NOW TELL MY MOTHER THE TRUTH

My heart stopped beating.

I looked down at the open locket.

The small indent where the micro-SD card had rested was completely bare.

“No,” I whispered, panic rising in my throat. “I put it in there. I just put it in there.”

Marcus saw the look on our faces and began to laugh.

A slow, grating laugh that echoed off the rusted steel beams of the warehouse.

“Looking for this?”

Marcus reached into the pocket of his dark trench coat.

He pulled out a tiny, black micro-SD card, holding it up between his thumb and forefinger.

Adrian stepped in front of me, shielding me.

“How did you get that?” Adrian demanded, his voice dangerously low.

Marcus smirked. “You Romanos are so arrogant. You think you’re the only ones who can plant a mole? Julian wasn't my only asset inside your house.”

My mind raced frantically.

Who else was in the house?

Who else had been in the study when I opened the safe?

Only Adrian. And...

“Sofia,” I breathed, the betrayal hitting me like a physical blow.

Sofia had been the one to help me put my coat on before we left. She had stood right behind me, adjusting the collar. It would have taken her only a second to pop the clasp, slip the card out, and slide it to one of Marcus’s men outside.

“The little maid,” Marcus chuckled. “She played you all perfectly. She hated Julian, yes, but she hated Vincenzo just as much. She blamed your family for her brother’s death.”

I felt sick to my stomach.

We had brought her to the table. We had offered her family. And she had handed us over to the wolves.

“It’s over, Adrian,” Marcus said, signaling his men. “The ledger is mine. The ports are mine. And tonight, the Romano bloodline ends.”

The armed men stepped forward, raising their weapons.

Adrian grabbed my hand, squeezing it tight. He was preparing to fight to the death to give me a chance to run.

But before a single shot could be fired, the heavy metal doors of the warehouse shrieked open.

A blinding spotlight cut through the darkness, illuminating the center of the room.

“Put the weapons down!” a voice roared through a megaphone. “FBI! Nobody move!”

Marcus froze, his eyes darting toward the entrance.

Dozens of federal agents in tactical gear swarmed the warehouse, their laser sights painting Marcus and his men in red dots.

“What is this?!” Marcus screamed, dropping his silver cane.

Out of the shadows, walking calmly behind the wall of federal agents, was a woman.

She was wearing a simple, dignified dress.

Sofia.

She walked directly toward Marcus, ignoring the guns pointed in every direction.

“I told you I’d deliver the evidence of Vincenzo’s crimes, Marcus,” Sofia said, her voice ringing clear and strong.

Marcus glared at her, holding up the micro-SD card. “You double-crossing rat! I have the ledger right here! I’ll destroy it!”

He threw the memory card onto the concrete floor and stomped his heavy boot down on it, crushing the plastic into pieces.

Sofia didn't even flinch.

She smiled.

“That wasn't the ledger, Marcus,” she said quietly.

She reached into her pocket.

She pulled out a second micro-SD card. The real one.

“That was a blank card I swapped to keep you busy,” Sofia said. “This is the real ledger. The one that proves you’ve been laundering money through the ports for ten years.”

She handed the memory card directly to the lead FBI agent.