The Mafia Boss Walked In as His Supervisor Whipped the Shy Employee—Then the Entire Office Froze!
Chapter 6
Matteo read the list without speaking.
Then he folded it.
“Where did you get this?”
“Nina.”
“Bring her to me.”
“She may be afraid.”
“She should be.”
Clara looked at him.
“That isn’t comforting.”
Matteo almost smiled.
“I meant she should be afraid of the people who made that list.”
Nina eventually agreed to speak.
She entered the office after dark.
She looked exhausted.
“I didn’t know who else to tell.”
Matteo gestured toward the chair.
“Sit.”
Nina did.
“I’ve worked here for six years.”
She explained that employees who questioned inventory discrepancies were transferred.
Some resigned.
Others were fired.
The paperwork always looked legitimate.
But the same names appeared repeatedly.
Dawson.
The accounting manager.
A purchasing director.
And someone higher.
“Who?”
Nina shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Matteo placed a photograph on the table.
A man in a gray suit.
Nina’s face changed.
“Him.”
“Who?”
“Mr. Adrian Cole.”
Matteo’s expression hardened.
Adrian Cole was one of the company’s senior executives.
He was respected.
Charitable.
Well connected.
And, according to the public records, completely legitimate.
Clara looked at Matteo.
“You know him?”
“Yes.”
“Is he involved?”
“I don’t know.”
That answer surprised her.
“You don’t?”
“Suspicion isn’t proof.”
Nina nodded.
“That was my father’s rule too,” Clara said.
Matteo looked at her.
“Your father was right.”
They continued investigating.
For weeks, they followed the numbers.
The stolen shipments weren’t random.
They formed a pattern.
Certain routes.
Certain dates.
Certain warehouses.
And every trail led toward one place.
The old river terminal.
It had been closed for years.
Yet company records showed trucks still visiting it at night.
Matteo decided to inspect it.
Clara insisted on coming.
“No.”
“I know the records.”
“No.”
“I can identify the documents.”
“No.”
She stared at him.
“You don’t get to decide everything for me.”
Matteo went silent.
Clara realized she had crossed a line.
But instead of becoming angry, Matteo nodded.
“You’re right.”
She blinked.
“What?”
“You’re right.”
He picked up his coat.
“Stay close to me.”
That night, they entered the abandoned terminal.
The building smelled of rust and river water.
Their footsteps echoed.
Clara found a stack of shipping manifests hidden beneath loose boards.
She opened the first.
Her father’s handwriting appeared again.
She looked at Matteo.
“He was here.”
A noise came from the darkness.
They froze.
Someone was inside.
Then the lights went out.
