He pushes the tablet closer. “It’s not just names and basic blackmail material, boss. It’s worse. Detailed account numbers, offshore holdings, trafficking routes that involve politicians at the highest levels. Murder-for-hire contracts with photographs and documentation. Evidence of corruption so deep it could overturn governments.”
I scroll through the files, my stomach sinking with every page. Wire transfers to senators. Photos of prominent businessmen with underage girls. Documented proof of assassinations carried out on foreign soil. Chemical weapons deals. Human trafficking networks that span across three continents. This isn’t just blackmail material. This is a ticking nuclear bomb, and it’s only part of the full ledger.
“There’s more,” Marco says quietly. “We found references to the Moretti family. Your father specifically.”
My hands are still on the tablet. “What kind of references?”
“Orders. Contracts. Documentation of…” He trails off, clearly uncomfortable. “Maybe you should read it yourself.”
I pull up the files he’s indicated and immediately wish I hadn’t.
My father ordered hits on innocent people. Not rivals or threats, but witnesses. People who saw things they shouldn’t have seen. Including two children who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
There’s documentation of human trafficking operations he sanctioned. Girls as young as fourteen being moved through ports he controlled. Payment receipts. Photographs that make my stomach turn.
And buried in the details are atrocities I’ve spent my entire life trying to ignore. Things I knew happened but never let myself examine too closely because acknowledging them would mean confronting what my family really was. What I’m built from.
“Boss?”
I close the tablet and set it down carefully, because if I don’t I’m going to throw it through the window.
“This stays between us. Nobody else sees these files until I say otherwise.”
“Viktor’s been asking for updates on the ledger search?—”
“I don’t care what Viktor’s asking for. These files stay locked down.”
Marco nods and leaves.
I sit there for a long time staring at nothing, trying to process what I just read.
Finding the full ledger means confronting truths I’ve avoided my entire life. It means choosing between family loyalty and what’s right.
Between the legacy I inherited and the man I’m trying to become. And I don’t know which choice I can live with.
Later that afternoon, I’m heading to my office when I spot Viktor waiting near the door.
“We need to talk about the ledger,” he says as I approach.
“Not now.”
“Please…just five minutes.” He falls into step beside me as I enter the office. “The families are circling. We’re running out of time. If we don’t find it first?—”
I move behind my desk and pour myself a drink. “I said not now, Viktor.”
He doesn’t leave. Instead, he closes the door and approaches my desk, his expression serious but respectful.
“What’s going on? Marco said your investigators found something. What was it?”
“Nothing you need to worry about.”
“Everything about this situation is something I need to worry about. I’m your second-in-command.” He leans forward slightly, his voice dropping. “Dante, I’ve been with you for fifteen years. I’ve never questioned your judgment. But right now, I need to understand what we’re dealing with. The men are asking questions. The families are making moves. I can’t protect our position if I don’t know what you know.”
I consider him for a long moment. Viktor has been loyal, competent, and ruthless when necessary. He’s saved my life more than once. But right now, I don’t trust anyone with what I know.
“The ledger contains exactly what we thought it would. Blackmail material on everyone in the five families and beyond. Politicians, judges, law enforcement. Anyone with power that Antonio wanted to control.”
“Then we need to find it. Control it. Use it to cement your position and eliminate threats.” He straightens, his tone becoming more insistent. “Think about what this means. Youcontrol that ledger, you control the entire power structure of this city. Nobody would dare move against you. Not the Volkovs, not the politicians, not anyone.”
