Chapter 4 - The hidden ledger
Calder ordered a guest suite to be prepared with the finest linens, instructing his female staff to attend to Emma’s needs. He waited until the little girl was deeply asleep in the massive, plush bed before he quietly entered the room.
The soft glow of the bedside lamp illuminated Emma’s peaceful, rosy face. She looked angelic, entirely removed from the dark, violent world she had just been dragged into.
Calder’s eyes drifted to the chair beside the bed. Emma’s oversized brown coat lay folded meticulously on the velvet cushion. All evening, he had noticed how protectively she guarded the heavy garment, even when she was indoors.
He walked over with silent, measured steps. He picked up the worn brown coat, feeling the weight of the fabric in his large, tattooed hands. His thumb brushed against the interior lining of the left panel. It was unnaturally stiff.
Calder produced a small, sleek tactical blade from his suit pocket. With surgical precision, he severed the stitching of the interior seam.
Inside the hidden lining was a vacuum-sealed plastic pouch. Calder slid it out, his expression remaining frighteningly calm as he examined the contents. Inside was a sleek, encrypted titanium flash drive and a single, faded photograph.
He pulled the photograph out. It was a picture of Sarah, smiling brightly, holding a newborn Emma. But standing next to Sarah, with his arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders, was a man Calder recognized instantly.
It was Calder’s older brother, Julian.
Julian had been murdered in a syndicate crossfire six years ago, a death that had propelled Calder to the throne of the Moretti empire. Calder had spent years hunting down the men responsible, but he had never known that Julian had a secret family. He had never known that his brother had left behind a woman and a child.
Calder stood perfectly still in the quiet bedroom. The air around him seemed to drop ten degrees. The little girl sleeping in the bed was not just a stranger’s child. She was Emma Moretti. She was his niece. She was his blood.
He slipped the flash drive and the photograph into his suit pocket, his dark eyes burning with an intense, terrifying promise.
The Vance family hadn't just kidnapped a rogue accountant. They had kidnapped a Moretti.
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Calder turned and walked out of the bedroom. Marco was waiting in the hallway, standing at attention.
“Marco,” Calder said, his voice a low, lethal rumble that echoed with the promise of utter destruction. “Prepare the convoy. We are going to war.”
