Chapter 8 - THE WOMAN WHO WOULDN’T DISAPPEAR
The story exploded across the East Coast.
Federal indictments followed.
Carlo survived his wound long enough to be charged with racketeering, murder, bribery, extortion, and enough financial crimes to keep prosecutors busy for years.
Vincenzo cooperated.
Aloyio did something nobody expected.
He did too.
He handed investigators financial records, names, shell companies, corrupt officials, and hidden accounts.
Dante nearly had a heart attack.
“You’re dismantling everything.”
Aloyio looked through the jailhouse glass.
“Good.”
Martina sat opposite him.
“You mean that?”
“I spent my entire life inheriting decisions dead men made.”
He looked at her.
“I’m tired.”
She understood that feeling.
“What happens to you?”
“My attorneys think the cooperation matters.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Aloyio smiled faintly.
“No. You’re asking whether I’m going to prison.”
“Yes.”
“Possibly.”
Her chest tightened.
“How long?”
“I don’t know.”
Martina looked away.
Aloyio touched the glass.
“Don’t wait for me.”
She looked back.
“Don’t tell me what to do.”
His smile grew.
“There she is.”
The investigation lasted nine months.
During that time, Martina built something unexpected.
A legitimate security consultancy.
The first client was a shipping company that wanted protection from the criminal network Carlo had left behind.
The second was a hotel.
Then a hospital.
Then three restaurants.
Dante became operations director.
Sophia enrolled in graduate school and worked part-time handling Martina’s books.
“You’re terrible at accounting,” Sophia told her.
“I can calculate bullet trajectories in my head.”
“And yet you forgot payroll taxes.”
“Different skill set.”
For the first time since the fire, they laughed like sisters.
Vincenzo eventually accepted a plea agreement.
Martina visited him once.
He looked smaller in prison clothes.
Not weak.
Human.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
She believed him.
That did not erase anything.
“I know.”
“Can you forgive me?”
“Someday.”
Vincenzo nodded.
“That’s more than I deserve.”
“Probably.”
He smiled.
“My little wolf.”
Martina shook her head.
“No.”
He looked confused.
“My name is Martina.”
Something changed in his face.
He understood.
For her entire childhood, he had treated her as an extension of himself.
Now she was claiming something simple.
Her own name.
“My Martina,” he corrected.
She smiled.
“Better.”
Aloyio’s case concluded three weeks later.
Because of his cooperation and evidence that he had been working to dismantle parts of the organization even before his arrest, prosecutors reached an agreement involving forfeiture, supervised release, and a prison sentence far shorter than expected.
Still, there would be prison.
Eighteen months.
Martina was waiting outside the courthouse.
Reporters shouted questions.
Aloyio ignored them.
He stopped in front of her.
“Eighteen months.”
“I heard.”
“You should live.”
“I plan to.”
“I mean without me.”
Martina folded her arms.
“You’re remarkably annoying for a man about to lose access to custom suits.”
“Martina.”
She stepped closer.
“I’m not putting my life on hold.”
“Good.”
“I’m expanding the company.”
“Good.”
“Sophia wants me to take a vacation.”
“You should.”
“And I might date.”
That finally cracked him.
His jaw tightened.
Martina smiled.
“There he is.”
“That isn’t funny.”
“It’s extremely funny.”
He leaned closer.
“If some man takes you to dinner—”
“What?”
Aloyio paused.
Nothing he could say would not sound ridiculous.
Martina laughed.
Then her expression softened.
“I’m not promising you eighteen months.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
“I’m promising you tomorrow.”
Aloyio looked at her.
“And the day after that?”
“Ask me tomorrow.”
He kissed her.
Cameras exploded around them.
Martina didn’t care.
Then Aloyio whispered against her forehead.
“One problem.”
“What?”
“Carlo asked to see you.”
Her smile disappeared.
“Why?”
“He claims Black Rook isn’t dead.”
Martina’s stomach tightened.
“He says Carlo wasn’t the top.”
“Who was?”
May you like
Aloyio’s answer turned eighteen months of hope into a new nightmare.
“He says the person running it is someone we both trust.”
