Chapter 2 - The Mafia Boss's Impossible Question
Mara spent the next three hours in a room she had never been allowed to enter.
Adrian's private study.
The walls were covered with photographs.
Ships.
Warehouses.
Politicians.
Businessmen.
Family members.
And dead men.
Mara recognized some of the faces from newspapers.
Adrian stood behind his desk.
"Tell me exactly what you saw."
She did.
Every detail.
Daniel's shoes.
The silver case.
The direction of the gun.
The black grease on Adrian's coat.
Adrian listened without interrupting.
When she finished, he asked:
"How did you know the grease mattered?"
"My father repaired industrial equipment."
"Where?"
"South Side."
Adrian's expression changed.
"Your father worked around docks?"
"Twenty-two years."
"Name?"
Mara hesitated.
"Thomas Bennett."
Silence.
Adrian's face became unreadable.
Mara noticed.
"You know him."
"No."
The answer came too quickly.
Mara knew a lie when she heard one.
She lowered her gaze.
Adrian leaned forward.
"Your father died three years ago."
"Yes."
"Heart attack."
"That's what the hospital said."
Adrian's eyes sharpened.
Mara immediately regretted saying it.
"Why don't you believe them?"
"Because my father didn't drink, smoke, or have heart problems."
Adrian walked around the desk.
"Then what happened?"
Mara looked directly at him.
"He found something."
The room went still.
"What?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"No."
Adrian stopped.
Mara's voice became softer.
"That's the problem. I never found out."
For years, she had wondered why her father's final weeks had been so strange.
Why he'd burned papers.
Why he'd told Mara not to trust men wearing expensive shoes.
Why, two days before his death, he'd looked terrified.
Adrian walked toward the window.
"Your father worked for my father."
Mara's breath caught.
"What?"
"Before I took over the organization."
"Doing what?"
Adrian didn't answer.
Mara suddenly understood.
Her father had not been an ordinary mechanic.
He had known the Bellinis.
And perhaps he had known why people feared them.
Adrian turned.
"I'll give you money."
She blinked.
"For what?"
"To leave Chicago."
"No."
His eyebrows lifted.
Mara surprised herself.
"I don't want your money."
"You don't understand."
"I understand perfectly."
She held up her injured hand.
"Someone shot through your window this morning. Whoever hired him knows people inside this house. If I leave now, they will assume I know something."
Adrian stared at her.
"Do you?"
Mara looked at him.
"Not yet."
Something almost like amusement appeared in his eyes.
"You're not afraid of me."
"I am."
"Good."
"But I'm more afraid of people who pretend they're harmless."
For the first time, Adrian smiled.
It was brief.
Dangerous.
Beautiful.
Mara immediately hated herself for noticing.
Adrian's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed within seconds.
"What?"
A pause.
"Who?"
Another pause.
Then:
"Don't touch anything."
He ended the call.
Mara waited.
"What happened?"
Adrian looked at her.
"Daniel was found dead."
Her stomach twisted.
"Where?"
"Three blocks from here."
"Did he talk?"
"No."
Adrian stepped closer.
"He left something."
"What?"
"A photograph."
Mara frowned.
Adrian handed her the image.
It showed a warehouse.
Mara recognized it immediately.
Her father's workplace.
She looked up.
"That's where my father worked."
Adrian nodded.
"Exactly."
And then Mara saw the writing on the back.
Three words.
May you like
WORDS THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING.
ASK ABOUT THE LEDGER.
