Chapter 21 - The Midnight Exchange
Dominic chose an abandoned freight terminal near the river.
Of course he did.
Old steel.
Broken windows.
Rusting rail lines disappearing into darkness.
A monument to the Chicago he once controlled.
I arrived at eleven fifty-eight carrying the blue ledger inside a leather case.
Alone.
At least that was what Dominic was supposed to believe.
Massimo had objected until I reminded him whose sister had been taken.
Then he objected louder.
We compromised.
He placed security teams four blocks away.
Gabriel coordinated another unit near the river.
Donna Caterina stayed at the estate with Francesca.
Nobody liked the plan.
That usually meant it was mine.
At midnight, lights flickered on inside the terminal.
I walked forward.
“Claire?”
A figure appeared above me on a metal catwalk.
Dominic Moretti.
He looked older than the surveillance image.
Seventy, perhaps.
Thin.
Silver hair.
Elegant black coat.
Cane in one hand.
He smiled.
“Sophie Miller.”
“Romano.”
His smile widened.
“Your father would hate that.”
“My father hated criminals who threatened children.”
A second figure appeared.
Claire.
Her hands were tied.
She looked furious more than frightened.
That was encouraging.
“I’m okay!” she shouted.
Dominic lifted one finger.
A man behind her pressed a gun near her shoulder.
I stopped breathing.
“Ledger,” Dominic called.
“Sister first.”
He laughed.
“You negotiate like Massimo.”
“I negotiate like my father.”
That erased the smile.
Good.
“You knew Thomas for eight months,” he said. “Do you know what annoyed me most about him?”
“That he was smarter than you?”
Claire actually laughed.
Dominic’s face hardened.
“He was ordinary.”
I looked up at him.
“That’s why you never understood him.”
Dominic descended the stairs slowly.
Two armed men followed.
“He had no power.”
“He had enough to frighten you for twenty-five years.”
His eyes moved to the leather case.
“Open it.”
I did.
The ledger was inside.
Not the original.
Gabriel’s people had created an exact physical replica.
The real ledger was somewhere Dominic would never find.
He approached.
“Where is the seal?”
“I don’t know.”
His cane struck the floor.
“Your father hid it.”
“Yes.”
“He told you.”
“He died before he could.”
Dominic studied me.
Then he smiled.
“I don’t believe you.”
He took the ledger.
Flipped pages.
His expression relaxed.
The copy looked perfect.
“Claire.”
He gestured.
His man pushed my sister down the stairs.
She ran toward me.
I grabbed her.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Go.”
She hesitated.
“Now.”
Claire ran toward the terminal exit.
Dominic closed the ledger.
“You’re braver than your father.”
“No.”
“I’m just tired of rich men assuming women will be easier to scare.”
He almost looked impressed.
Then distant sirens sounded.
Too early.
Dominic’s expression changed.
“You brought police.”
“No.”
He grabbed my arm.
A gun appeared in his other hand.
“Massimo!”
The shout came from the darkness.
My husband stepped into view.
Dominic pulled me against his chest.
The gun pressed beneath my jaw.
Massimo stopped.
His face went terrifyingly calm.
“Release her.”
Dominic laughed.
“There he is. Alessandro’s little prince.”
Massimo’s eyes never left mine.
“Take me instead.”
“No.”
The word left my mouth before Dominic could speak.
Massimo ignored me.
“You want the Romano company? You want the release parcel? You want leverage? I’m worth more.”
Dominic tightened his grip.
“You always did inherit your father’s ego.”
“And you inherited nothing,” Gabriel said.
Dominic turned.
Gabriel stepped onto the opposite platform.
For the first time, true emotion crossed Dominic’s face.
“My son.”
“No.”
Gabriel raised his phone.
“You stopped being my father when you killed my mother.”
Dominic laughed softly.
“You still believe that story?”
“I don’t believe it.”
Gabriel’s voice broke.
“I proved it.”
The terminal screens suddenly illuminated.
Bank records.
Vehicle maintenance payments.
A transfer to the driver who had tampered with Gabriel’s mother’s car.
Dominic’s smile disappeared.
“And every file is already with federal prosecutors.”
Police lights flooded the broken windows.
Dominic looked at Massimo.
Then Gabriel.
Then me.
He finally understood.
The ledger had never been the trap.
He was.
But desperate men were dangerous.
Dominic raised the gun.
Not toward me.
May you like
Toward Gabriel.
And pulled the trigger.
