Chapter 4 - A Brother’s Second Betrayal
Tessa worked until sunrise.
By seven in the morning, she had connected Bellweather Imports to twelve shell companies, three offshore accounts, and payments totaling more than twenty-eight million dollars.
Victor entered carrying two cups of coffee.
“You take it black?” he asked.
“With enough sugar to damage internal organs.”
He placed three sugar packets beside her.
Tessa looked at him. “You asked someone?”
“I observe.”
She accepted the cup.
“You have been here all night too.”
“So have you.”
“I’m trying to save my brother.”
“So am I.”
Tessa frowned. “What does that mean?”
Before Victor answered, the office door opened.
Liam stumbled inside between two guards.
His face was bruised, and one arm was wrapped around his ribs.
Tessa jumped up. “What happened?”
Liam avoided her eyes.
Victor dismissed the guards.
“Tessa,” Liam said, “I can explain.”
Victor placed a small tracking device on the desk.
“This was found inside his jacket.”
Tessa stared at it.
“Who put that there?”
Liam said nothing.
She stepped closer. “Liam.”
“Gabriel’s men came to the apartment.”
“You opened the door?”
“They said the debt was canceled.”
“Victor told you not to contact him.”
“I didn’t contact anyone!”
Victor’s voice remained calm. “Gabriel offered him twenty thousand dollars to come here wearing the tracker.”
Tessa looked at her brother as though he had become a stranger.
“You accepted?”
“I thought I could pay the debt.”
“The debt Victor already suspended?”
“I didn’t know if he would keep his word!”
“So you led Gabriel directly here?”
“I was trying to fix it.”
“You always say that.”
Liam’s face tightened. “I made a mistake.”
“A mistake is forgetting to pay the electric bill. You borrowed fifty thousand dollars from criminals. You let them destroy our home. Then, after I risked my life to save you, you sold my location.”
“I didn’t know you were here.”
“You knew Victor Moretti was with me.”
Liam looked at Victor. “He’s using you.”
Tessa laughed bitterly. “And Gabriel isn’t using you?”
“He said Victor would kill both of us when he was finished.”
Victor leaned against the desk. “Gabriel lies effectively.”
Liam pointed at him. “You expect us to trust you?”
“No,” Victor said. “I expect your sister to trust evidence.”
He pushed a printed bank statement toward Tessa.
The destination account belonged to a company called Montgomery Consulting.
Tessa’s stomach turned.
“Liam,” she whispered, “what is this?”
Her brother’s silence answered first.
Victor spoke. “Six months ago, someone created a shell company using your brother’s name. It received payments from Bellweather Imports.”
Tessa looked at Liam. “How much?”
“Eighty thousand,” Victor said.
Liam lowered his head.
“You already had money?” she asked.
“It’s gone.”
“How?”
“Poker.”
Tessa stared at him.
“You told me fifty thousand was the first loan.”
“I was ashamed.”
“You let me pawn Mom’s jewelry.”
“I planned to win it back.”
“You watched me take her necklace to a pawnshop while you had already lost eighty thousand dollars?”
Liam’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m sick, Tess.”
“No. You are addicted. And every time you lose, you make it someone else’s emergency.”
He reached for her.
She stepped back.
Victor’s phone vibrated.
He read the message and immediately straightened.
“What is it?” Tessa asked.
“The tracker activated an external signal.”
A deep explosion shook the building.
The windows trembled.
An alarm began sounding.
Victor grabbed Tessa and pulled her behind the desk as smoke entered beneath the office door.
A guard shouted from the hallway.
“Fire on forty-eight! Elevators disabled!”
Victor took a pistol from a concealed drawer.
Liam backed toward the window. “They’re coming because of me.”
“Yes,” Victor said. “For once, you understand the situation.”
Tessa grabbed Victor’s arm. “We need to move.”
“There is a secure stairwell.”
They entered the hallway.
Smoke spread from the west wing.
Victor handed Liam to a guard. “Take him downstairs.”
“What about Tessa?” Liam shouted.
“She stays with me.”
“No!”
Tessa faced her brother. “Go.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Then survive long enough to prove it.”
The guard dragged Liam toward the stairs.
Victor led Tessa in the opposite direction.
“Why aren’t we leaving?” she asked.
“Because Gabriel did not attack the building to kill me.”
“He wants the ledgers.”
“And your work.”
They reached her office.
The door was open.
Her computer was gone.
A man stood beside the desk holding the black notebook.
He turned.
It was Arthur Pendleton, the real-estate executive from the gala.
Tessa recognized him immediately.
Victor raised his gun.
Arthur smiled nervously. “You cannot shoot every businessman who disappoints you.”
Victor’s finger tightened against the trigger.
“No,” he said. “Only the ones who set fire to my building.”
Arthur backed toward the service elevator.
“You have no idea how many people want Gabriel to replace you.”
“Then give me names.”
“You are already dead.”
The elevator doors opened.
Gabriel stood inside with two armed men.
Arthur stepped beside him.
Gabriel looked at Victor.
“Twelve years,” he said. “And you choose a waitress over me.”
Victor moved in front of Tessa.
“I chose the truth.”
May you like
Gabriel smiled.
Then he raised his weapon.
