Chapter 3 - Luca’s Last Ledger
Sadie locked the office door.
“Tell me what happened.”
“No.”
“Roman.”
“No.”
“You hired me to fix the books.”
“My father hired you.”
“And you didn’t fire me.”
Roman looked away.
Sadie softened her voice.
“What happened to Luca?”
For several seconds, Roman said nothing.
Finally:
“He was supposed to inherit everything.”
“Everything meaning?”
“Everything.”
Sadie understood enough not to request clarification.
“Luca was different,” Roman continued. “Patient. Careful. He believed Harbor could become legitimate.”
“And you?”
“I believed him.”
That answer surprised her.
Roman walked toward the window.
“One year ago, Luca found money disappearing through freight contracts. He told me someone close to us was stealing.”
“Victor?”
“He suspected Victor.”
“Then why is Victor still walking around?”
“Because Luca died before he could prove it.”
Sadie stared at the copper manifest.
“How?”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
“Car crash.”
“You don’t believe it was an accident.”
“No.”
“Does Carmine?”
“My father believes whatever keeps this family from tearing itself apart.”
Sadie opened the accounting system.
“Then we prove it.”
Roman turned.
“We?”
“You’re terrible with spreadsheets.”
“This isn’t funny.”
“I’m not joking.”
He crossed the room.
“Sadie, you have a sister.”
Her expression changed.
“Don’t bring Emily into this.”
“That’s exactly why you’re walking away.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Roman stared at her.
“Why?”
Sadie pointed at him.
“Because every time Luca comes up, you become that man from Toscano’s again.”
Roman went silent.
“You’re not angry because you enjoy destroying things,” she continued. “You’re angry because you think you failed him.”
“Stop.”
“You think if you had noticed sooner—”
“Stop.”
“You could’ve saved him.”
Roman turned away.
Sadie let the silence settle.
Then Roman whispered:
“I was supposed to meet him that night.”
Sadie said nothing.
“He called me six times. I was angry with him. We’d fought.”
“About what?”
“He wanted me out.”
“Out of what?”
“The family business.”
Roman laughed bitterly.
“He said I still had a chance to become something better.”
Sadie looked at him.
“What did you say?”
“I told him to go to hell.”
His voice cracked.
“He died forty minutes later.”
That explained Toscano’s.
The rage.
The grief.
The endless punishment of his own hands.
Sadie stepped closer.
“You didn’t kill Luca.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do.”
Roman looked at her.
“You were angry with your brother. That isn’t murder.”
He swallowed.
Sadie turned toward the computer.
“Now help me find who actually betrayed him.”
For the next four nights, they worked.
Shipping records.
Bank transfers.
Vendor invoices.
Old driver logs.
At 1:17 a.m. on Sunday, Sadie found it.
“Roman.”
He woke from the chair.
“What?”
“Come here.”
A shell company had received hundreds of thousands from Harbor.
LBC Transport.
Roman stared at the screen.
“LBC.”
“What?”
“Luca Benjamin Costa.”
Sadie’s eyes widened.
“Someone used your brother’s initials.”
“To make it look like Luca was stealing.”
Then Sadie found another file.
A scanned ledger uploaded the day before Luca died.
One handwritten note appeared at the bottom.
V.B. ISN’T WORKING ALONE. CHECK C.C.
Sadie whispered, “C.C.”
Roman went pale.
“Carmine Costa?”
“My father.”
Before Sadie could respond, the office lights went out.
The warehouse plunged into darkness.
Roman stood instantly.
“Stay here.”
“Roman—”
“Sadie.”
His voice had changed.
Calm.
Focused.
“Lock the door.”
Footsteps sounded downstairs.
Roman looked toward the dark warehouse.
Then at Sadie.
“If anyone comes through that door, use the rear stairs and run.”
“What about you?”
Roman gave her a faint smile.
“You already know I’m difficult to get rid of.”
He disappeared downstairs.
Sadie waited ten seconds.
May you like
Then grabbed the ledger.
And followed him.
