Chapter 5 - MICHAEL’S CONFESSIONElena hated Michael before he spoke.
That helped.
Otherwise his condition might have created pity.
His nose was broken.
One eye swollen.
He carried a flash drive taped beneath his belt.
“I didn't know,” he said.
Elena laughed.
“You stole my savings.”
“Yes.”
“You left me with twelve thousand dollars in debt.”
“I know.”
“You worked for the people trying to kill me.”
“I didn't know that part.”
“Convenient.”
Dante stood near the wall.
No interruption.
Elena appreciated it.
Michael explained.
After leaving Elena, he joined a Vance-connected accounting firm.
Good salary.
No questions.
He moved money between subsidiaries.
Then recognized vendor names from Elena’s old boutique.
He remembered her notebooks.
Told his supervisor.
Wrong choice.
“Who?”
“Victor Shaw.”
Dante’s expression changed.
Elena noticed.
“Who is Victor?”
“Vance finance director.”
Michael continued.
Victor ordered him to find Elena.
Not kill.
Locate.
Then Isabella entered the plan.
“She wanted the notebook.”
“And the chandelier?”
Michael looked sick.
“I heard them discussing ‘restaurant cleanup.’”
Elena’s hands shook.
“You knew.”
“I knew something.”
“And did nothing.”
“I came now.”
“After I almost died.”
“Yes.”
Honest, at least.
Dante asked:
“What’s on the drive?”
“Transfers.”
“To where?”
Michael looked at him.
“Moretti companies.”
Silence.
Dante’s face changed.
Michael continued.
“Someone inside your organization has been receiving Vance money for years.”
The flash drive contained shell companies.
Security invoices.
Port fees.
One Moretti executive appeared repeatedly.
Luca Moretti.
Dante’s cousin.
Chief operations officer.
Family.
Dante stared.
Elena watched trust break.
Different from hers.
More dangerous.
Luca had access to Sofia’s route schedule the night she died.
Dante whispered:
“No.”
Michael said:
“I'm sorry.”
Dante looked like a man discovering the foundation beneath his house was hollow.
Then gunshots exploded outside.
Security shouted.
Michael flinched.
Dante pulled Elena down.
Windows shattered.
Matteo screamed from the hallway.
Elena ran toward him.
Dante caught her arm.
“No.”
She ripped free.
“My choice.”
He let go.
That mattered.
She reached Matteo.
Pulled him behind a stone column.
Security neutralized the attack within minutes.
One shooter survived.
Under questioning, he carried Vance orders.
But the phone contained another message.
IF ROSSI TALKS, LUCA IS FINISHED.
Dante read it.
Then looked at Elena.
“I have to confront him.”
She nodded.
“Not alone.”
“You stay here.”
She stared.
He almost smiled bitterly.
“Worth trying.”
“No.”
“Fine.”
They went together.
May you like
Because whatever Luca had done—
Elena had already learned that secrets grew strongest when families insisted outsiders should not hear them.
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