Chapter 7 - The Traitor Inside the Russo House
Victor burst into the crypt and ordered, “Matteo, get Elena out.”
The burner phone showed Sofia beneath a chandelier.
The clock behind her read 12:19.
The live feed was less than ten seconds old.
Elena looked at Victor’s face.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
She stared.
“You’re worse at lying than I am.”
Daniel moved closer.
Victor showed them the screen.
Elena went white.
“Sofia.”
Matteo swore.
“How did Rinaldi get inside?”
Victor already knew the answer.
Someone had let him in.
The household had been locked down.
Guards at every external entrance.
Cameras active.
Only a person with internal access could bypass all three.
M.A.
Victor thought of the surveillance file.
Mrs. Alden.
No.
But possibly someone using her credentials.
“Elena.”
She looked at him.
“Who had access to Antonio’s office besides June?”
She thought.
“Me. June. You.”
“Anyone else?”
“Maintenance.”
“Names.”
“Mr. Hart sometimes.”
Victor looked at Matteo.
Matteo’s face changed.
Michael Hart.
Estate manager.
M.H., not M.A.
But full legal name?
Matteo checked his phone.
“Michael Andrew Hart.”
M.A.
Victor’s jaw hardened.
Hart had worked for the Russos for nine years.
Hired under Antonio.
Trusted with vendors, payroll, staff access, maintenance schedules.
Everything.
“He’s Bellandi’s source,” Victor said.
Elena stared.
“He knew I worked for you.”
“Yes.”
“He took the cuff link.”
“Probably.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Then Bellandi has been inside Russo operations for years.”
Victor looked at him coldly.
“Careful.”
“I’m stating a fact.”
“And I’m deciding how much I enjoy hearing it.”
Elena stepped between them.
“This is not the time.”
Victor and Daniel looked at her.
She pointed toward the phone.
“Sofia.”
Victor nodded.
He sent a text to his security captain.
No response.
Bad.
“Matteo, call the house.”
“No signal.”
“Outside.”
They climbed out of the crypt.
Elisa never appeared.
The speaker remained silent.
Elena stopped beneath the chapel doorway.
“My sister.”
Daniel looked back.
“She’ll contact us.”
“You know that?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Daniel hesitated.
“You trained her.”
“Yes.”
“Then why does she hate you?”
“Because sometimes survival and forgiveness don’t arrive together.”
Elena stared at him.
Victor understood Daniel slightly better then.
Not enough to trust him.
Enough to see the cost.
Outside, Matteo regained signal.
Called.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Victor took the phone.
Called the kitchen line.
Mrs. Alden answered on the sixth ring.
Whispering.
“Sir?”
“June.”
“Oh thank God.”
“What’s happening?”
“Mr. Hart told everyone there was a gas leak. He ordered the lower staff outside.”
Victor closed his eyes once.
Smart.
Hart emptied the building without triggering alarms.
“Security?”
“He said you authorized a perimeter sweep.”
Victor looked at Matteo.
Matteo swore.
“Where are you?”
“Pantry.”
“Sofia?”
“In the sitting room.”
“Rinaldi?”
“Yes.”
“Armed?”
“Two men with him.”
“Anyone hurt?”
“I don’t know.”
Victor thought.
“Stay hidden.”
“Yes.”
“Do not move until Matteo finds you.”
He hung up.
Elena immediately said, “I’m coming.”
“No.”
“The message said bring me.”
“The message said bring the cuff link.”
“And come alone.”
Victor stared.
She had noticed.
Of course.
“If you don’t follow instructions, they’ll hurt Sofia.”
“They’ll hurt her anyway if useful.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know men like Dominic.”
“You are a man like Dominic.”
Silence.
Matteo looked away.
Daniel watched Victor carefully.
Victor stepped closer to Elena.
“No.”
The word was quiet.
Final.
Elena’s eyes flashed.
“You don’t command me.”
“In this situation, I do.”
“You employ me.”
“Not anymore.”
Her face changed.
“What?”
Victor heard how it sounded too late.
Elena’s expression emptied.
“Fine.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“You just fired me.”
“No.”
“You said—”
“I said you don’t work for me anymore because I’m not letting your employment be the excuse you use to make this transactional.”
She stared.
Victor exhaled.
He disliked explaining himself.
“It stopped being about employment the moment your father walked upstairs.”
Elena’s anger softened.
Only slightly.
“Then what is it about?”
Victor looked at her.
Too many answers.
None safe.
“We’ll discuss it when no one is holding your sister hostage.”
Sofia was technically her half sister.
Neither corrected him.
Victor took the cuff link from his pocket.
Daniel examined it.
“Wait.”
He rotated it beneath the chapel light.
“There’s a groove.”
Victor saw it.
Tiny.
Circular.
Daniel pressed his thumbnail against the edge.
The face popped open.
Inside sat a microfilm disk.
Elena stared.
“Elias.”
Victor carefully removed it.
Daniel laughed once in disbelief.
“He had the records.”
“In a cuff link?” Matteo asked.
“Part.”
Daniel held it to the light.
“Microfilm.”
Victor looked toward Elena.
“And yours?”
“Gone.”
“Hart took it.”
“Meaning Bellandi has the other half.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“Unless Hart never gave it to him.”
Victor looked at him.
Interesting.
A traitor could have more than one buyer.
Dominic Rinaldi had his own ambitions.
Maybe Hart worked for Rinaldi.
Maybe Bellandi was being betrayed too.
Victor’s phone rang.
This time Dominic’s name appeared.
Victor answered.
“You’re late.”
“Traffic.”
Dominic laughed.
“Always charming.”
“Where’s Sofia?”
“Safe.”
“Show me.”
The burner feed updated.
Sofia still sat beneath the chandelier.
Her hands free.
Odd.
Why leave them free?
Victor watched closely.
Sofia moved one hand beside her dress.
Three fingers extended.
Then two.
Then one.
A countdown.
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
Suddenly the feed shook.
Sofia dove sideways.
A lamp exploded.
Glass flew.
Someone screamed.
The image went black.
Victor heard gunfire through the phone.
Dominic cursed.
Victor ended the call.
“She made a move,” Elena said.
“Yes.”
“Against three armed men?”
“She’s a Bellandi.”
Elena glared.
“Not funny.”
“I wasn’t joking.”
They ran for the cars.
Victor drove himself.
Elena sat beside him because arguing would waste time.
Matteo and Daniel followed behind.
Chicago streets blurred past.
Victor called his men repeatedly.
Two finally answered.
One wounded.
One barricaded near the service wing.
Hart had disabled half the internal cameras before leaving.
Leaving.
That meant he might no longer be in the house.
Or he had wanted Victor to believe that.
Eight minutes later, the Russo gates appeared.
Open.
Wrong.
Victor drove straight through.
The front door stood ajar.
He stopped hard.
“Elena stays in the car.”
She reached for the handle.
Victor locked it.
She stared at him.
“You did not.”
“I did.”
“I hate you.”
“Later.”
He got out.
Daniel arrived behind.
Matteo circled toward the rear.
Victor entered the mansion.
Quiet.
Too quiet.
The sitting room was empty.
Chair overturned.
Blood on the rug.
Not enough to identify whose.
The live-feed phone lay shattered.
Victor heard movement upstairs.
He followed.
One hallway.
Then another.
His father’s old office door stood open.
Victor slowed.
It had been locked when he left.
Inside, someone moved.
He entered with his gun raised.
Sofia stood beside Antonio’s desk.
Alive.
Blood on her arm.
Not hers.
“Victor.”
“Where’s Dominic?”
She pointed toward the adjoining library door.
“He ran.”
“With Hart?”
Her face changed.
“What?”
Victor understood.
Sofia had not seen Hart.
Then who let Dominic inside?
He crossed to the desk.
One drawer stood open.
Antonio’s private drawer.
Inside should have been estate records.
Instead, empty.
Except for one photograph.
Victor picked it up.
Antonio Russo.
Margaret Bellandi.
Daniel Cross.
And Michael Hart.
All four standing together.
On the back, Antonio had written:
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO ME, HART KNOWS WHERE ELISA IS.
Victor’s chest tightened.
Footsteps sounded behind him.
Michael Hart stepped into the doorway.
Gun lowered.
Face pale.
“Boss.”
Victor aimed.
Hart raised both hands.
“I can explain.”
“You have five seconds.”
Hart looked at Sofia.
Then Victor.
“I didn’t let Rinaldi in.”
“Four.”
“I’ve been protecting Elisa.”
“Three.”
“Antonio ordered me to.”
Victor’s finger tightened.
“Two.”
Hart shouted, “Your father is the reason Carlo Bellandi wants Elena dead.”
Victor stopped.
Hart’s eyes moved toward the photograph.
May you like
Then he said the sentence no one in the room expected.
“Because Antonio Russo was Elena’s real father.”
