Chapter 4 - The Betrayal Inside Romano's House
By sunrise, Victor Hale was in custody.
Emily thought that meant it was over.
Luca knew better.
"The recordings aren't enough," he told her.
They sat across from each other in his kitchen.
Emily hadn't slept.
"Why not?"
"Hale has lawyers."
"So?"
"So they will argue the ledger was fabricated. They'll attack your father's credibility. They'll say the recordings were altered."
Emily stared at him.
"My father kept records for a reason."
"And we'll use them."
"We?"
Luca leaned back.
"You really hate that word."
"I hate when you use it like you own every problem in the room."
"I don't own this problem."
"Then why are you still involved?"
He looked at her.
"Because my father spent the last years of his life being called a thief."
Emily's expression softened slightly.
Luca continued.
"And because someone followed you through Chicago at midnight."
"That's not your responsibility."
"No."
"Then why?"
For once, Luca had no immediate answer.
Emily raised an eyebrow.
"Wow."
"What?"
"The famous Luca Romano doesn't have a response."
"I have several."
"Pick one."
He looked at her for a moment too long.
"None of them are smart."
Emily understood.
Her eyes dropped.
Before either could say anything else, Daniel entered.
"Luca."
Something in his tone changed everything.
Luca stood.
"What happened?"
Daniel placed a phone on the table.
"We checked Hale's call history."
"And?"
"He wasn't getting information from city records."
Luca's expression hardened.
"He had someone inside."
Daniel nodded.
"Inside this house."
Emily looked toward the doorway.
Luca said, "Who?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Marcus."
Luca stared.
Marcus Bell had worked for the Romano family for seventeen years.
He had been Luca's father's driver.
His security coordinator.
One of the few men who possessed access codes to Luca's properties.
"Where is he?" Luca asked.
"Missing."
Luca grabbed his jacket.
Then an alarm sounded upstairs.
Emily stood.
"Maya."
She ran.
Luca was right behind her.
Maya's room was empty.
The window was open.
Emily's blood went cold.
"Maya!"
A phone rang on the bed.
Emily picked it up.
Unknown number.
She answered.
"Where is she?"
Victor Hale's voice came through the speaker.
Emily nearly dropped the phone.
"How are you calling me?"
"I didn't spend thirty years preparing for retirement without preparing for prison."
Luca took the phone.
"If she is hurt—"
"Save the threats, Romano."
"Where is Maya?"
"Safe."
Emily grabbed the phone back.
"I want to hear her."
Silence.
Then Maya's voice.
"Emily?"
Emily closed her eyes.
"Maya. Are you okay?"
"I'm okay."
"Did they hurt you?"
"No."
A man's voice ordered something.
Maya disappeared from the line.
Hale returned.
"You have something that belongs to me."
Emily said, "The evidence?"
"The original ledger."
Luca looked at her.
They had turned the original over to police.
Or so Emily had thought.
Daniel spoke quietly.
"There's another copy."
Luca looked at him.
Daniel nodded.
"Thomas Parker's note said copies were sent to an attorney. We found him."
Hale said, "Bring me that copy, and you get your sister."
Emily answered instantly.
"Where?"
Luca took the phone.
"We need proof she's alive before any exchange."
"You heard her."
"I want video."
Hale laughed.
"You think you're negotiating."
"I am."
"No. You're trying to protect a waitress you met seven hours ago."
Luca looked directly at Emily.
"No."
His voice was cold.
"I'm protecting a woman who walked into my club because she believed somebody inside might still know the difference between power and decency."
Emily stopped breathing.
Hale went silent.
Luca continued.
"Send the video."
The call ended.
Emily looked at Luca.
"You can't give him the evidence."
"I'm not going to."
"Then what are we doing?"
"Getting Maya back."
"And if Hale wants the ledger?"
"We bring him one."
Daniel understood.
"A fake."
Luca nodded.
Emily shook her head.
"He'll check it."
"Eventually."
"What happens when he realizes?"
Luca looked toward Daniel.
"By then, Maya will be out."
Emily stepped toward him.
"What if you're wrong?"
Luca met her eyes.
"Then you blame me for the rest of your life."
"I already blame you for half of tonight."
"Good."
She stared at him.
"You're impossible."
"So I've been told."
Emily's phone vibrated.
A video arrived.
Maya sat inside what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse.
Behind her was a faded shipping logo.
Daniel leaned closer.
"I know that place."
"Where?" Emily asked.
"Old Hale Logistics terminal near the river."
Luca picked up his keys.
Emily followed.
He stopped.
"No."
She pointed at him.
"Do not say it."
"You're staying here."
"Absolutely not."
"Emily."
"That is my sister."
"And you are what Hale wants."
"Exactly."
Luca stared at her.
Emily stepped closer.
"You can bring every armed man in Chicago. Maya still needs to see me walk through that door."
Luca's jaw tightened.
Then he nodded.
"Fine."
Daniel looked surprised.
Emily wasn't.
She was beginning to understand Luca Romano.
He didn't respect obedience.
May you like
He respected people who gave him no choice.
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