For finding my ledger.”
Leo pushed Chloe behind him.
Vincent lifted his weapon.
“This ends tonight.”
A gunshot rang out.
Leo returned fire.
The house erupted into chaos.
Danny pulled Chloe into a hallway.
Leo fought through the attackers.
Vincent reached the ledger.
Chloe grabbed it first.
He stared at her.
“You have no idea what that contains.”
“I know it destroyed families.”
“It could destroy Moretti.”
She held the book tightly.
“Maybe that’s what needs to happen.”
Vincent laughed.
“You really think Leo is different?”
She looked toward him.
Leo stood at the end of the hall, blood on his cheek.
He lowered his gun.
“Give it to me.”
Chloe walked toward him.
Vincent raised his weapon.
Leo reacted instantly.
The shot was fired.
The bullet struck Leo in the shoulder.
Chloe screamed.
He fell against the wall.
Vincent smiled.
Then Danny tackled him.
Security arrived.
Within seconds, Vincent was surrounded.
He dropped his weapon.
Leo was rushed outside.
Chloe followed.
Blood soaked his shirt.
“Leo!”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“I’ve had worse.”
“You always say that.”
He smiled faintly.
“You always worry.”
“Because I love you.”
He stared.
She realized she had finally said it.
“I love you.”
Leo closed his eyes.
“I love you too.”
The next hours blurred.
Leo survived surgery.
Vincent was arrested.
The ledger became evidence in a larger investigation.
For the first time, the Moretti organization faced the possibility of leaving the shadows.
Leo made a decision that shocked everyone.
He dismantled the most violent parts of the organization.
He turned legitimate assets into legal businesses.
He sold the weapons divisions.
He gave evidence to federal authorities in exchange for protection for his people.
Some men called him weak.
Others called him a traitor.
Leo did not care.
He had something more important.
May you like
A future.
And Chloe was about to give birth to it.
