Chapter 7 - The Ledger and the Lie
Vivian flinched as the little girl entered the room. All her sophisticated defenses, all her father's coaching, all the wealth and social standing of the Romano name—none of it prepared her for the terrifying, unblinking honesty of a three-year-old child.
“You dropped it,” Mia said loudly, her voice clear and bell-like in the oppressive silence of the master bedroom.
Adrian didn't look down at Mia immediately; his eyes remained fixed on Vivian like twin points of ice. But Nick Caruso nudged the child gently forward.
“Show him, Mia,” Nick said softly.
Mia walked right up to Adrian’s polished leather shoes, completely unfazed by the towering, formidable presence of the mafia boss. She reached into the pouch of her oversized yellow sweater and pulled out a small, metallic object, holding it up in her tiny palm.
It was a heavy, silver cufflink inlaid with a distinctive monogram: S.R.—Salvatore Romano.
“The man in the big coat dropped it when he put Bruno in the car,” Mia announced proudly, looking up at Adrian. “The lady was watching from the window.”
Adrian slowly lowered his gaze to the child’s hand. He recognized the monogram instantly. It was the exact set of cufflinks he had seen Salvatore Romano wear across the negotiating table in Manhattan three months ago.
He reached down, took the heavy silver piece from Mia’s small fingers, and closed his hand around it.
When Adrian raised his head back up, the temperature in the room dropped below freezing. He didn't look at Vivian anymore. He looked past her, toward the hallway where Nick stood waiting for the order.
“Get Salvatore on the encrypted line,” Adrian said, his voice hard enough to shatter glass. “Tell him his daughter is currently packing her bags. And tell him to bring every single shipping manifest, every stolen ledger page, and a shovel.”
Vivian let out a sharp, choked gasp, stumbling backward against the dressing table until a crystal perfume bottle knocked over and shattered against the hardwood floor.
“Adrian, you can’t!” she screamed, all pretense of elegance evaporating into absolute terror. “My father will destroy your routes! He’ll cut off every terminal from here to Newark! You can’t go to war with us over a stupid dog!”
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Adrian stopped walking toward the door. He turned his head slowly over his shoulder, his dark eyes burning with an intensity that made Vivian shrink back into the shadows of the vanity.
“It wasn't just a dog, Vivian,” Adrian said quietly. “It was the only thing in this house with more loyalty than you.”
