Chapter 5 - SADIE LEARNED WHY LUCA DIED
The safe-deposit box contained no money.
No jewelry.
No weapons.
It contained a notebook.
A phone.
And a letter addressed to Roman.
Roman sat alone inside the private bank room while Sadie waited beside him.
His hands shook as he opened the envelope.
He read silently.
Halfway through, he stopped.
Sadie did not ask.
Eventually Roman handed her the letter.
Luca had known he might die.
He had also known what Roman was becoming.
The letter did not ask Roman for revenge.
It asked him to escape.
Luca had written that their family had spent generations confusing fear with respect.
He wanted Roman to be the first Costa who learned the difference.
At the bottom was one final sentence.
Build something Dad cannot turn into a weapon.
Roman read it again.
Then again.
Sadie realized Harbor Logistics had not been punishment.
Carmine had built it for Roman because of Luca.
The warehouse was an exit.
Roman simply had not recognized it.
The old phone contained recordings and financial documents proving Victor’s operation.
It also contained evidence implicating Anthony.
Enough to destroy both men.
Roman wanted to take everything directly to Victor.
Sadie wanted to take it to federal authorities.
Carmine wanted time.
Those three positions collided over dinner.
“You trust the government?” Carmine demanded.
“I trust evidence,” Sadie said.
“You have no idea how deep this goes.”
“Then expose all of it.”
Carmine stared at her.
“That includes me.”
Sadie did not blink.
“Yes.”
Roman looked at her.
Carmine laughed softly.
“You truly are not afraid of anyone.”
“I’m terrified of your family.”
That surprised him.
Sadie continued.
“But fear doesn’t make corruption less corrupt.”
Carmine leaned back.
“And if turning this evidence over sends me to prison?”
Sadie looked at Roman.
“That decision belongs to you.”
Roman was silent.
His entire life had been built around loyalty.
Family first.
Always.
But Luca had died because that loyalty had become a prison.
Roman took the phone.
“We turn it over.”
Carmine closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, something had changed.
Acceptance.
“Then we do it properly.”
They arranged a meeting with a federal prosecutor Luca had secretly contacted before his death.
It would happen the following morning.
They never reached it.
At 7:10 a.m., Sadie received a call.
Emily had disappeared.
Her college roommate had watched two men force her into an SUV.
Sadie dropped the phone.
Roman caught her.
“What?”
She could barely speak.
“Emily.”
Roman’s expression changed instantly.
Then his phone rang.
Victor.
Roman answered.
“You touch her—”
“Careful.”
Victor sounded amused.
“Violence is supposedly bad for you now.”
“Where is she?”
“Bring Luca’s phone.”
Victor gave them an address.
An abandoned waterfront hotel.
“No police. No Carmine.”
The call ended.
Sadie grabbed her coat.
Roman blocked the door.
“No.”
“She’s my sister.”
“And this is exactly what he wants.”
“I don’t care.”
“I do.”
Sadie looked at him.
Roman’s voice broke.
“I care.”
He took her shoulders.
“If you go there and something happens…”
“That’s my sister.”
“I know.”
“Then move.”
Roman stared at her.
Sadie had never seen him look so helpless.
Finally he stepped aside.
“But you’re not going alone.”
They developed a plan.
Carmine secretly contacted the prosecutor.
Anthony provided blueprints.
Roman and Sadie went to the hotel carrying the phone.
Victor waited in the ruined ballroom.
Emily sat tied to a chair.
She was frightened but unharmed.
Sadie rushed forward.
Victor raised a pistol.
Roman stopped her.
“Give me the phone.”
Roman held it up.
“Release Emily.”
Victor smiled.
“You’ve changed.”
“Release her.”
“You know, your brother stood almost exactly where you’re standing.”
Roman froze.
Victor enjoyed it.
“He thought evidence made him powerful too.”
“You killed him.”
Victor shrugged.
“Anthony betrayed him. I simply finished the conversation.”
Roman’s breathing became heavier.
Sadie saw the rage returning.
Victor saw it too.
“That’s it.”
He smiled.
“There’s the Roman Costa everyone remembers.”
Roman’s fist closed.
Victor stepped closer.
“Come on.”
Sadie whispered.
“Roman.”
Victor laughed.
“She really does have you trained.”
Roman looked at him.
Then something extraordinary happened.
He smiled.
Victor’s expression changed.
Roman placed Luca’s phone on the floor.
“You’re right.”
Victor frowned.
“I spent my whole life thinking being feared made me strong.”
Roman looked toward Sadie.
“Turns out walking away from men like you is harder.”
Then Roman crushed the phone beneath his shoe.
Victor screamed.
“No!”
He rushed forward.
Roman did not attack.
Police lights exploded through the broken windows.
Victor spun around.
The phone had been a copy.
The real evidence was already with federal agents.
Sadie ran to Emily.
Victor grabbed Roman.
The two men crashed against a table.
Victor reached for his gun.
Roman could have killed him.
Instead, he trapped Victor’s wrist and forced the weapon away.
Agents stormed the ballroom.
“DOWN!”
Roman released him.
Victor stared up from the floor.
“You coward.”
Roman looked at him.
“No.”
He glanced toward Sadie.
“For the first time in my life, I’m not.”
Victor Marzano was arrested.
Emily was safe.
And Roman believed the nightmare was finally over.
He was wrong.
May you like
Because Anthony Bellini had disappeared.
And he had taken Carmine Costa with him.
