Chapter 11 - THE SECRET BENEATH TABLE SEVENTEEN
Belluno’s was dark when Talia crashed through the rear entrance.
Anthony was waiting.
So was Noah.
Talia nearly tackled her brother with relief.
“You’re okay.”
“I’ve had better Uber rides.”
Dante entered seconds later with Vincent.
“How did you escape?” Talia asked.
“I didn’t.”
Noah pointed toward Anthony.
“He got me out.”
Anthony rubbed the back of his neck.
“One of the men brought him here. I recognized him from Cross’s security detail. He left to make a call.”
“Why Belluno’s?” Dante asked.
Noah looked at Talia.
“Because they kept asking about table seventeen.”
Everyone turned.
Belluno’s dining room contained twenty-four tables.
Number seventeen sat against the brick wall.
Anthony frowned.
“That table has been here forever.”
Vincent stepped closer.
“Elena designed this restaurant.”
Talia stared at him.
“What?”
“Before it became Belluno’s. Your mother worked for the architectural firm that renovated the building.”
Dante crouched beneath the table.
Four bolts.
One looked newer than the others.
He twisted it.
Nothing.
Talia remembered the brass key.
M-17.
She pulled it from her pocket.
The key fit inside the bolt.
A section of the floor clicked open.
Beneath it sat a sealed steel case.
Vincent covered his mouth.
“Elena.”
Talia lifted the case.
Inside was the missing ledger.
Original documents.
Photographs.
Bank records.
Names.
Enough evidence to destroy Cross Meridian.
Noah let out a breath.
“So we win?”
“No,” Dante said.
Everyone looked at him.
Dante held up one page.
A detailed security plan for the Cross Meridian charity ball scheduled the following night.
Highlighted in red was the ballroom’s gas line.
Vincent’s face went pale.
“He’s going to destroy the building.”
“Why?” Noah asked.
“To kill everyone who can testify.”
Talia flipped through the pages.
At the end was a list titled FINAL LIABILITY.
Dante Marchelli.
Vincent Vale.
Natalia Vale.
Noah Mercer.
Anthony Russo.
And thirty-two other names.
But one name shocked Dante more than all the others.
At the bottom of the list was Lucian Cross himself.
Talia looked at him.
“He plans to die there?”
Dante shook his head.
“No.”
He turned the page.
May you like
A passport photograph showed Lucian under another identity.
“He plans to make the world believe he died.”
