Chapter 8 - THE PROMISE ROMAN NEVER KNEW HE MADE
Vittorio Duca had written a letter to Roman.
Marco found it inside an old private vault.
Roman had never opened the compartment because it belonged to his father’s personal archive.
Now he did.
The letter was dated one week before Vittorio died.
Roman,
There is a child you do not know about.
If Ethan Carter remains missing, find Megan Carter and her son.
Protect them without involving them unless necessary.
Daniel Kesler made mistakes but tried to correct them.
The boy must never become payment for ours.
Roman stopped reading.
His jaw tightened.
I stared.
“Your father knew exactly where I was?”
“Yes.”
“And did nothing?”
“He told me to find you.”
“You didn’t.”
“I never saw the letter.”
“Why?”
Roman looked toward Marco.
Marco answered.
“Vittorio sealed the personal vault and coded it to open only if certain accounts moved.”
“The missing money,” I said.
“Yes.”
“So when Adrian started moving it again—”
“The vault unlocked.”
Everything had been designed.
My life.
Leo.
Hidden money.
Dead men leaving instructions.
I was exhausted by powerful families.
Roman continued reading.
Do not trust Adrian if he returns.
That line changed the room.
Ethan leaned forward.
Roman read:
He believes I betrayed him. Perhaps I did. But he has forgotten the difference between punishment and protection.
Marco frowned.
“There’s more.”
Roman continued.
Daniel’s death was not ordered by me.
I allowed Adrian to believe otherwise because the truth would have started a war before Roman was ready.
I stared.
“Then who killed Daniel?”
Roman read the next sentence.
Thomas Kesler.
David’s father.
Leo’s biological grandfather.
My stomach dropped again.
“The Keslers?”
Ethan swore.
Vittorio’s letter explained.
Thomas Kesler controlled a private lending network.
He had helped Adrian move money.
Daniel discovered it.
When Daniel attempted to expose his father, Thomas arranged his death.
David helped hide financial records.
My former manager.
Leo’s uncle.
The man who threw my paycheck onto the floor while his nephew needed antibiotics.
“He knew.”
I whispered.
Roman looked at me.
“Yes.”
“Why hire me?”
No one answered.
Then I understood.
To watch me.
David had hired me eight months ago.
He personally reviewed my application.
Insisted my shifts stay at Laura.
The restaurant sat beside the bakery surveillance point.
I had been placed under observation.
My job had never been random.
I laughed.
Then cried.
Roman moved closer.
Stopped.
“Can I?”
I nodded.
He put one hand around my shoulders.
Not possessive.
Steady.
I let myself lean against him for three seconds.
Then stepped back.
“What do we do?”
Roman’s eyes hardened.
“We stop reacting.”
“Meaning?”
“We find Thomas Kesler.”
“Alive?”
“For now.”
Ethan looked at me.
“And Leo?”
I turned.
“You do not see him until I decide.”
He accepted it.
Roman did too.
No argument.
Good.
Then Marco rushed in.
“Too late.”
“What?”
“David escaped custody.”
My heart pounded.
“Where?”
“We traced his phone.”
Marco looked at me.
“Your apartment.”
I froze.
Leo was not there.
Thank God.
But something else was.
His baby box.
Birth certificate.
Hospital bracelet.
All documents.
We reached the apartment after police had cleared it.
The place was destroyed.
Drawers open.
Mattress cut.
Leo’s room torn apart.
Then I saw the wall.
A message written in black marker:
BRING THE BOY TO LAURA AT MIDNIGHT.
BENEATH THE RESTAURANT IS WHAT EVERYONE HAS BEEN KILLING FOR.
Roman stared at the message.
Then at the floor.
“Beneath Laura?”
Marco’s face changed.
“The basement.”
David had once told staff the locked basement contained old wine storage.
Apparently that was another lie.
Roman looked at me.
“The account key may not be digital.”
“What is it?”
He answered:
May you like
“Gold.”
And according to Vittorio’s records, half a billion dollars in unregistered gold had been hidden beneath the restaurant for more than twenty years.
