Chapter 6 Midnight Search

Elena's POV

Two days after learning the truth about Marco, I met Valentina.

I was in the library again. Reading. Trying to distract myself from thinking about my brother. About everything Luca had told me.

The door opened. I looked up expecting Luca or maybe Sienna.

Instead, a woman walked in. Older. Maybe early fifties. But beautiful in a cold, sharp way.

The guards at the door stepped aside for her. Let her pass without question.

She looked at me. Her eyes traveling from my face down to my feet and back up.

Judging.

"So you're the witness," she said. Her voice smooth.

"I'm Elena."

"I know who you are. Everyone knows about the girl Luca won't kill." She walked closer. 

"I'm Valentina Rossellini. Luca's aunt. His father's sister."

Luca's aunt. I could see the resemblance. Same sharp features. Same cold eyes.

But where Luca's coldness felt controlled, hers felt cruel.

"It's nice to meet you," I lied.

"Is it?" She smiled. It didn't reach her eyes. 

"I doubt that. You're a prisoner here. Nothing about this situation is nice for you."

I didn't answer. Didn't know what to say.

Valentina sat in the chair across from me. Like she had all the time in the world.

"Tell me, Elena. How are you finding your stay? Is my nephew treating you well?"

"Well enough."

"He hasn't hurt you?"

"No."

"How surprising. Luca usually has such a temper. Especially with people who see things they shouldn't."

"He's been... civil."

"Civil." She repeated the word like it amused her. 

"That's one way to describe him. I'd use other words. Cold, ruthless."

I stayed quiet. Something about this woman made my skin crawl.

"Did he tell you about the man he killed? The one you saw?" Valentina asked.

"A little."

"Let me guess. He told you the man was a traitor. A thief. Someone who deserved to die."

"Yes."

"And did you believe him?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

Valentina leaned forward. Her eyes sharp. Focused.

"Because Luca only tells the parts of the story that make him look good. He doesn't tell you what led to the betrayal. What pushed that man to steal. To run."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that Marco Ricci wasn't born a traitor. He was made into one. By this organization. By the pressure. By the impossible expectations."

My heart started beating faster. She was talking about Marco. Really talking about him.

"Luca works his people to death," Valentina continued. 

"Demands perfection. Gives them jobs that are too big. Too complicated. And when they fail, when they crack under the pressure, he calls them traitors and kills them."

"That's not what he said happened."

"Of course not. Luca never takes responsibility for his own failures. He just eliminates the evidence."

She stood up. Walked to the window. Looked out at the city.

"Marco was a good man. Smart. Loyal. But Luca put too much on him. Too much responsibility. Too much money to handle. And when Marco made mistakes, when the numbers didn't add up, Luca didn't offer help. He offered threats."

"Threats?"

"Death threats. To Marco. To his family. Luca told him if the money wasn't perfect, if anything went wrong, he'd kill everyone Marco loved."

No. That couldn't be true. Luca said he gave Marco chances. Said he tried to help.

But Valentina sounded so sure. So convincing.

"So Marco panicked," Valentina continued. "Started hiding the mistakes. Moving money around to cover the gaps. And before he knew it, he was in too deep. Couldn't stop. Couldn't fix it."

"And the betrayal? Going to Luca's enemies?"

Valentina turned back to me. Her face sad. Sympathetic.

"Desperation. Marco thought if he gave them something valuable, they'd protect him from Luca. He was wrong. They used him. Got what they wanted. Then left him to die."

I felt sick. If this was true, if Marco was forced into it, pressured into it...

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.

"Because you deserve to know the truth. Because Luca will paint himself as the victim. The righteous one. But he's not. He's a killer who creates the very traitors he then executes."

She walked to the door. Stopped, looked back.

"Be careful, Elena. Luca is good at making people believe his version of things. Good at making you think he's honorable. But he's not. He's a monster. And the sooner you remember that, the safer you'll be."

Then she left.

I sat there. My mind racing.

Was she telling the truth? Did Luca pressure Marco? Threaten him? Force him into betrayal?

Or was Valentina lying? Trying to turn me against Luca for her own reasons?

I didn't know. Couldn't tell.

But something about what she said felt... off. Wrong somehow.

The way she talked about Marco. Like she knew him personally. Like she'd been there.

How would she know so much about what Marco was thinking? What he was feeling?

Unless she was involved somehow.

The thought hit me like a punch.

What if Valentina was the one who pushed Marco? What if she manipulated him? Used him against Luca?

I needed to know. Needed to find proof.

And that meant doing what I came here to do in the first place.

Investigate, search and find the Ledger.

That night, after Luca visited and left, after the guards changed shifts, I waited.

Listened to the sounds of the penthouse. 

The guards walked past my door every thirty minutes. 

I timed it.

Then I used my key card. Opened the door quietly. Slipped out into the hallway.

The guards were at the other end. Backs turned.

I went the opposite direction. Moving fast but quiet.

I'd memorized the layout during my walks. Knew where things were. Where I could and couldn't go.

I headed for the offices. The business part of the penthouse. Where papers would be kept. Records. Files.

Maybe even The Ledger.

Most doors were locked. My key card didn't work on them.

But one door was open. Just a crack. Like someone forgot to close it all the way.

I pushed it open slowly. Peeked inside.

An office. Not Luca's main one. Smaller. Maybe for staff. For people who worked for him.

I slipped inside. Closed the door most of the way. Left it cracked so I could hear if anyone came.

I saw a desk, a cabinet, a computer.

I went to the filing cabinet first. Tried the drawer.

It was ocked.

Damn it.

I tried the desk drawers. One opened.

Files. Papers. Financial records.

My heart raced. This was it. This was what I needed.

I pulled out a folder. Opened it. Started reading.

Transaction records. 

This was evidence. Real evidence. The kind the FBI could use.

But it wasn't The Ledger. Just pieces of it. Recent stuff.

I needed more. Needed the full book. Forty years of records.

I kept searching. Moving quickly but carefully. Making sure I put everything back exactly how I found it.

More folders. More transactions. All illegal. All proof of money laundering. Bribery. Corruption.

And there. In one file. A name that made me stop.

Marco Ricci.

His accounts. His transactions.

I read through them. My hands shaking.

Fifty million dollars. Just like Luca said. Moved into offshore accounts. Hidden. Stolen.

But there was more. Notes. Handwritten.

Instructions. From someone telling Marco where to move the money. How to hide it.

The handwriting was elegant. 

I kept reading. Found more notes. More instructions.

And at the bottom of one page, a signature.

V.R.

Valentina Rossellini probably.

My blood went cold.

Valentina. Luca's aunt. She'd been involved. She'd been telling Marco what to do.

Why? To hurt Luca? To weaken him?

I needed to keep this. Needed to show Luca.

But I couldn't take the file. He'd know someone had been snooping.

I pulled out my dead phone. Tried to turn it on. Maybe it had a tiny bit of battery left.

It flickered on. Five percent battery.

I took photos. Page after page. The transactions. The notes. The signature.

Evidence. Proof.

The phone died. Battery gone.

But I had the photos. Saved.

I put everything back. Exactly as I found it. Closed the drawers and made sure nothing looked disturbed.

Then I slipped out of the office. Back into the hallway.

The guards were still at the other end. Hadn't moved.

I made it back to my room. Closed the door. Locked it from the inside.

My heart was pounding. My hands shaking.

I'd done it. I'd found evidence.

Not The Ledger. But something almost as good.

Proof that Valentina manipulated Marco. That she was the real traitor.

And now I had to decide what to do with it.

Tell Luca? Show him what his aunt did?

Or keep it secret? Use it somehow for my own purposes?