Chapter 5 - Sins of the Father
Morning broke over Lake Michigan in dull shades of slate gray and cold silver.
Evelyn sat at the massive mahogany table in the private study, wearing a dark green silk dress that had been delivered to her room at dawn by silent servants. Across the room, Lorenzo stood behind a heavy desk, looking over tactical maps and financial ledgers, a cigar burning slowly in a crystal ashtray.
Matteo entered, placing a thick manila folder directly in front of Lorenzo.
"We ran her background, Boss," Matteo said, casting a sideways glance at Evelyn. "Just like you asked."
Evelyn froze, her hands tightening in her lap. "My background? I'm an orphan who dropped out of community college to pay rent. There's nothing to investigate."
Lorenzo didn't look up as he opened the folder. His eyes scanned the documents quickly, the lines around his mouth hardening into stone. He lifted a single black-and-white photograph from the file and slid it across the polished desk toward her.
Evelyn looked down. Her breath caught in her throat.
It was a photograph of a man in his late forties, standing outside an old casino in Atlantic City. He had her eyes, her sharp jawline.
"Julian Carter," Lorenzo said, his voice flat and dangerous. "Known along the East Coast as a master card counter and high-stakes hustler. Vanished seven years ago owing twelve million dollars to the Five Families."
"My father is dead," Evelyn said, her voice shaking with sudden anger and old grief. "He abandoned me when I was a teenager. What does his gambling debt have to do with any of this?"
Lorenzo walked around the desk, stopping right beside her chair. He leaned down, placing both hands on the armrests, effectively caging her in.
"Your father didn't just owe money to the families, Evelyn," Lorenzo murmured, his dark eyes boring into hers. "He worked as a money launderer for Victor Vane—Celeste's father. And seven years ago, Julian stole a ledger containing every off-shore account, corrupt politician, and dirty judge the Vane family owned."
The room seemed to spin around her. "No... he was just a drunk. A gambler."
"He was smarter than you think," Lorenzo said coldly. "He hid that ledger somewhere in Chicago before he died. The Vanes have been searching for it for nearly a decade. And now, out of nowhere, Julian Carter's daughter appears out of the shadows, working at the very restaurant where the Vanes tried to execute me."
Evelyn pushed back against the chair, outraged. "You think I set this up? You think I knew?"
"I don't believe in coincidences," Lorenzo whispered, his face inches from hers. His hand came up, gripping the back of her neck with just enough force to assert control, his thumb pressing into the sensitive skin beneath her ear. "Did you know who I was when you served that wine?"
"No!" she gasped, looking directly into his cold eyes. "I didn't know anything about a ledger, or my father's business, or your pathetic mafia war! I saw a text message on a phone and I made a choice to save your life. If I had known who you were—what you were—I would have let them shoot you!"
Silence descended upon the study, heavy and lethal. Matteo reached for his firearm, but Lorenzo held up a single hand, stopping him.
Lorenzo didn't look angry. Instead, a low, dark amusement flared in his eyes, accompanied by something far more dangerous: raw fascination.
"You have fire in you, Evelyn," he whispered, his fingers tightening slightly in her hair before releasing her. "Good. You'll need it. Because Victor Vane knows who you are now. He believes you have your father's ledger. And he won't stop until he tears you apart to find it."
"Then what do we do?" she asked, her chest heaving.
May you like
Lorenzo straightened his posture, buttoning his jacket. "We strike first. Tonight, the Vanes are hosting an underground auction at the Drake Hotel. Celeste will be there. And you're going to walk into that room on my arm."
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