Chapter 3 - Luca’s Most Dangerous Secret
The room emptied at my request.
Marco took Sofia downstairs.
The guards closed the doors.
Then it was just Luca and me.
I folded my arms.
“Say it.”
“Elena.”
“Say it.”
Luca stood near the window.
“I love you.”
Two years.
Two years working beside him.
Two years of late dinners, arguments over contracts, midnight phone calls, and Luca pretending the chair beside him at every meeting was accidentally left empty for me.
And this was how he told me?
Because a rival crime boss had announced it during a kidnapping.
I laughed.
Luca frowned.
“You find this amusing?”
“I find your timing unbelievable.”
“I didn’t choose the timing.”
“You chose two years of silence.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
“Me.”
That ended my laughter.
Luca crossed the room.
“You think Mercer is the first man who realized you matter to me?”
“I didn’t know I mattered that way.”
“Everyone else did.”
“That’s comforting.”
“It isn’t supposed to be.”
His voice softened.
“My father loved my mother. Every enemy he had knew it. When I was twelve, one of them put a bomb beneath her car.”
I stopped.
“She survived. My father didn’t.”
Luca looked toward the window.
“He saw something beneath the chassis and pushed her away.”
I had known his father died violently.
I had never known how.
“So you decided loving someone was dangerous.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“I decided letting anyone know was dangerous.”
“Well, congratulations. Mercer knows.”
“Yes.”
“And now he has Caroline.”
“Yes.”
“So we stop discussing feelings and get my sister.”
That earned the faintest smile.
“There’s the Elena I know.”
I pointed toward him.
“Don’t become charming now.”
“Terrible timing?”
“Catastrophic.”
He opened a map.
“Warehouse thirty-four has three entrances. Mercer expects us to use the south loading dock.”
“How do you know?”
“Because that’s what I would expect.”
“You two really deserve each other.”
“I take offense.”
“You should.”
Marco entered.
“Sofia wants to talk.”
“Now?”
“She says Mercer is planning to kill Elena whether she gives him the accounts or not.”
Luca’s face hardened.
“Bring her.”
Sofia was escorted inside.
She looked smaller without the arrogance.
“Mercer has a copy of Shaw’s phone,” she said. “He knows Elena took it.”
“Why does that matter?” I asked.
“Because Shaw recorded everything.”
My stomach tightened.
“Everything?”
“He wore an audio device.”
Luca cursed softly.
“So Mercer knows Shaw died because Elena defended herself.”
“Yes.”
“Then why still demand the passwords?”
“Because he believes Luca will hand over half Manhattan to keep Elena alive.”
Luca didn’t deny it.
Sofia looked at me.
“He doesn’t actually need the account keys. He needs Luca to come to the warehouse.”
I understood.
“It’s an ambush.”
“Yes.”
Luca nodded.
“Probably.”
I stared at him.
“And you were going anyway.”
“Obviously.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Elena—”
“If Mercer wants you in that warehouse, giving him exactly what he wants is stupid.”
“Thank you for the strategic insight.”
“You’re welcome.”
Sofia interrupted.
“There’s another way.”
We both looked at her.
She swallowed.
“Mercer keeps his operation funded through three shell corporations. I helped structure them before I switched sides.”
Luca’s voice dropped.
“You worked for him before you betrayed me?”
“I was feeding him information for nine months.”
Marco moved toward her.
Luca lifted a hand.
“Continue.”
“If Elena can access Shaw’s authentication token, she can freeze Mercer’s operating accounts.”
I stared at her.
“You want me to steal his money.”
“Temporarily.”
“How much?”
“About forty million.”
I looked at Luca.
He raised an eyebrow.
“I’m beginning to like this plan.”
I almost smiled.
Sofia continued.
“Once Mercer realizes the money is frozen, he’ll move Caroline and Ethan.”
“Why?”
“Because his men stay loyal for one reason.”
“Money,” I said.
“Exactly.”
Luca nodded.
“And when he moves them, we follow.”
Marco asked, “How do we know where?”
Sofia glanced at Shaw’s phone.
“His men use encrypted tracking through a logistics app.”
I looked at her.
“You could have told us all this before my sister was kidnapped.”
Her face crumpled.
“I know.”
“Why should I trust you now?”
“You shouldn’t.”
For the first time, Sofia sounded honest.
“But I can still help save them.”
Luca looked at me.
“It’s your call.”
That surprised everyone.
Especially me.
I stared at Sofia for several seconds.
Then I opened Shaw’s phone.
“Show me the accounts.”
Twenty-two minutes later, I pressed ENTER.
Across the screen appeared three words.
TRANSFER ACCESS SUSPENDED.
Luca checked his watch.
“How long before Mercer notices?”
Sofia said, “Maybe five minutes.”
It took forty-seven seconds.
Shaw’s phone rang.
I answered.
Mercer was screaming.
“You stupid little accountant.”
I smiled.
“Formerly weak little accountant.”
“Do you know what you just did?”
“Yes.”
“You froze money that doesn’t belong to you.”
“You kidnapped my sister. I’m not losing sleep over banking etiquette.”
Luca looked impressed.
Mercer lowered his voice.
“Give it back.”
“Release Caroline and Ethan.”
“You think you can bargain with me?”
“I think thirty-nine million, eight hundred thousand dollars says I can.”
Silence.
Then Mercer said, “You have fifteen minutes.”
I hung up.
Marco looked at the tracking monitor.
One signal moved.
Then three.
“Convoy leaving the warehouse.”
Luca picked up his coat.
“Where are they going?”
Marco watched the screen.
Then looked up.
“Queens.”
I frowned.
“What’s in Queens?”
Luca’s expression changed.
May you like
“Your office.”
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