The Mafia Boss Caught His Secretary Packing—Then Found the Threat Hidden Under Her Desk
Chapter 3
Marco dismissed everyone from the executive floor.
Only Elena remained.
He stood by the window.
Giovanni’s name sat heavily in the room.
“You trust him?” Elena asked.
“I did.”
She hesitated.
“Does that mean we’re in danger?”
Marco looked at her.
“We already are.”
He called Giovanni.
“Come to the office.”
Twenty minutes later, Giovanni entered.
“What happened?”
Marco placed the photographs on the desk.
Giovanni looked at them.
His expression barely changed.
“Who’s following her?”
“I don’t know.”
Giovanni glanced at Elena.
“Why would anyone target your secretary?”
Marco watched him carefully.
“That is what I’m asking.”
Giovanni shook his head.
“I’ve done nothing.”
“You accessed her office yesterday.”
Giovanni stiffened.
“That was administrative.”
“You disabled the camera.”
“I was checking a security issue.”
Marco stepped closer.
“Without telling me?”
Giovanni remained calm.
“I can explain.”
“Then explain.”
Giovanni said that Elena’s office contained confidential financial documents.
He had been instructed to review them.
“By whom?”
Giovanni hesitated.
“My department.”
Marco smiled.
“Your department doesn’t authorize camera shutdowns.”
Giovanni looked at him.
“You think I threatened her?”
“I think someone did.”
“And you think it’s me.”
Marco didn’t answer.
Giovanni left.
Marco turned to Elena.
“What did you see in the financial files?”
She opened her laptop.
“I printed something.”
She handed him a report.
Several transactions involved a company called Bellmont Holdings.
Marco recognized the name.
“Who owns it?”
“I couldn’t find a beneficial owner.”
“Neither could I.”
He stared at the numbers.
Bellmont had received millions from three Moretti subsidiaries.
Then transferred them to another company.
That company had a connection to one of Marco’s biggest rivals.
Marco’s expression darkened.
“Someone is moving money out of my organization.”
Elena nodded.
“That’s what I thought.”
“Why would they threaten you?”
“Maybe they think I discovered it.”
Marco looked at her.
“You did.”
She swallowed.
He walked to the safe.
Inside was a pistol.
He checked it and locked the safe again.
Elena stared.
“I can leave now?”
“No.”
She looked surprised.
“You told me I could go.”
“I changed my mind.”
“Marco…”
“You’re not going home alone.”
“I can’t stay here.”
“You’re staying somewhere safe.”
She shook her head.
“You can’t control everything.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“But I can control who gets near you.”
She stared at him.
For years, she’d seen him as powerful.
Cold.
Untouchable.
Tonight, she saw something else.
Fear.
Not for himself.
For her.
“Why do you care?” she asked.
Marco didn’t answer immediately.
Then he said:
“Because you’re mine to protect.”
Elena’s heart skipped.
She knew what he meant.
She was his employee.
His responsibility.
Nothing more.
At least, that’s what she told herself.
Marco called his driver.
Before they left, Elena returned to her desk.
She opened the bottom drawer.
Something was missing.
“What?”
Marco turned.
“My notebook.”
“What notebook?”
“The one I keep my personal notes in.”
“Was anything important inside?”
Elena nodded.
“Everything.”
Marco’s expression changed.
“Then whoever entered this office wasn’t looking for money.”
He looked beneath the desk again.
“They were looking for something you wrote down.”
Elena suddenly remembered.
One line from her notebook.
A name.
A name she had assumed was unimportant.
Now she was terrified it might be the person behind everything.
