Chapter 6 - THE MISSING LEDGER
Leo disappeared for two days.
Tessa didn't know where he was.
Then, at three in the morning, someone knocked on her door.
Leo stood outside.
He looked exhausted.
“I found it.”
“Found what?”
“The ledger.”
“What ledger?”
“The one my mother was investigating.”
Tessa stepped aside.
He entered.
He placed a battered notebook on the table.
“This contains payments made between my father's company and the Falcone organization.”
Tessa opened it.
Names.
Dates.
Account numbers.
Payments.
Then she saw something worse.
The payments continued after Leo's mother died.
And one name appeared repeatedly.
Dominic Gallagher.
Tessa looked up.
“Your cousin wasn't just stealing.”
Leo nodded.
“He was financing the rival family.”
“And your father?”
“I don't know.”
Another page contained a handwritten note.
THE HEIR MUST NEVER TAKE CONTROL.
Tessa stared at it.
“Leo.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
“Someone wants you dead.”
“I've known for years.”
“No. Someone wants you powerless until they can control the company.”
Leo looked at her.
“That's what my father has been doing.”
Tessa shook her head.
“Not exactly.”
She pointed toward another line.
A payment had been made to the doctor who declared Leo incompetent.
The money came from Dominic.
Not Declan.
Leo sat down.
“My father wasn't trying to steal my inheritance.”
“No.”
“He was trying to keep Dominic from taking it.”
“Yes.”
Leo covered his face.
For years, he had believed his father hated him.
Now he wasn't sure.
Tessa sat beside him.
“What are you feeling?”
“I don't know.”
“You don't have to know.”
He looked at her.
“I thought you would leave.”
“Why?”
“Because everyone does.”
Tessa reached for his hand.
“I won't.”
Leo stared at their joined hands.
Then he leaned closer.
Their foreheads touched.
Neither moved.
“I don't know how to do this,” he whispered.
“Do what?”
“Trust someone.”
Tessa smiled.
“Start small.”
“How?”
“Trust me for five minutes.”
Leo smiled.
“I can do five minutes.”
She laughed softly.
Then he kissed her.
It was gentle.
Uncertain.
Nothing like the dangerous world surrounding them.
Tessa closed her eyes.
For those few seconds, they weren't the heir and the waitress.
They were simply two lonely people finding each other.
Then the door exploded inward.
A man fired.
Leo pulled Tessa down.
The ledger flew across the room.
A second attacker entered.
Leo grabbed a chair and struck his weapon aside.
Tessa ran toward the ledger.
The attacker saw her.
He raised his gun.
Leo stepped between them.
The shot hit his shoulder.
“LEO!”
He fell.
Tessa screamed.
The attackers fled.
She crawled toward him.
Blood spread across his shirt.
He looked at her.
“Five minutes.”
“What?”
“You promised five minutes.”
Tessa pressed her hands against the wound.
“You idiot.”
He smiled weakly.
“You stayed.”
May you like
“Yes.”
“I knew you would.”
