Chapter 7 - The Warehouse on the River
The town car drove through the city in silence. I watched the Chicago skyline blur against the gray sky, my mind running through the desperate gamble I had just made.
Gabriel was dying in a hospital bed.
His son was locked in a safe room.
And I was heading into the heart of Castellano territory with nothing but bluff and a thirty-four-year education in mafia politics.
We pulled up to an abandoned shipping warehouse by the river. The men escorted me out, their hands rough on my arms.
Inside, the warehouse was vast and cold, smelling of rust and damp concrete. At the center, sitting at a folding table beneath a harsh halogen light, was Elena Castellano.
She looked exactly like her crayon portrait. Golden blonde hair, sharp cheekbones, and the heavy emerald necklace resting against her collarbone.
She smiled as I was led forward.
“Margaret,” she said, her voice echoing in the empty space. “I must admit, I didn’t think you had the stomach for this.”
“Where is the drive?” she asked, extending a perfectly manicured hand.
“Safe,” I said, standing tall. “With Thomas. If I don’t return, the FBI gets it.”
Elena’s smile faded. She stood up, walking slowly around the table.
“You’re playing a dangerous game for a woman who was planning her own funeral,” she mocked. “Did Gabriel tell you he picked out the casket? He chose mahogany. Very tasteful.”
I felt a sharp sting behind my eyes, but I refused to let her see it.
“Gabriel is a liar,” I said coldly. “We both know that. He lied to me, and he lied to you.”
Elena stopped pacing. “He stole my son.”
“You left your son,” I corrected. “Seven years ago. You vanished because your brother found out you slept with a Romano. You ran to save your own life, and Gabriel hid Leo to save his.”
Elena’s eyes flashed with real anger. “I am back now. My brother is weak. With that ledger, I can take the Castellano family and raise Leo as the king of Chicago.”
“Leo doesn’t need a throne,” I said. “He needs a mother.”
“And you think that’s you?” Elena laughed, a cruel, ringing sound. “The barren wife? The woman Gabriel pitied so much he couldn’t even divorce her properly?”
The words hit exactly where she intended. The old, deep wound of my infertility throbbed.
But then I remembered Leo grabbing my cardigan. Trust the lady with the pearl earrings.
Gabriel hadn't pitied me. In his own twisted, broken way, he had trusted me above anyone else.
“I’m the woman who is offering you the city,” I said, keeping my voice utterly devoid of emotion. “I have Gabriel’s proxy. I will transfer the legitimate Romano businesses to you. I will give you the ledger to destroy your brother. You get it all, Elena. The money, the territory, the crown.”
I stepped closer to her.
“But Leo stays with me. You sign away all parental rights.”
Elena stared at me, searching my face for a trick.
“Why?” she asked, genuinely confused. “Why would you give up an empire for the bastard son of your cheating husband?”
Answer one. Open two.
“Because an empire didn’t hold my hand when my mother died,” I said softly. “An empire doesn’t draw pictures of its family. You want power, Elena. I just want something left of the man I loved.”
Elena looked at me for a long time. Then, she walked back to the table and picked up a pen.
“Call your man,” she said. “Tell him to bring the drive. When I have it, I’ll sign the papers.”
I pulled out my phone and dialed Thomas.
“Bring the watch to the warehouse,” I said.
“Maggie, no,” Thomas argued. “We can’t trust her.”
“Bring it, Thomas. And bring the lawyer, Diane. She needs to witness the signatures.”
I hung up.
We waited in tense silence for twenty minutes. Finally, the heavy warehouse doors rolled open. Thomas walked in, holding his gun in one hand and the pocket watch in the other. Diane walked beside him, looking pale and nervous.
Thomas tossed the watch onto the table.
Elena eagerly snatched it up. She popped the back open and pulled out the SD card. She plugged it into a laptop sitting on the table.
She clicked through the files, her eyes lighting up with triumph as she saw the bank records, the bribes, the port authorities.
“It’s all here,” she whispered.
She picked up the pen and quickly signed the legal document Diane had prepared—terminating her rights to Leo.
She slid the paper across the table to me.
I picked it up, folding it carefully into my purse.
“It’s a pleasure doing business with you, Margaret,” Elena sneered. “You can go play house now.”
I turned to leave.
“Oh, one more thing,” I said, looking back at her.
Elena paused, her hand hovering over the laptop.
“Gabriel didn’t just hide the ledger in that watch,” I said quietly. “He also put a tracking beacon inside it.”
Elena’s face dropped.
Suddenly, the screech of tires echoed outside the warehouse. Red and blue lights flashed against the high windows, illuminating the dark concrete.
“You didn’t,” Diane gasped.
“I told you, Thomas,” I said, not taking my eyes off Elena. “If I didn’t come back, send the drive to the feds.”
The warehouse doors were violently breached.
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