Chapter 8 - Bring Me the Ledger
Sophia's nanny was unconscious on the nursery floor.
A window stood open.
One security camera had been disabled for exactly ninety-three seconds.
On Sophia's bed sat her stuffed rabbit.
And a phone.
It rang as Dante entered.
He answered.
Carlo's voice came through.
"Hello, cousin."
Dante's hand tightened around the device.
"If you hurt her—"
"You'll what? Kill me?"
Carlo laughed.
"That's the problem, Dante. You keep pretending you're different while threatening exactly what every Russo before you threatened."
"What do you want?"
"The ledger."
"You know I gave it to the government."
"You made copies."
Dante didn't respond.
"Midnight. Pier Thirty-Eight."
Maya's stomach dropped.
The same warehouse where Elena's bracelet had been found.
"Come alone."
The call ended.
Dante immediately began issuing orders.
Maya caught his arm.
"You're not going alone."
"Yes."
"Dante."
"He has my daughter."
"And that's why you're not thinking clearly."
His eyes turned cold.
"Do not tell me how to think when my child—"
"She's my child too!"
The words escaped before Maya could stop them.
Silence filled the room.
Maya's eyes widened.
"I didn't mean—"
Dante stared at her.
Then his face changed.
Not anger.
Something deeper.
"I know what you meant."
Maya swallowed.
"I love her."
"I know."
"And I'm not letting you walk into a trap without a plan."
This time he listened.
At eleven fifty-three, Dante entered the warehouse alone.
At least, that's what Carlo believed.
Maya remained inside a surveillance van with Marco and federal agents.
Dante carried a copy of the ledger.
Carlo stood on an elevated walkway.
Sophia sat nearby, tied to a chair.
She was crying silently.
Dante's control nearly shattered.
"Daddy!"
"I'm here."
Carlo smiled.
"Throw the drive down."
"Let her go."
"You don't negotiate anymore."
Dante looked at Sophia.
"Baby, look at me."
Sophia lifted her face.
"Remember what I taught you about being brave?"
She nodded.
"You don't have to stop being scared."
Another nod.
"You just have to keep looking at me."
Carlo's smile faded.
"The drive."
Dante tossed it.
Carlo bent to retrieve it.
Sophia moved.
Maya had taught her a game weeks earlier for escaping knotted apron strings.
Twist.
Pull.
Turn.
One hand came free.
Carlo saw it.
He grabbed Sophia.
Dante lunged.
Gunfire exploded.
Maya screamed into the headset.
Agents stormed the building.
Carlo dragged Sophia toward the loading platform.
Dante followed.
"Carlo!"
Carlo turned his weapon toward Sophia.
Everything stopped.
Dante slowly raised his hands.
"You win."
Carlo laughed.
"No, I don't."
His expression twisted.
"Not while you still have something."
He looked at Sophia.
"That's what your father never understood. Family makes men weak."
"No," Dante said.
His voice was strangely calm.
"It makes men choose."
A shadow moved behind Carlo.
Maya.
She had left the van.
Marco had tried to stop her.
She'd entered through the kitchen loading bay and climbed the rear stairs.
Sophia saw her.
Her eyes widened.
Maya pressed a finger to her lips.
Carlo didn't notice.
Dante did.
And for the first time in his life, Dante Russo trusted someone else with what mattered most.
He kept Carlo looking at him.
"You wanted my empire?"
Dante said.
"Take it."
Carlo laughed.
"You think this is about money?"
"No."
Dante stepped forward.
"I think it's about spending your entire life believing my father chose me because you weren't enough."
Carlo's face changed.
There.
The wound.
Dante pressed harder.
"He saw exactly what you were."
Carlo aimed at him.
Maya moved.
She grabbed Sophia and pulled her backward.
The gun fired.
Dante fell.
"Daddy!"
Agents surged forward.
Carlo was tackled.
Maya dropped beside Dante.
Blood spread across his white shirt.
"No."
Her hands shook violently.
"Dante. Look at me."
His eyes opened.
"Sophia?"
"Safe."
"Where?"
Sophia crawled beside him, sobbing.
"Daddy!"
Dante touched her face.
"Hey, baby."
"Don't sleep!"
"I'm not."
His gaze found Maya.
She pressed both hands against his wound.
"You idiot."
A faint smile.
"You came into a warehouse."
"So did you."
"I had a gun."
"I had Marco."
Even bleeding, Dante almost laughed.
Sirens screamed outside.
Paramedics rushed in.
As they lifted him onto a stretcher, his fingers caught Maya's.
"Don't leave."
The same words Sophia had spoken the first night.
Maya tightened her grip.
"I won't."
May you like
Then Dante's eyes closed.
And the monitor beside him began screaming.
