Chapter 19
The drive back to the Russo estate was suffocatingly tense. The steel lockbox sat on the center console, a silent, heavy presence demanding attention. Dante didn't open it in the car. He stared at it, his mind racing with terrifying possibilities. If the Barone family had the box, why didn't they break it open? Why was it hidden in the transport vehicle?
When they arrived back at the estate, Dante bypassed the grand foyer and led Maya and Sophia directly into his private, heavily fortified study. The room was lined with dark mahogany bookshelves and smelled of aged whiskey and leather. He set the lockbox on his massive oak desk.
"Lock the door, Luca," Dante ordered his lieutenant, who stood guard outside. The heavy door clicked shut, sealing them in.
Maya stood near the desk, holding Sophia securely in her arms. The little girl rested her chin on Maya’s shoulder, watching her father with wide, apprehensive eyes.
Dante took the tiny silver key from Sophia’s hand. He looked at his daughter, his expression softening into profound sadness. "Thank you, Sophia," he whispered.
He inserted the key into the small lock. It turned with a crisp, metallic click. Dante lifted the heavy steel lid.
Inside the box lay a single, encrypted USB drive and a handwritten letter sealed in a white envelope. Dante picked up the envelope, his hands trembling slightly as he recognized his wife's elegant handwriting. The name Dante was written across the front.
He tore the envelope open and unfolded the heavy parchment paper. He read the letter in silence, his pale gray eyes scanning the words rapidly. Maya watched as the color completely drained from his face. The terrifying, ruthless mafia boss suddenly looked fragile, as if the foundation of his world had just collapsed beneath him.
"What does it say?" Maya asked quietly, unable to bear the silence.
Dante slowly lowered the letter. He looked at Maya, his eyes hollow and devastated.
"She wasn't taken," Dante whispered, his voice cracking. "She left."
Maya stared at him in disbelief. "What? But the blood in the car... the shattered window..."
"A setup," Dante replied, running a hand over his face. "She staged the ambush. She paid the Barone family to facilitate her extraction. The blood in the car was meant to make me think she was dead, so I wouldn't come looking for her."
Maya looked at Sophia, who was clinging tightly to her. "Why would she do that? Why would she leave her daughter behind?"
Dante looked at the USB drive resting in the steel box. "Because she found out the truth about my syndicate," he said, his voice dropping to a dangerous, lethal register. "She found out that my second-in-command, the man I trusted with my life... has been working with the feds to build a RICO case against me. She left the drive to prove it."
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Dante looked toward the heavy oak door of the study, where his lieutenant, Luca, stood guard.
"She didn't leave because she stopped loving me," Dante said softly, a dark, murderous resolve hardening his features. "She left because Luca was going to kill her to keep his secret. And now, I am going to tear him apart."
