The Mafia Boss Locked the Door After Midnight — Then His Secretary Whispered Why She Was Leaving
Chapter 6
Isabella touched the necklace.
A small silver pendant.
She had never taken it off.
Marco had given it to her on their last Christmas together.
She remembered his words.
“Keep this close.”
She had assumed it was romantic.
Now she wondered.
Vincent looked at it.
“Take it off.”
Isabella hesitated.
She removed the chain.
Gabriel stepped forward.
“Don’t.”
Vincent looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because if it’s what I think it is, opening it could trigger something.”
Isabella frowned.
“A necklace can trigger something?”
Gabriel shook his head.
“Not the necklace.”
“The mechanism inside it.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Marco was always careful.”
Vincent examined the pendant.
There was a tiny seam she had never noticed.
He used a small tool.
The pendant opened.
Inside was a memory card.
Isabella stared.
“What is that?”
“The ledger,” Gabriel said.
Vincent looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because I helped Marco hide it.”
Silence.
Vincent lowered his weapon.
“You.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Six years ago, Marco came to me.”
“You told me he betrayed me.”
“I lied.”
“Why?”
“Because he asked me to.”
Vincent stared.
“Why would you protect him?”
“Because your father ordered his men to kill Marco.”
Vincent’s expression changed.
“My father?”
Gabriel nodded.
“He discovered the Raven Group had been stealing from the organization.”
Evelyn added:
“Your father planned to expose them.”
“And they killed him.”
“Yes.”
Vincent looked at the notebook.
“All these years…”
“You thought Marco was the traitor,” Gabriel said.
“Because that’s what they wanted you to believe.”
Isabella felt tears forming.
“Why did Marco leave me?”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Because he knew they were watching you.”
“He could have told me.”
“If he had, you would have been killed.”
Isabella looked down.
“What about now?”
Gabriel’s expression became serious.
“They know about the baby.”
“Who?”
“The Raven Group.”
Vincent closed the pendant.
“Then we move.”
They returned to the safe house.
But before they could reach it, the convoy was attacked.
Two vehicles blocked the road.
Vincent shouted:
“Get down!”
Glass shattered.
Isabella dropped to the floor.
Gabriel pulled her behind the seat.
Vincent returned fire.
The attack lasted less than a minute.
Then silence.
One attacker had been captured.
Vincent pulled him from the vehicle.
“Who sent you?”
The man said nothing.
Vincent looked at Gabriel.
Gabriel searched the man’s pocket.
He found a photograph.
Isabella.
Taken that morning.
On the back:
Bring her alive.
Vincent’s face hardened.
Then another message appeared on his phone.
A video.
He opened it.
Marco appeared on screen.
His face was bruised.
His hands were tied.
“Vincent,” he said.
“Listen.”
“If you’re watching this, they’ve taken me.”
Isabella covered her mouth.
Marco looked directly into the camera.
“Do not bring the ledger.”
Vincent stared.
Marco continued:
“They don’t want the ledger.”
He paused.
“They want Isabella.”
The video ended.
Vincent looked at Isabella.
She was trembling.
“Why me?”
Gabriel answered.
“Because you’re the only person Marco trusted with the truth.”
Isabella shook her head.
“I don’t know anything.”
Vincent stepped closer.
“Maybe you don’t.”
“Then why do they think I do?”
Vincent looked at the pendant.
“Because Marco left something else inside.”
He opened it again.
A tiny strip of paper fell out.
One sentence.
She remembers the night she forgot.
Isabella stared at the words.
Then suddenly remembered.
A hospital.
Six years earlier.
The night Marco disappeared.
She had been there.
And there was something she had forgotten.
