She Found Who Was Robbing the Don’s Syndicate—Then He Claimed Her Before Everyone
Chapter 6
For the next two weeks, Elena became Matteo’s silent weapon.
She worked during daylight and investigated after dark.
She discovered that the thefts followed the movement of riverboats.
Whenever Matteo’s men delivered a shipment to a certain warehouse, someone already knew its contents.
The information came from inside.
But who?
Elena created a private list.
Thomas Vane.
Silvio Caruso.
Three warehouse keepers.
Two riverboat captains.
A clerk named Samuel Price.
And one name that disturbed her more than all the others.
Matteo’s younger cousin, Lorenzo Belladonna.
Lorenzo was charming.
Generous.
Popular.
He also had gambling debts.
Large ones.
Elena found payments from a London merchant to an account controlled by a local tavern owner.
The money always arrived two days before a shipment vanished.
She followed Lorenzo one night.
He entered a gambling room beneath an inn.
There, Elena saw him speak with Thomas.
Then Caruso entered.
The three men sat together.
Elena remained outside.
Through a cracked window, she heard enough.
“The Don suspects,” Thomas said.
“Then we finish it.”
“Finish what?”
“The investigation.”
Lorenzo’s voice was cold.
“She’s closer than we expected.”
Thomas shook his head.
“She knows too much.”
Elena stepped backward.
A floorboard creaked.
The men inside went silent.
She ran.
She barely reached the street before someone grabbed her arm.
A hand covered her mouth.
She struggled violently.
Then a familiar voice whispered beside her ear.
“Don’t scream.”
Matteo.
He pulled her into the darkness between two buildings.
His men rushed past them, chasing another figure down the street.
Elena’s heart pounded.
“You knew they were watching me.”
“Yes.”
“You let me follow them.”
“Yes.”
“You could have told me.”
“You would have followed them anyway.”
She glared at him.
He looked down at her.
For several seconds neither spoke.
Then Matteo noticed blood on her palm.
“When did that happen?”
“When I ran through the window.”
He took her hand.
Elena stiffened.
His fingers were warm.
The touch was unexpectedly gentle.
“You should not have been there.”
“I found the truth there.”
“No.”
He looked directly into her eyes.
“You found the beginning.”
