Chapter 10 - Elena Moretti's First MoveBy morning, every major financial publication in the city had received the same announcement.
By evening, three federal agencies were searching for him.
So were Adrian's people.
Elena didn't care who found him first.
She cared that he now possessed enough evidence to expose corrupt politicians, police officials, judges, businessmen, and surviving members of old criminal networks.
Everyone named in that ledger suddenly had a reason to make sure it never became public.
And Elena was legally connected to it.
Walsh moved the family again.
This time they stayed in an unmarked federal residence outside Philadelphia.
No luxury.
No mansion.
No staff.
Adrian looked profoundly offended by the coffee machine.
Elena watched him press the button three times.
“It doesn't become espresso if you glare at it.”
“It tastes like burnt pavement.”
“You're spoiled.”
“I've been accused.”
Lily entered wearing dinosaur pajamas.
“Daddy, can Elena stay forever?”
Both adults froze.
Elena recovered first.
“Forever is a long time.”
Lily considered this.
“Then until lunch.”
“Deal.”
Adrian smiled.
Later, Elena found him on the back porch.
“You're good with her.”
“She deserves better than me.”
“Don't do that.”
“Do what?”
“Decide what other people deserve because you're scared.”
He looked at her.
“You've known me less than a week.”
“Waitresses learn people quickly.”
“And what have you learned about me?”
“That you use control when you're afraid.”
His face tightened.
“That you expect betrayal before loyalty.”
Silence.
“That you want to be different from your father so badly that sometimes you're terrified you're exactly like him.”
He stared at her.
“Anything else?”
She should have stopped.
She didn't.
“You haven't slept properly in days. You pretend injuries don't hurt. You drink terrible expensive whiskey alone. And every time Lily leaves a room, you check where she went.”
Adrian looked away.
“She disappeared from a school parking lot in less than ninety seconds.”
Elena's voice softened.
“I know.”
“I was late.”
“Three minutes.”
“Enough.”
“You didn't kidnap her.”
“I failed to protect her.”
Elena sat beside him.
“When I was eight, my mother disappeared for three days.”
Adrian looked over.
“She was using again. I waited in our apartment. No food. No phone service. I told myself she'd come back.”
Elena swallowed.
“She did. But for years afterward, every time she walked out the door, part of me expected her to disappear again.”
“I'm sorry.”
“That's not why I'm telling you.”
“Why are you?”
“Because if you turn your fear into a cage, Lily will grow up inside it.”
Adrian absorbed that.
“You're saying I should relax?”
“No. You're still being hunted by psychotic relatives and corrupt federal agents.”
He laughed.
Elena smiled.
Then his expression changed.
“Elena.”
“What?”
“I meant what I said at the warehouse.”
“Which thing?”
“That I'm attached.”
Her smile vanished.
Adrian continued.
“This is a terrible time.”
“Yes.”
“I don't know what happens after this.”
“Neither do I.”
“I haven't done relationships particularly well.”
“Shocking.”
He smiled faintly.
“But I know when you walk into a room, I look for you.”
Elena's heart began pounding.
“And I know when you're in danger, I'm not thinking clearly.”
“That sounds unhealthy.”
“Probably.”
She looked at him.
“Adrian—”
He kissed her.
Not aggressively.
Not like a man used to taking what he wanted.
He stopped close enough that she could move away.
Elena didn't.
She kissed him back.
For several seconds, the world contained no kidnappers, crime families, dead sons, hidden ledgers, federal investigations, tuition bills, or frozen warehouses.
Only two exhausted people finding something unexpectedly gentle.
Then Lily's face appeared against the kitchen window.
She gave them two enthusiastic thumbs-up.
Elena broke into laughter.
Adrian closed his eyes.
“My daughter has no boundaries.”
“She gets that from you.”
The moment ended when Walsh's phone rang.
Mason had surfaced.
Not voluntarily.
He had been found dead inside a motel outside Baltimore.
The Black Ledger was gone.
“So who has it now?” Elena asked.
Walsh looked grim.
“We don't know.”
They learned six hours later.
A package arrived addressed to Elena.
Inside was one photograph.
Sofia walking into a grocery store.
Taken that morning.
On the back:
THE OLD MAN FAILED.
WE WON'T.
A second line followed.
TRADE YOUR INHERITANCE FOR YOUR MOTHER.
There was no signature.
There didn't need to be.
The Moretti organization had not belonged to one man.
Dominic had simply been the loudest.
Adrian looked at the photograph.
“This is bigger than him.”
Walsh nodded.
“Much bigger.”
Elena stared at her mother's face.
After twelve years believing Sofia was dead, she had gotten her back for less than forty-eight hours.
She wasn't losing her again.
“Then we stop running.”
Adrian looked at her.
“What are you suggesting?”
Elena turned over the photograph.
“They want the inheritance?”
“Yes.”
“Let's give it to them.”
Walsh frowned.
“You rejected that idea before.”
“No.”
Elena looked at Adrian.
“I said I didn't want the money.”
A slow understanding crossed his face.
May you like
Elena smiled.
“I never said we couldn't use it as bait.”
