She Walked Into the Mafia Boss’s Room to Clean—Then His Family Walked In While He Was Still in a Towel
Chapter 6
Sofia’s old apartment was small.
Too small for the secrets now occupying her life.
She unlocked the door with Matteo behind her.
He looked around.
“You lived here alone?”
“Yes.”
“Since your mother died?”
“Yes.”
He stared at the worn furniture.
“You’ve been taking care of yourself.”
“I had to.”
He nodded.
“Where’s the music box?”
She pointed to a shelf.
Matteo picked it up.
It was small.
Wooden.
Painted with faded flowers.
He turned it over.
“There’s a hidden latch.”
Sofia stared.
“I never knew.”
He pressed it.
The bottom opened.
Inside was a folded letter.
And a small key.
Sofia’s hands shook.
She opened the letter.
Her mother’s handwriting.
Sofia,
If you are reading this, then someone finally discovered the truth.
She swallowed.
The letter explained that Margaret Bennett had once worked for Matteo’s father.
She had discovered that someone inside the organization was stealing from him.
She tried to warn him.
But before she could, the criminal network learned she had evidence.
Matteo’s father ordered her protection.
She disappeared.
Sofia had grown up believing she was simply poor and alone.
She had never known her mother had been protected by one of the most powerful families in the city.
But then came the final line.
The ledger is not money.
It is proof.
Sofia looked at Matteo.
“Proof of what?”
He read the letter.
“Everyone your father trusted.”
Matteo’s face hardened.
“The ledger contains names?”
“Yes.”
“Payments?”
“Yes.”
“Orders?”
“Yes.”
She nodded.
“And my mother was keeping it.”
“Maybe.”
The key had a number engraved on it.
914.
Matteo recognized it.
“Old bank vault.”
“Where?”
“Downtown.”
They went there that night.
The vault contained a small metal box.
Inside was the ledger.
Not a huge book.
A thin black notebook.
Matteo opened it.
The first pages showed payments to judges, police officials, businessmen, and politicians.
Then he saw a familiar name.
Carlo Moretti.
His uncle.
Matteo stared.
“That can’t be.”
Sofia pointed.
“It is.”
He turned the page.
Another name.
Victor Moretti.
His late father’s chief financial adviser.
Then another.
The most shocking name of all.
Richard Moretti.
His father.
Matteo’s face went pale.
Sofia touched his hand.
“You okay?”
He stared at the page.
“My father wasn’t clean.”
She didn’t respond.
He kept reading.
His father hadn’t been simply running a criminal organization.
He had been secretly paying corrupt officials to protect the Moretti family.
But there was a second layer.
Someone had been stealing from those accounts.
The stolen money had gone somewhere else.
To a private company.
A company owned by Carlo.
Matteo looked at Sofia.
“My uncle betrayed him.”
“Yes.”
“And my father covered it up.”
“Yes.”
He closed the ledger.
Then a voice came from behind them.
“You finally found it.”
They turned.
Carlo stood in the doorway.
He had a gun.
Matteo moved in front of Sofia.
“You followed us.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Carlo smiled.
“Because your father was weak.”
Matteo stared.
“You stole from him.”
“I built the system that made him rich.”
“You betrayed him.”
“He was going to expose me.”
Sofia stepped forward.
“Did you kill my mother?”
Carlo looked at her.
“No.”
“Then who?”
He hesitated.
“That is the question your mother spent her life answering.”
Matteo tightened his grip on the ledger.
Carlo smiled.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
“Then Sofia dies.”
Matteo’s expression became terrifyingly calm.
“You’ll have to get through me.”
Carlo laughed.
“I was counting on that.”
