Chapter 2 - The Forty-Thousand-Dollar Trap
Vincent Calder recovered quickly.
“Miss Foster.”
Dileia looked from him to Adriano.
“You know me?”
Calder smiled politely.
“I know many employees working tonight.”
“I’m not employed by this hotel.”
Silence.
Adriano turned his head slightly.
“Vincent.”
“Yes?”
“Try again.”
Calder’s smile thinned.
“I may have seen her photograph.”
“Where?”
“A creditor file, perhaps.”
Dileia’s stomach dropped.
Adriano looked at her.
“What creditor file?”
She hated what happened next.
Shame.
Immediate and irrational.
Her fingers moved toward the folded eviction notice inside her apron.
Calder noticed.
So did Adriano.
“Dileia,” Adriano said, “what does he mean?”
She removed the notice.
“My father borrowed money six years ago.”
“From whom?”
“The debt changed companies three times after he died.”
Calder interrupted.
“Business loans are transferred every day.”
Adriano ignored him.
“Who owns it now?”
Dileia held his stare.
“Calder Capital Recovery.”
The silence was absolute.
Adriano slowly looked at Vincent.
“Yours?”
“A subsidiary.”
“How much?”
Dileia answered before Calder could.
“Forty thousand.”
Adriano extended his hand.
She hesitated.
Then gave him the notice.
He read it.
His expression did not change until he reached the final paragraph.
“What proposition?”
Dileia’s face heated.
“It isn’t written there.”
Calder spoke sharply.
“Adriano, this is absurd.”
Adriano looked up.
“I wasn’t asking you.”
Dileia swallowed.
“He contacted my supervisor.”
Adriano waited.
“He wanted me to meet him privately.”
“For what?”
Calder stepped forward.
“That is enough.”
Adriano’s eyes snapped toward him.
Calder stopped.
Dileia forced herself to continue.
“He said one evening could erase forty thousand dollars.”
Something dangerous entered Adriano’s face.
Not loud anger.
Something colder.
Calder scoffed.
“She misunderstood.”
“No,” Dileia said.
Calder looked at her.
“Careful.”
Adriano moved one step.
That single movement put him completely between them.
“Do not threaten her again.”
“I didn’t threaten anyone.”
“You just did.”
The balcony door opened.
Two men in dark suits appeared, both looking toward Adriano for instructions.
Adriano handed the notice to one.
“Marco.”
“Yes, boss.”
“Photograph every page. Find the ownership chain for this debt.”
Calder laughed once.
“You’re starting an investigation because a waitress misunderstood a conversation?”
Adriano turned.
“I’m starting one because my sister disappeared for fourteen months while you controlled my financial office.”
Calder’s face changed.
Barely.
But Dileia saw it.
So did Adriano.
“You’re reaching,” Calder said.
“Am I?”
“Renata was sick.”
“And afraid.”
“You knew that.”
“I knew she was ill.”
Adriano nodded toward Dileia.
“She says you watched Renata’s apartment.”
Calder stared at her.
Dileia held his gaze.
Three years ago, she had been nineteen feet above a Dorchester sidewalk looking through dirty glass.
She remembered him.
“I saw you.”
Calder slowly smiled.
“You saw an older man in winter.”
“I saw you.”
“You’re certain?”
“Yes.”
“How convenient.”
Dileia’s hands clenched.
“I don’t care whether you believe me.”
Calder’s voice hardened.
“You should.”
Adriano’s security man stepped closer.
Calder looked around and gave an irritated breath.
“Fine. Investigate me.”
He adjusted his cuff.
“You’ll find nothing.”
Adriano replied quietly.
“That sentence usually means there’s something worth finding.”
Calder walked toward the door.
Then stopped.
He looked back at Dileia.
“Be sure you understand whose world you’re walking into.”
Dileia answered before Adriano could.
“I’ve been dealing with men who threaten poor people for years. Your world isn’t as original as you think.”
Marco coughed, disguising what might have been a laugh.
Calder’s face hardened.
Then he left.
Adriano looked at Dileia.
“You should go home.”
“What?”
“Now.”
“I need this shift.”
“You’re not finishing it.”
Dileia’s temper snapped.
“You don’t get to decide that.”
His brows lifted.
“You’re in danger.”
“I was in danger before you learned my name.”
“That doesn’t make continuing intelligent.”
“And losing ninety dollars does?”
Adriano stared at her.
Then asked:
“How old is your brother?”
Dileia went cold.
“How do you know about Toby?”
“I looked for you.”
“How much did you look?”
“Enough.”
“That isn’t comforting.”
“It wasn’t intended to be.”
She stepped closer.
“Listen carefully, Mr. Falcone. I took care of your sister because she needed someone. I didn’t know who she was. I didn’t expect payment. And you finding me does not give you ownership of my life.”
Adriano held her gaze.
Then, unexpectedly, nodded.
“You’re right.”
Dileia blinked.
“What?”
“You’re right.”
Men like him were not supposed to say that.
Adriano continued.
“So I’ll ask instead.”
He pointed toward the ballroom.
“Will you leave tonight?”
Dileia thought about Toby alone at home.
Calder knowing where she worked.
Calder owning their debt.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“But I’m taking my paycheck.”
A faint smile appeared.
“Of course.”
“And I’m not taking money from you.”
“I didn’t offer.”
“You were going to.”
“I absolutely was.”
Despite herself, she almost smiled.
Then Adriano’s phone vibrated.
Marco answered his own phone at the same moment.
His expression changed.
“Boss.”
Adriano turned.
“What?”
Marco held out his screen.
“We traced Calder Capital.”
Adriano read.
His face became stone.
Dileia watched him.
“What is it?”
Adriano looked at her.
“Your father’s original loan was nineteen thousand dollars.”
“I know.”
“It was purchased two years ago.”
“By Calder.”
“No.”
He turned the screen toward her.
“The company that purchased it was owned through three shells.”
Dileia stared.
“And?”
Adriano’s voice went quiet.
“The final owner is Falcone Holdings.”
Dileia stopped breathing.
“You own my debt?”
“I didn’t know it existed.”
“But your company does.”
“Yes.”
She stepped backward.
Everything suddenly felt obvious.
The powerful man crossing the ballroom.
The questions.
The protection.
The money.
“You expect me to believe this is coincidence?”
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
Adriano folded the notice.
“A trap.”
“For me?”
His eyes hardened.
“No.”
May you like
“For me.”
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