Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Stole the Diamonds
Aldo was taken to a private holding location beneath one of my warehouses.
I did not kill him.
That surprised everyone.
Perhaps it surprised me most.
I wanted answers more than blood.
Under questioning, Aldo admitted that my poisoning had been only one part of the plan. He had been moving money into foreign accounts, bribing captains, and negotiating with the Moretti organization to divide the eastern harbor after my death.
But he refused to tell me where Camilla had gone.
“She left you,” he said from behind the steel table. “Accept it.”
“She left with a bracelet worth eight hundred thousand dollars.”
“She earned it.”
“By helping you poison me?”
Aldo smiled.
“She did not need much persuasion. Camilla loved wealth. She never loved the man providing it.”
I wanted to hit him.
Instead, I turned my wheelchair toward the door.
“Then you will not mind when I find her.”
His smile disappeared.
That told me she knew more than he wanted her to reveal.
My recovery began slowly.
The medical team removed the toxins from my system through aggressive treatment. The hallucinations weakened first. The tremors remained, though they became less violent.
Every morning, a physical therapist named Sarah Klein forced me to perform exercises I despised.
“Lift your foot,” she said.
“I am lifting it.”
“You are thinking about lifting it.”
“In my organization, thinking is usually enough.”
“Your organization does not control your left ankle.”
Giulia sat nearby drawing pictures.
“She’s the boss of your foot,” she informed me.
“I have noticed.”
Elena had become part maid, part assistant, and part unwilling guardian of my bad temper.
She placed my breakfast on the table.
“Eat.”
“I am not hungry.”
“The doctor said—”
“I have six doctors. They all say different things.”
“They agree that you need food.”
“Remove the eggs.”
Giulia looked up from her drawing.
“People who don’t eat get grumpy.”
“I am already grumpy.”
“You’ll get extra grumpy.”
Elena turned away to hide a smile.
The household changed after Aldo’s arrest.
Guards no longer whispered outside my room. Captains returned with full envelopes and exaggerated loyalty. Men who had ignored my calls began sending gifts.
I returned every gift unopened.
One afternoon, Marco entered the therapy room.
“We found Camilla.”
The air changed.
“Where?”
“A hotel outside Montreal. She used a false name, but she tried to sell the bracelet.”
“Bring her back.”
Elena glanced at me.
Marco nodded.
“Alive?”
I looked at him sharply.
“Did I say otherwise?”
“No, sir.”
Camilla arrived three days later.
She entered my study in a gray coat, guarded by two men. Her blond hair was shorter. The confidence she had once worn like perfume was gone.
Her eyes moved to my wheelchair.
“You look better.”
“You look disappointed.”
“Dario—”
“Sit.”
She sat across from me.
Elena was arranging documents near the window. Camilla noticed her.
“Is the maid required for this?”
“Elena stays.”
Camilla gave a humorless laugh.
“I disappear for a few months, and you replace me with the help?”
Elena’s hand stopped moving.
I leaned forward.
“Speak to her like that again, and this conversation ends.”
Camilla stared at me.
Something in her expression shifted.
Jealousy.
That was useful.
“I did not poison you,” she said.
“You knew.”
“Aldo told me the medication would make you calm.”
“He told you I would die.”
Her eyes dropped.
“I thought he was exaggerating.”
“You stole from me and fled the country.”
“I was scared.”
“You were paid.”
“Aldo threatened me.”
“He also gave you two million dollars.”
Her face paled.
Marco had found the transfer that morning.
Camilla looked toward the door.
“Am I a prisoner?”
“That depends on whether you help me stop the war Aldo arranged.”
She frowned.
“What war?”
“The Morettis are preparing to take three of my docks. Aldo gave them shipping schedules, guard rotations, and account numbers.”
“I know nothing about that.”
“You know where he kept his private ledger.”
Her silence confirmed it.
I continued.
“You were in his apartment four days before you disappeared. Security cameras recorded you leaving with a black case.”
“It contained documents.”
“Where are they?”
“I destroyed them.”
Giulia appeared in the doorway.
Elena turned.
“You are supposed to be doing your letters.”
“I finished.”
She looked at Camilla.
The two stared at each other.
Camilla forced a smile.
“And who is this?”
“The person who found the poison,” I said.
Camilla’s expression broke.
Giulia pointed at her handbag.
“She has a key.”
Camilla grabbed the bag.
Marco moved immediately.
“Give it to me.”
“There is nothing inside.”
He took the bag and searched it.
A small brass key was sewn into the lining.
I held it up.
“What does it open?”
Camilla looked furious.
“How did she see that?”
“The stitching is different,” Giulia said.
I almost smiled.
Camilla folded her arms.
“It opens a deposit box.”
“Where?”
“Geneva.”
“What is inside?”
“Aldo’s ledger, copies of payments to Romano, agreements with the Morettis, and a recording.”
“Of what?”
“Of Aldo ordering your death.”
The room went still.
“Why keep it?” I asked.
“Insurance.”
“Against Aldo?”
“Against everyone.”
I studied the woman I had intended to marry.
“Why did you come back with the key?”
“I did not come back willingly.”
“You could have thrown it away.”
Camilla looked at me for a long moment.
“Because Aldo sent someone to kill me in Montreal.”
Elena moved closer to Giulia.
Camilla continued.
“He knew I had evidence. The man missed. Your people found me before Aldo’s second man did.”
“Aldo is locked beneath my warehouse.”
“He planned for that possibility.”
My fingers tightened around the key.
“What did he arrange?”
Camilla looked toward the windows.
“At midnight tomorrow, the Morettis will attack Dock Seven. While your men respond, Aldo’s remaining loyalists will seize the central warehouse and release him.”
Marco cursed under his breath.
I looked at Elena.
“Take Giulia upstairs.”
Elena did not move.
“What are you planning?”
“To end this.”
“You are still recovering.”
“And Aldo is still trying to bury me.”
Camilla stood.
May you like
“You cannot fight the Morettis and protect the warehouse at the same time.”
“No,” I said. “But I can make them fight each other.”
