Chapter 5 - The Translation That Started a War
Bellini did not panic.
That was what made him dangerous.
He slowly wiped coffee from his hand.
“I don’t understand.”
Dante placed the ledger on the table.
Bellini looked at it.
For half a second.
That was enough.
“You recognize it,” Dante said.
“No.”
Lucy stepped forward.
“My father’s handwriting.”
Bellini looked at her.
“You should have stayed in the kitchen.”
Lucy’s voice remained calm.
“You should have hired a better translator.”
Enzo smiled.
Bellini looked around the room.
Several capos avoided his eyes.
Then he laughed.
“You think this girl proves anything?”
Dante opened the ledger.
“Paris. Marseille. Odessa. Barcelona.”
Bellini’s smile faded.
Dante continued.
“Every failed negotiation. Every shipment mysteriously redirected. Every conflict that cost my family money.”
“You’re trusting a maid?”
“No.”
Dante looked at Lucy.
“I’m trusting evidence.”
Bellini stood.
“You’re making a mistake.”
“Sit.”
For the first time, Bellini ignored him.
“You have no idea what I’ve done for this family.”
Dante rose slowly.
“I know exactly what you’ve done.”
Bellini’s confidence cracked.
“You needed me.”
“My father needed you.”
“And your father built this empire.”
Dante stepped around the table.
“My father also trusted the wrong people.”
Bellini’s face twisted.
“Your father was weak.”
The room changed.
Enzo moved.
Dante raised one hand.
Enzo stopped.
Bellini realized what he had said.
Too late.
Dante’s voice lowered.
“Keep talking.”
Bellini looked toward Lucy.
“You think she saved you?”
“She prevented a war.”
“She delayed one.”
Lucy frowned.
Bellini smiled.
“Levanov received another message this afternoon.”
Dante’s eyes narrowed.
“What message?”
“That you rejected his warning.”
Lucy’s stomach dropped.
Bellini continued.
“And that you ordered his son killed.”
Dante grabbed his phone.
Lucy shook her head.
“Wait.”
He looked at her.
“If Levanov believes that, he won’t trust a call from you.”
“What do you suggest?”
Lucy thought quickly.
“The recording.”
“What recording?”
“The original warning. There was background audio.”
Dante understood.
“A location?”
“Maybe.”
They replayed it.
Lucy listened.
Again.
Again.
Then she heard it.
Church bells.
Seven strikes.
Followed by a harbor announcement in Russian.
Lucy looked up.
“He recorded it near Saint Nikolai Pier.”
Enzo frowned.
“So?”
“Levanov uses locations as authentication.”
Dante stared at her.
“How do you know?”
“My father taught me how diplomats verify unofficial communications.”
Dante picked up his coat.
“Then we go.”
Lucy blocked him.
“We?”
“You’re translating.”
“I thought I was furniture.”
Dante moved close enough that only she heard his answer.
“Not anymore.”
At Saint Nikolai Pier, Levanov arrived with four men.
Dante brought Enzo.
And Lucy.
Levanov stared at her.
Then spoke Russian.
Lucy answered.
His eyebrows rose.
They talked for ten minutes.
Then twenty.
Lucy translated everything.
No tricks.
No Felix.
No Bellini.
Finally, Levanov extended his hand.
Dante shook it.
“No war,” Lucy translated.
“No war,” Dante agreed.
Levanov looked at Lucy.
He said something else.
Dante waited.
“What did he say?”
Lucy smiled faintly.
“He said you should fire every adviser you have and hire the maid.”
Enzo laughed.
Dante did not.
He looked at Lucy.
May you like
“I’m considering it.”
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