Chapter 7 - the key inside the locket
By 2:00 AM, the Moretti estate was under total lockdown. Dozens of heavily armed guards patrolled the perimeter walls, while emergency security spotlights illuminated the entire harbor front.
Inside Rico's private study, the fire crackled in the stone hearth. Leo was fast asleep upstairs under Dante's personal guard, while Clara sat in a high-backed leather armchair across from Rico's desk, sipping hot tea.
Rico stood near the desk under the lamp, holding Clara's silver locket in his hand. He was using a fine jeweler's magnifying tool to inspect the intricate Sicilian vine carvings along the outer rim.
"The attackers knew our exact route off the bridge tonight, Clara," Rico said, his deep voice heavy with dark focus. "The Valenti family had inside GPS tracking. Which means someone in my inner circle leaked our departure time."
"Who could have done that?" Clara asked, her brows knitting together.
"Only three people knew the route," Rico replied. "Dante, myself... and Marco Bellini, who managed the catering details for the gala."
Rico turned the locket under the bright lamp light. As his thumb pressed against a small raised vine leaf on the back casing, a quiet click echoed in the silent room.
The back panel of the silver pendant popped open.
Clara gasped, rising from her chair to step beside him.
Hidden inside the hollow base of the locket was a tiny, paper-thin micro-drive and a small steel key stamped with a three-digit number: 412.
Rico pulled the micro-drive out with fine tweezers, inserting it into his encrypted desktop terminal.
Digital files instantly loaded onto the screen—dozens of bank ledgers, voice recordings, and signed contracts dating back six years.
Rico clicked on the primary audio file.
A woman's clear, confident voice filled the room through the desktop speakers—a voice Rico recognized instantly. It was his late wife, Isabella.
"If you are listening to this, Rico... it means Sarah and I have succeeded in securing the evidence against the Valenti syndicate. But listen to me carefully, my love... Dominic Valenti is not working alone. The man who ordered the hit on my car... is Marco Bellini."
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Clara covered her mouth in absolute shock.
Rico stared at the screen, his dark eyes turning into twin pools of terrifying, lethal ice. Marco Bellini—the nervous, groveling restaurant manager who had served the Moretti family for fifteen years—was the traitor who had murdered Isabella and Sarah.
