The Mafia Boss Caught His Secretary Packing—Then Found the Threat Hidden Under Her Desk
Chapter 4
The name was Michael Romano.
A junior financial controller.
Elena had noticed his name on several suspicious transactions.
He had access to records but no authority to approve payments.
Yet he kept appearing in the paperwork.
Marco recognized him.
“Bring him in.”
Security found Michael at his apartment.
He arrived thirty minutes later.
He looked terrified.
Marco placed the financial report in front of him.
“Tell me about Bellmont Holdings.”
Michael swallowed.
“I don’t know much.”
“You’ve processed seventeen payments.”
“I was following instructions.”
“Whose?”
Michael looked at Giovanni.
Giovanni wasn’t there.
“Mr. Ferrara.”
Marco’s expression hardened.
“What did he tell you?”
“That the transfers were authorized.”
“By whom?”
Michael shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Marco leaned forward.
“Then start knowing.”
Michael finally admitted that Giovanni had asked him to create several accounts under different subsidiary names.
The purpose was to hide money from internal audits.
Marco asked:
“Where did the money go?”
Michael hesitated.
“Some of it came back.”
“Some?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Michael whispered:
“Offshore.”
Marco’s jaw tightened.
This wasn’t simple embezzlement.
It was organized.
Someone inside the company was building a financial network without Marco’s knowledge.
Then Michael added:
“There was another person.”
“Who?”
“I never met him.”
“What did he do?”
“He gave Giovanni instructions.”
“Name?”
Michael shook his head.
“No name.”
“Description?”
“A man in his fifties.”
“Anything else?”
“He had a scar.”
Marco looked at Elena.
She remembered the dark sedan.
“I saw a man like that.”
Everyone turned.
“Where?”
“Outside my apartment.”
Marco’s expression changed.
“Why didn’t you mention that?”
“I didn’t know.”
He took her hand.
“Describe him.”
Elena did.
Tall.
Gray hair.
Scar near his right cheek.
Dark coat.
He carried an expensive watch with a distinctive black face.
Marco recognized the description.
A former Moretti lieutenant named Carlo Vitale.
Carlo had disappeared eight years earlier.
Marco had assumed he left the country.
Apparently not.
“He’s back,” Marco said quietly.
Giovanni wasn’t working alone.
Carlo was involved.
Marco moved Elena to a secure residence.
She protested.
“I can stay with my sister.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because your sister isn’t protected.”
“You can’t keep me here forever.”
“I don’t intend to.”
“Then what do you intend?”
“To find the person behind this.”
That night, Elena sat in a guest bedroom at Marco’s estate.
A place she’d never imagined seeing.
She couldn’t sleep.
A knock came at the door.
Marco stood outside.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
He looked at her.
“That’s a lie.”
She smiled faintly.
“So is yours.”
“What?”
“You said you’re not worried.”
“I never said that.”
“No.”
He paused.
“Get some sleep.”
She reached for his arm.
“Marco.”
He stopped.
“Thank you.”
He nodded.
Then she asked:
“Why do I feel like you’re afraid to be alone too?”
Marco stared at her.
For a moment, his guard disappeared.
“Because I am.”
He walked away.
Elena watched him disappear down the hall.
She realized something.
The most dangerous man in the city was afraid of losing her.
She didn’t know what to do with that knowledge.
Then her phone buzzed.
One message.
Ask Marco what happened to Carlo eight years ago.
Elena stared at the screen.
She had just been given a warning.
Or an invitation.
