Chapter 10 - The Enemy in the WallsThey returned to Manhattan under armed escort.
Luca rode in the second vehicle.
Emma sat beside Alessandro.
She had stopped asking questions.
That frightened him more than her tears.
When they reached the mansion, every light was on.
The front gate was open.
No guards were visible.
Marco checked his radio.
Nothing.
“They’ve disabled communications.”
Alessandro stepped out.
“Stay close.”
The mansion felt wrong.
Too quiet.
They entered.
The foyer was empty.
Then Rosa gasped.
On the marble floor lay the Moretti family crest.
Broken.
Beside it was a note.
WE HAVE WHAT WE CAME FOR.
Alessandro turned.
“What?”
A voice answered from upstairs.
“You came back.”
A man appeared on the balcony.
Not Richard.
Not Matteo.
A stranger.
He looked at Emma.
“We need the girl.”
Luca stepped forward.
“You’ll have to go through me.”
The stranger smiled.
“Exactly.”
Gunfire erupted.
Marco shouted.
“Down!”
The foyer became chaos.
Alessandro grabbed Emma.
Luca returned fire.
Isabella pulled Sophia behind a pillar.
The attackers moved with military precision.
Not gangsters.
Not street criminals.
Professionals.
Alessandro recognized the pattern.
“These men aren’t after money.”
Luca nodded.
“They never were.”
“Who are they?”
“The Black Ledger.”
Alessandro stared.
He had heard of them.
An organization believed to operate beyond governments.
Invisible financiers.
Mercenaries.
Fixers.
People who erased names from history.
Luca looked at Emma.
“They want her because she is the legal heir to a trust worth six billion dollars.”
Alessandro shook his head.
“Six billion?”
“Seven point four, after interest.”
Emma looked at them.
“I don’t want money.”
Luca knelt.
“I know.”
“Then why are they chasing me?”
“Because adults become monsters around money.”
Emma frowned.
“That’s stupid.”
Luca almost smiled.
“Yes.”
Then a bullet struck the pillar inches from Alessandro’s head.
He moved.
“Basement.”
They escaped through the wine cellar.
But when they reached the bottom, Alessandro noticed something.
A hidden door.
Fresh scratches around the lock.
Someone had opened it recently.
Inside was a small room.
A single chair.
A table.
And dozens of photographs.
Photographs of Emma.
At school.
At the park.
At the grocery store.
Sleeping.
Walking.
Laughing.
Crying.
Someone had been watching her for years.
Rosa covered her mouth.
Sophia started sobbing.
Alessandro stared at one final photograph.
It had been taken two weeks earlier.
Emma was standing outside the Moretti mansion.
And beside her was a man Alessandro recognized.
Marco.
Alessandro slowly turned.
Marco’s face went pale.
“Boss…”
Alessandro raised his weapon.
“Explain.”
Marco looked at the photograph.
Then at Emma.
“I can.”
May you like
A pause.
“But you’re not going to like the truth.”
