Chapter 9 - THE FOLDER THAT COULD DESTROY CHICAGO
Bellini had disappeared.
Gabriel was under investigation.
And Carlo Romano remained in prison.
But the red folder was still missing.
Dante returned to Chicago with a renewed sense of purpose.
He met Nathan in the library.
"What do we know?"
Nathan opened a file.
"Bellini contacted three potential buyers."
Dante frowned.
"Buyers?"
"People who would pay to keep their names out of the records."
Dante stared.
"Blackmail."
Nathan nodded.
Bellini wasn't trying to protect the network.
He was trying to profit from it.
Dante looked toward the window.
"Can we stop him?"
Nathan hesitated.
"Only if we find him."
That evening, Alessia received a call.
Unknown number.
She answered.
Bellini's voice emerged.
"Miss Romano."
Her blood ran cold.
"What do you want?"
He laughed softly.
"You've caused quite a mess."
Alessia gripped the phone.
"Where are you?"
"Somewhere safe."
She swallowed.
"My father—"
"Is alive. For now."
Dante stood beside her.
He could hear Bellini through the speaker.
Bellini continued.
"I want the ledger from the red room."
Alessia looked at Dante.
Bellini laughed.
"Yes, I know you found it."
Dante took the phone.
"Bellini."
Silence.
Then:
"Dante."
His former adviser sounded almost amused.
"You always were slow to understand."
Dante's jaw tightened.
"What do you want?"
"The original ledger."
"Why?"
"Because it proves your father wasn't the only man involved."
Dante stared.
"Who else?"
Bellini laughed.
"Ask your uncle."
The call ended.
Dante looked toward Nathan.
"We need Gabriel."
Nathan nodded.
Investigators questioned Gabriel again.
This time, confronted with the ledger and new testimony, he admitted that several prominent businessmen had financed the fraudulent guardianship network.
Some were still alive.
Some remained influential.
And Bellini had been collecting payments from them for years.
Then Gabriel revealed something else.
"Your mother kept copies."
Dante stared.
"Where?"
Gabriel looked away.
"She hid them in a place Vittorio would never search."
"What place?"
Gabriel swallowed.
"The chapel."
The Moretti estate had a small private chapel.
Bianca used to pray there every morning.
Dante hadn't entered it in years.
That night, he went inside with Alessia.
The chapel smelled of candle wax and old wood.
A stained-glass window cast blue light across the floor.
Dante stood before the altar.
Then he remembered something.
His mother used to tell him:
When you don't know where to look, begin where the light falls.
He looked toward the stained glass.
A beam of moonlight crossed the floor.
It illuminated a small brass plate beneath the altar.
Dante knelt.
He lifted it.
Inside was a narrow compartment.
And within it lay a sealed envelope.
Addressed to him.
In Bianca's handwriting.
He opened it.
Inside was a list of names.
Dates.
Payments.
And a note.
Dante, if you're reading this, I hope you have become the man I always believed you could be.
Do not protect our name.
Protect the children.
Dante closed his eyes.
Then he handed the evidence to Nathan.
"Take it to the authorities."
Nathan nodded.
"All of it?"
May you like
Dante looked toward Alessia.
"Every page."
