Chapter 5 - Nobody Uses My Sister
Clara reached Maya’s room first.
The window was open.
A chair lay overturned.
On the bed was Maya’s phone.
Clara picked it up.
A message appeared.
COME ALONE OR SHE DOESN’T COME HOME.
Lorenzo entered behind her.
“No.”
Clara turned.
“You haven’t even heard my plan.”
“You’re not going.”
“That’s my sister.”
“And this is exactly what they expect.”
“I don’t care.”
“I do.”
“Then help me.”
Lorenzo stopped.
Clara stepped closer.
“Don’t lock me upstairs. Don’t send twenty men while I wait. Help me bring her home.”
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he nodded.
“Together.”
The message led them to an abandoned luxury hotel project in Brooklyn controlled by one of Vittorio’s allies.
Clara entered the lobby alone.
At least, that was how it looked.
A man stepped from the shadows.
“Where’s Moretti?”
“Not here.”
“Liar.”
“Where’s Maya?”
A voice came from upstairs.
“Clara!”
She looked up.
Maya stood on the second-floor balcony with another man blocking the stairs.
Clara’s fear turned instantly into anger.
“You touch her and—”
“And what?”
A familiar voice came from behind her.
Mr. Henderson.
Her manager from the Obsidian Lounge.
Clara stared.
“You?”
Henderson smiled.
“You should’ve wiped the table.”
Clara almost laughed.
“All this because I ignored water?”
“No. Because you gave Vittorio an opportunity. Lorenzo became distracted.”
“You helped them watch me.”
“I gave them schedules. Addresses. Information.”
Clara’s stomach turned.
“You knew about Maya.”
“Everyone has leverage.”
Clara’s expression changed.
“No.”
Henderson frowned.
“No?”
“Everyone has someone they love.”
She looked toward Maya.
“That isn’t the same thing.”
A door opened behind Henderson.
Lorenzo walked in.
Matteo and several men appeared from the opposite corridor.
Henderson froze.
Clara smiled.
“You talk too much.”
The standoff ended quickly.
Lorenzo’s people secured the exits. Maya ran downstairs and straight into Clara’s arms.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
Clara held her tightly.
Across the lobby, Lorenzo stared at Henderson.
“You worked in my club for six years.”
Henderson swallowed.
“Vittorio paid better.”
Lorenzo’s expression remained calm.
“You sold a seventeen-year-old girl for money.”
Police sirens sounded outside.
Henderson looked confused.
Lorenzo glanced at Clara.
“She insisted.”
Clara shrugged.
“I prefer paperwork.”
Matteo smiled.
“I’m beginning to see why he likes you.”
Evidence from Henderson and Vittorio’s attorney gave investigators everything they needed.
Bribery.
Fraud.
Extortion.
Conspiracy.
The empire Vittorio had quietly built inside Lorenzo’s organization began collapsing before dawn.
But Clara noticed Lorenzo standing alone by the broken windows.
She walked over.
“It’s finished.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“You almost lost your sister because of me.”
“Because of Vittorio.”
“They targeted you because I noticed you.”
Clara studied him.
“You’re trying to make my decision for me again.”
“What decision?”
“Whether knowing you was worth the risk.”
He looked away.
Clara touched his hand.
It was the first time she had done so willingly.
Lorenzo looked down at their hands.
Then at her.
“Clara—”
“Don’t ruin it.”
May you like
His mouth almost smiled.
“Yes, ma’am.”
