Chapter 4 - What Elena Had Been Collecting
Adrian did not take the phone.
“Put it on the dresser,” he said.
Elena did.
“You said federal investigator.”
“She contacted me through a lawyer at a domestic violence nonprofit.”
Adrian’s eyes sharpened.
Elena looked down. “I started keeping records eight months ago.”
“Of the bruises?”
“Of everything.”
She unlocked the phone and stepped away so he could look without standing near her.
There were photographs of injuries. Bank statements. Shipping manifests. Voice recordings. Images of ledgers with names, dates, and wire transfers.
Then Adrian saw photographs of Vale warehouses.
“These locations are mine.”
“I know.”
“Why are they in your father’s ledger?”
“Because containers were moved through them using forged Vale authorization codes.”
Adrian looked at her.
Elena continued. “I don’t know what was inside. I only know the paperwork was changed after delivery.”
“Who had access to the codes?”
“Your operations office. My father. And someone signing M.K.”
Marcus Kane.
Adrian did not say the name aloud.
Kane was a real estate developer, nightclub owner, and professional enemy who had spent six years trying to cut into Adrian’s logistics network.
Elena rubbed her arms. “My father discovered I was copying files three months ago.”
Adrian’s expression hardened. “That’s when the injuries started?”
“No.”
The quiet answer made him feel sick.
“They got worse then.”
He turned away for one second and pressed his hand against the window frame. Snow moved past the glass.
“When was the last time he hit you?”
Elena hesitated. “Two nights ago.”
“Before the wedding.”
“He said I needed to remember what would happen to Nico if I embarrassed him.”
“Your brother?”
She nodded.
“Where is Nico now?”
“At my parents’ house.”
Adrian was already reaching for his phone.
Elena’s panic returned. “Don’t send armed men.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
She looked at him, surprised again.
He called Dante. “Find Nico Moretti. Quietly. No weapons visible. Bring him here if he wants to come. If he refuses, put two cars nearby and keep eyes on him.”
Dante paused. “Boss, there’s a problem.”
“What?”
“The Moretti house security feed just went dark.”
Elena gripped the dresser.
Dante continued, “And one of Victor’s drivers is missing.”
Adrian looked at Elena.
Her hidden phone vibrated.
A photograph appeared from an unknown number.
Nico was tied to a chair.
May you like
Beneath it was one sentence.
BRING THE PHONE TO PIER 19, OR YOUR BROTHER DIES.
