Chapter 7 - Family Price
Uncle Vittorio had kissed Giulietta on both cheeks that morning.
He had called her "little star" and told her father would have been proud.
Now he was escorting Elena into a clinic used by Hale executives.
"Call him," Marco said.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I want to hear what lie he chooses when he thinks I don't know."
She dialed.
"Gia! I heard. What happened? Are you all right?"
Warm. Concerned. Perfect.
"Where are you?"
"At the hotel annex. Trying to calm investors."
"Stay there."
"Of course. Anything you need."
She ended the call.
"He's in it."
"He's somewhere in it."
"Same thing."
"No. Warren plans. Preston reacts. Rafael runs. Vittorio lies. Different jobs. Different pressure points."
Nico gave her a strange look.
"You sound like your father."
"I hope not."
Her father's methods had kept the family alive.
They had also filled half the city with men who feared his name more than they trusted his word.
But first she had to survive what he had left behind.
That surprised everyone.
The fourteenth-floor records room smelled of dust and old paper. Elena's badge had been used there at 10:47 the previous night.
Giulietta found the shelf from the photograph.
In its place sat a blue folder.
Her name was written across the front in her father's handwriting.
She opened it.
Not hers.
Her father's.
The beneficiary was Marconi Consolidated.
"Thirty million."
Marco turned the page.
"Paid after his death."
"Where did the money go?"
Nico read the transfer sheet.
"Acquisition reserve. Then moved into a restricted holding vehicle called Bellflower."
The same secret.
A handwritten note.
IF I DIE BEFORE THE HALE MATTER IS CLOSED, DO NOT LET VITTORIO CONTROL BELLFLOWER.
Giulietta stared at her father's words.
"Your uncle was after it before the engagement."
A motion sensor clicked above them.
May you like
The records-room door locked automatically.
Then smoke began to crawl under it.
