Chapter 4 - Blood and LedgerThe video played on a loop for three agonizing seconds before I forced my thumb to hit pause. The man standing in the dark basement, pressing a cold steel blade against my twin sister’s throat, was Arthur Gallagher—the man I had buried fifteen months ago.
"That's impossible," I breathed, my hand trembling as I set the phone down on the metal table. "I stood at his graveside. I paid the hospital bills. I watched the monitor flatline."
"People with enough money and the right enemies learn how to write very convincing death certificates, Sophie," Matteo said, his voice dangerously calm. He reached out, his fingers brushing against mine on the table, grounding me against the sudden vertigo spinning through my head. "Your father was heavily leveraged in shipping logistics before he retired. If Viktor Vance wanted a bridge into my supply chains, buying off a desperate, bankrupt strategist who knew every loophole in Chicago shipping laws would be the most logical move he could make."
"He stole twenty-eight thousand dollars from our family business while he was dying," I whispered, the betrayal burning fresh behind my ribs. "I thought that was his final act of cruelty. I had no idea he was playing a much larger game."
Leo stepped forward, his face carved from granite. "Boss, we trace the cell tower ping on that video, we get an address. It's routed through a proxy server in Pilsen, but my guys can punch through it in ten minutes."
"No," I said, standing up so fast my chair scraped loudly against the concrete floor. Both men looked at me. "If we go in with an army of your enforcers, my father will slit Chloe's throat before we clear the front door. He's paranoid, he's cornered, and he's desperate."
"So what do you suggest, Sophie?" Matteo asked, stepping closer to me, his dark eyes searching my face. "You want to walk into a trap alone?"
"I want to walk in as the bait," I said, my voice steadying with every word. "My father doesn't want Chloe. He wants me. He needs my biometric credentials and my administrative access to the Mercer Foundation development accounts to clear the final tranche of Viktor Vance’s laundering scheme. Chloe was just a decoy who messed up by getting caught with your bonds."
Matteo stared at me for a long, agonizing moment. The air between us crackled with unspoken tension. For a man who ruled by fear and absolute control, trusting a civilian to walk into a hostage situation was anathema.
"No," Matteo said flatly. "Too high a risk."
"You want your two million back, and you want to dismantle Viktor Vance permanently, don't you?" I challenged, stepping right up to him. We were inches apart now; I could see the faint scar through his left eyebrow up close, the clean lines of his suit, the steady rise and fall of his chest. "Vance is using my family to bleed your operation. If we don't cut the head off this snake tonight, he'll use those bearer bonds to buy out your district councilmen by Monday morning."
Matteo held my gaze for three full seconds. Then, a slow, grim smile touched the corner of his lips.
"You really are nothing like your sister, Winifred Ellis," he murmured.
May you like
"Is that a yes?"
"That's a 'we go together, and you don't leave my sight for a single second,'" Matteo corrected, turning to Leo. "Get the tactical gear ready. We're going to Pilsen."
