Chapter 8 - Victor’s Quiet War
Luca said nothing.
Celeste continued.
“Do not return through the south gate.”
“Why?”
“Victor has access to security.”
“I know.”
“No. You know he has administrator privileges. You don’t know he has two guards loyal to him.”
Marco heard that from the front seat.
His expression darkened.
“Names,” Luca said.
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to believe I’m afraid.”
“That I believe.”
Celeste inhaled.
“The Harbor Nine transfer is Friday.”
“I know.”
Silence.
That shocked her.
“How much do you know?”
“Enough to understand you’ve been signing documents that carry my authorization without my consent.”
Celeste’s voice dropped.
“Luca—”
“Did you forge my approval?”
“I authenticated documents Victor provided.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“Yes.”
Elena looked toward Luca.
His face showed almost nothing.
But his knuckles whitened around the phone.
“How long?”
“Three years.”
“Thomas Bennett?”
Another silence.
“I sealed his compliance report.”
Elena closed her eyes.
Luca asked, “Why?”
“Victor said Thomas misunderstood internal transfers.”
“And you believed him?”
“At first.”
“What about later?”
“I was already involved.”
That answer was worse.
Luca’s voice became cold.
“Did Victor cause Thomas’s accident?”
“I don’t know.”
“Think carefully.”
“I swear to you, Luca, I don’t know.”
Elena listened.
Celeste continued.
“Victor said Thomas had become a problem. Three days later Thomas died. When I asked Victor about it, he told me never to ask again.”
Luca stared through the windshield.
The road ahead curved beneath dark trees.
“Why tell me now?”
“Because Victor knows about the key.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“He has people inside your security team.”
“Where are you?”
“The estate.”
“Stay there.”
“I don’t think that’s wise.”
“It wasn’t a suggestion.”
He ended the call.
Marco immediately called three guards he trusted personally.
No answer from one.
“That’s our leak,” Marco said.
“Maybe.”
“You still doubt Celeste?”
“I doubt everyone.”
Elena looked at him.
“Everyone?”
Luca’s eyes met hers.
“Almost.”
They returned through the north entrance.
Marco quietly removed two guards from duty.
Luca ordered no explanation.
Victor had already left the estate.
His assistant claimed he had gone home.
Luca knew better.
In his office, Daniel began tracing the safe-deposit key.
Bank records were difficult.
Elena solved the problem.
“The apartment was on 31st Avenue.”
Daniel searched nearby bank branches that existed during Thomas’s lifetime.
One match appeared.
A community bank three blocks from their old building.
It had merged with a larger institution two years earlier.
Safe-deposit records survived.
“We go when they open,” Luca said.
“No,” Marco replied.
Everyone looked at him.
“If Victor knows about the key, he’ll watch the bank.”
“He can watch.”
“Luca.”
“What?”
“You’re not walking into an obvious setup.”
Elena surprised them.
“Send me.”
“No,” Luca and Marco said simultaneously.
She crossed her arms.
“It’s my name probably on the box.”
“That doesn’t mean you go alone.”
“I won’t. But Victor expects Luca.”
Luca stared at her.
“You are not bait.”
“You were willing to make yourself bait six hours ago.”
“That’s different.”
“Why?”
“Because it is.”
“That’s not an argument.”
Daniel muttered, “I like her.”
Luca ignored him.
Elena continued.
“Thomas left this for me. If the box requires my identification, no one else can open it.”
“She’s right,” Daniel said.
“I didn’t ask.”
“I’m still right.”
Luca looked irritated.
“Fine.”
Elena blinked.
“Fine?”
“You go.”
Marco stared.
“Luca.”
“With six people.”
“That defeats the point.”
“With two.”
“Still obvious.”
Luca stepped closer.
“One.”
Elena smiled faintly.
“Now you’re negotiating.”
“I hate this.”
“I know.”
Across Long Island, Victor sat in a dark restaurant that had not opened yet.
A man named Paul Crane sat across from him.
Paul had handled Moretti security technology for seven years.
“You told me they went to storage,” Victor said.
“Yes.”
“And now?”
“They’re back.”
“Did they find something?”
“Probably.”
“That’s not useful.”
Paul swallowed.
“I couldn’t get audio after Celeste called Luca. Marco cut internal access.”
Victor’s face hardened.
“Celeste called him?”
“Yes.”
Victor leaned back.
There it was.
The betrayal he had expected eventually.
Everyone betrayed everyone when pressure arrived.
That was why he considered himself practical rather than cruel.
“Tomorrow morning,” Victor said, “watch every bank connected to Thomas Bennett.”
“How?”
“You have his old personnel file.”
Paul nodded.
“Find his former address.”
Victor stood.
“And Paul?”
“Yes?”
“If Luca asks, you were never here.”
“Of course.”
Victor walked out.
He had spent twenty-six years beside Luca Moretti.
He knew how Luca thought.
That was his advantage.
But what Victor did not understand was that Luca had changed during the past forty-eight hours.
For years, Luca made decisions like a man protecting an empire.
Now he was thinking like a man protecting a mother and her child.
The difference would prove enormous.
At six the next morning, Luca found Mia sitting outside his office.
She wore pajamas and held her rabbit.
“What are you doing?”
“Waiting.”
“For?”
“My chair.”
He checked his watch.
“It’s six.”
“You said tomorrow.”
Technically, she was correct.
Luca opened the office.
“Two minutes.”
“Five.”
“Three.”
“Five.”
He looked at her.
She looked back.
“Fine.”
She climbed onto the chair.
Luca poured coffee.
Mia examined the fountain pen.
Then she said, “Shiny man was here.”
Luca froze.
“When?”
“Night.”
“Where?”
She pointed toward his desk drawer.
“He took something.”
Luca moved quickly.
The drawer containing his executive authentication token was open.
The token was gone.
Victor no longer needed to wait until Friday.
He could authorize the twenty-eight-million-dollar transfer whenever he wanted.
Luca checked the system.
The payment status had changed.
PROCESSING.
And the countdown showed less than two hours.
Victor’s quiet war was no longer quiet.
May you like
It had begun.
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