Chapter 6 - The Dead Mafia Don Returned—And Anna Discovered the Price of Her Father's SilenceLorenzo did not open the apartment door.
Instead, he placed one finger against his lips and gestured for Anna to move toward the kitchen.
She obeyed.
Not because she trusted him completely.
But because she could hear the quiet movement of several men gathering outside.
Whatever Adriano Bellini intended, it was not a family conversation.
Leo stood near the hallway, listening to his radio through an earpiece.
Then he shook his head.
The building's security system had been disabled.
The stairwells were blocked.
Someone had planned this carefully.
Anna glanced toward the windows.
Four floors above the street.
No fire escape.
No easy exit.
Her father's secret apartment had become a trap.
Adriano spoke again.
"Lorenzo, don't embarrass yourself. I know the apartment better than you do."
Lorenzo answered through the door.
"Then you know it belongs to me."
"Technically, it belongs to a trust."
"And who controls the trust?"
A pause.
Then Adriano laughed.
"That's precisely what we need to discuss."
Anna watched Lorenzo.
His face had become cold and still.
But his eyes were moving.
Calculating.
He looked toward the piano.
Then toward the narrow hallway beside the kitchen.
"Leo," he whispered, "the service shaft."
Leo nodded.
Anna frowned.
"What service shaft?"
"This building used to have a dumbwaiter connecting the apartments to the basement."
"You're not suggesting we climb into a food elevator."
"No."
Lorenzo glanced at her.
"I'm suggesting you do."
Anna stared.
"Absolutely not."
"Anna—"
"That thing is probably a hundred years old."
"Seventy-eight."
"That doesn't make it better."
A sharp metallic sound came from the front door.
Someone was working on the lock.
Lorenzo's expression hardened.
"We don't have time."
Leo hurried toward the kitchen.
Behind a narrow pantry door stood an old service compartment.
Its metal frame was dusty, but the cable system had been replaced recently.
Anna looked at Lorenzo.
"You knew this was here?"
"My father showed me when I was a boy."
"Of course he did."
Lorenzo almost smiled.
Then he became serious.
"Listen. The shaft reaches a locked storage room in the basement. Leo knows the route out."
Anna looked at the opening.
Then back at him.
"You're coming."
"I'll be behind you."
"That's not an answer."
The lock at the apartment entrance snapped.
Leo raised his weapon.
Lorenzo placed a hand against Anna's cheek.
The gesture surprised both of them.
"Get downstairs."
His voice softened.
"Please."
Anna stared at him.
It was the first time he had asked instead of commanded.
She climbed into the compartment.
Leo followed after making sure the mechanism could carry their combined weight.
Lorenzo released the brake.
The platform began descending.
Above them, the apartment door crashed open.
A voice shouted.
Then gunfire erupted.
Anna flinched.
"Lorenzo!"
No answer.
The platform continued downward.
Leo caught her arm.
"Stay quiet."
They reached the basement moments later.
A locked panel opened into a storage room filled with old furniture.
Leo led Anna toward a service corridor.
But she stopped.
"I'm not leaving him."
Leo turned.
"Miss Bennett—"
"Don't call me that like you're trying to be polite while abandoning your boss."
"He's not being abandoned."
"Then where is he?"
Leo checked his radio.
Static.
Anna's chest tightened.
She had known Lorenzo for less than a day.
He was arrogant.
Dangerous.
Capable of cruelty.
And yet the thought of him dying upstairs made something inside her twist painfully.
She hated that.
She hated that the man who had threatened her life was now someone whose survival mattered.
Then a door opened at the far end of the corridor.
Lorenzo emerged.
Blood stained one sleeve of his shirt.
Anna rushed toward him.
"You're hurt."
"Not badly."
"That's what men say before collapsing."
He glanced at Leo.
"Vehicle?"
"Waiting."
They hurried through a rear service exit.
A dark SUV pulled into the alley.
Lorenzo helped Anna inside.
Only when the vehicle accelerated away did she notice his left arm hanging unnaturally at his side.
"You're bleeding."
"I noticed."
"Take off your jacket."
He looked at her.
"Anna."
"Now."
Leo made a suspicious coughing sound from the front seat.
Lorenzo gave him a murderous glance.
Then removed his jacket.
A bullet had grazed his upper arm.
The wound was bleeding steadily but did not appear deep.
Anna pressed a clean cloth from the vehicle's medical kit against it.
Lorenzo watched her.
"Where did you learn that?"
"My mother worked as a nursing assistant. I helped her study."
"Useful skill."
"Apparently more useful than hospitality."
His mouth curved slightly.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Then Anna asked the question that had been burning inside her.
"Why didn't Adriano kill you?"
Lorenzo's expression darkened.
"Because he needs something."
"The ledger?"
"More than that."
He looked toward the black case on Anna's lap.
"My father created a financial structure before he died. Several companies, trusts, and property holdings are controlled by a voting agreement."
Anna frowned.
"Who has the voting rights?"
"I do."
"Then why does Adriano matter?"
"Because he manages the accounts."
Anna looked down at the documents.
"And my father's evidence could prove he stole from them."
"Yes."
She considered that.
"How much money are we talking about?"
Lorenzo hesitated.
"Possibly hundreds of millions."
Anna stared.
"You're telling me my father died over money your family didn't even need?"
Lorenzo's expression changed.
"Greed isn't always about need."
She looked away.
Outside, the city passed beneath the gray morning sky.
For the first time, Anna understood the scale of what her father had discovered.
He hadn't uncovered a simple theft.
He had uncovered a financial conspiracy capable of destroying the Moretti organization from within.
And the people responsible had spent more than a decade protecting it.
They reached a private medical clinic in Midtown.
A physician treated Lorenzo's arm while Anna sat in an adjoining office examining the documents.
Most of the financial records were difficult to interpret.
But Anna recognized several names.
One belonged to a woman who had worked with her mother.
Another belonged to a family from Palermo.
Then she found an account labeled with her own childhood nickname.
Principessa.
Her breath caught.
The account had been opened when she was six.
Deposits had continued for years after her father's death.
The balance was astonishing.
More than twelve million dollars.
Anna stared at the screen.
A note appeared beside the account.
Beneficiary: Anna Lucia Esposito.
Her birth name.
She opened the supporting document.
The account wasn't an inheritance.
It was a restitution trust.
Money her father had recovered from criminal operations and reserved for people harmed by them.
Anna was listed as trustee upon reaching the age of thirty.
She was twenty-six.
Someone had been keeping the trust dormant.
She hurried into the examination room.
Lorenzo sat on the edge of the medical bed while the doctor finished wrapping his arm.
"Your father left me a trust."
Lorenzo looked up.
"What?"
"Twelve million dollars. But it isn't mine to spend."
She handed him the document.
"It's restitution money."
He read it.
His expression changed.
"Anna, this is bigger than I thought."
"Why?"
"Because the trust is connected to the Moretti holding companies."
"So?"
"So whoever controls it can challenge Adriano's authority over several major assets."
Anna felt the pieces falling into place.
"That's why he wants me."
Lorenzo nodded.
"And why Matteo wants you alive."
She looked toward the window.
"Then my mother is leverage."
"Yes."
Anna's voice trembled.
"How do we get her back?"
Lorenzo took her hand.
"We find out what Adriano wants and make him believe he'll get it."
She looked down at their joined hands.
"You're asking me to become bait."
"No."
He met her eyes.
"I'm asking you to help me build a plan that doesn't sacrifice anyone."
Anna studied him.
"That's new."
"I've been told I need to change."
Despite everything, she almost smiled.
Then her phone vibrated.
An incoming video call.
Unknown number.
Lorenzo's expression hardened.
Anna answered.
Her mother appeared on the screen.
She was sitting in a plain room.
Her hair was disheveled.
But she was alive.
"Mama!"
Elena began crying.
"Anna, sweetheart."
A man stepped into the frame.
Matteo Russo.
The silver-haired hotel guest smiled pleasantly.
"Good morning, Miss Bennett."
Anna's blood turned cold.
"Let her go."
"Eventually."
He adjusted his cufflinks.
"But first, we need to discuss your father's unfinished business."
Lorenzo leaned into view.
"Matteo."
Matteo's smile widened.
"Lorenzo. Still alive. How disappointing."
"What do you want?"
"Simple."
He looked directly at Anna.
"The trust documents. The original ledger. And your signature transferring control of the restitution accounts."
Anna stared at him.
"And if I refuse?"
Matteo placed a hand on Elena's shoulder.
Her mother flinched.
"You have until midnight."
The call ended.
Anna remained frozen.
Lorenzo took the phone from her shaking hands.
"We're getting her back."
She looked at him.
"How?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Then he said something she hadn't expected.
"By doing something my father never had the courage to do."
Anna frowned.
"What?"
Lorenzo reached for his phone.
"I'm going to tell the truth."
He dialed a number.
When the call connected, his voice was calm.
"Agent Donovan? This is Lorenzo Moretti."
Anna stared at him.
He continued.
"I have evidence concerning a financial conspiracy, multiple murders, and a kidnapping."
May you like
A pause.
"And I'm prepared to cooperate."
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