Chapter 5 - The Name In The Ledger
I stared at the leather-bound book.
The ink was faded, written in an elegant, old-fashioned script.
Right at the top of the very first page, underlined twice in red, was my full name:
Emma Rose Sullivan.
Beneath it was a string of dates and numbers.
And beside my name, written in the same red ink, was a single word:
Debt.
My stomach dropped.
“I don’t understand,” I whispered. “I didn't even know your family until I took this job a year ago.”
Luca looked at Carlo.
“What is this ledger?”
Carlo leaned heavily on his cane.
“It is not a record of money, Luciano. It is a record of favors.”
Marco coughed from the floor, his breath rattling.
“Blood debts,” the wounded man managed to say. “Antonio kept a list of every life he saved, and every life he took.”
Luca pointed to my name.
“Why is her name here? She’s twenty-eight. This book is decades old.”
Carlo looked at me with deep, sorrowful eyes.
“Because, Emma, your father was the man who drove the car the night Antonio’s wife was paralyzed.”
The room spun.
I gripped the doorframe to stay upright.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “My father died in a factory accident when I was a baby.”
“Your father was a wheelman for the Valentis,” Carlo said softly. “He was ordered to run Antonio off the road. He succeeded. But he felt such remorse that he came to Antonio the next day and confessed.”
I couldn't breathe.
“And Antonio killed him?”
“No,” Carlo said. “Antonio forgave him. But the Valentis did not. They murdered your father for betraying them.”
Tears burned my eyes.
Everything my mother had ever told me was a lie.
Luca stared at the ledger.
“If my father forgave him, why is Emma listed as a debt?”
“Because Antonio promised your father he would protect you, Emma,” Carlo explained. “He paid for your mother’s house. He paid for your education anonymously. And when you applied for a job here a year ago, Luca hired you because Antonio had left instructions in his will to employ you if you ever asked.”
Luca looked at me, stunned.
“I thought the hiring agency sent you.”
“They did,” I whispered.
“Antonio owned the agency,” Carlo said.
Vanessa stepped forward, her silk robe rustling.
“This is all very touching, but none of this explains why my brother is bleeding on the rug, or why the Valentis are coming tonight!”
Marco groaned.
“Look at the bottom of the page, Moretti.”
Luca looked back at the open ledger.
He traced his finger down the list of names.
He stopped at the very last entry.
“Lorenzo Valenti,” Luca read aloud.
Next to it was a date: October 17th.
Thirteen years ago.
The exact day Antonio died.
“What does it say next to his name?” Marco asked weakly.
Luca’s jaw clenched.
“It says: The child survives.”
Nobody moved.
Luca looked at Carlo.
“What child?”
Carlo pointed a trembling finger toward the hallway.
Toward Vanessa.
And little Leo, who was still clinging to her skirt.
“Leo is not Vanessa’s nephew,” Carlo said gently. “He is Lorenzo Valenti’s grandson.”
Vanessa let out a choked sob and covered her mouth.
Luca turned to her, his eyes blazing.
“You told me he was your sister’s boy.”
“He is!” Vanessa cried.
“My sister ran away with a Valenti,” Marco rasped from the floor. “They killed her for trying to leave. Vanessa took the boy to hide him.”
Luca stared at his fiancée.
“You brought a Valenti heir into my house? You hid him right under my roof?”
“I had nowhere else to go!” Vanessa pleaded, tears streaming down her face. “If they find him, they will kill him to secure the bloodline. I was using your protection, Luca. I’m sorry.”
Luca looked at the little boy.
Leo was watching him with wide, terrified eyes.
Suddenly, the massive grandfather clock in the main hall began to chime.
Nine o'clock.
The engagement dinner was supposed to start in one hour.
A heavy knock echoed from the front doors.
Everyone froze.
Luca looked at me.
“Emma,” he said, his voice completely hollow. “Go to the window. Tell me who is at the gate.”
I ran to the heavy drapes in the billiard room and pulled them back just an inch.
Down the long driveway, beyond the iron gates, five black SUVs were parked in a line.
Men in dark suits were stepping out.
I turned back to Luca.
“They’re here.”
Luca didn’t panic.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the old black button.
The one with the tiny silver M.
“Carlo,” Luca said. “There’s a reason you wanted me to find this today.”
Carlo nodded.
“Yes, Luciano.”
“It’s not just a key container.”
“No.”
Luca twisted the two halves of the button again.
He pulled the bottom piece completely out.
Hidden beneath it was a small, glowing red microchip.
“What is that?” Vanessa whispered.
Luca looked at the front doors.
May you like
“It’s a detonator.”
TITLE: The Fire In The Walls
