Chapter 10 - The Final Ledger
The heavy iron gates of the Gold Coast estate stood open just enough for Frank Moretti to step inside the courtyard, holding a thick, cream-colored envelope sealed with dark red wax.
Dominic and Norah walked out onto the grand limestone portico as Moretti hurried up the steps, his face etched with caution.
“Who sent it?” Dominic asked, his voice dropping into its dangerous, gravelly register.
“There’s no return address, Boss,” Moretti said, handing the envelope directly to Norah. “The courier dropped it off and vanished into the subway station before our perimeter guards could intercept him. But look at the wax seal—it’s not from the Whitmores, and it’s not from Salvatore.”
Norah stared down at the envelope. Pressed into the dark red wax was an intricate, unfamiliar crest: a coiled serpent framing a scales of justice with one side broken.
Her breath hitched. She had seen that symbol once before—in one of her father’s old audit notebooks from before the 2008 crash, buried deep inside a file concerning federal regulatory agencies and high-level municipal corruption.
“It’s not the mob,” Norah whispered, her fingers tracing the cold wax. “It’s federal oversight. Someone high up in the Department of Justice knows we handed the Whitmore files to the district attorney... and they want a piece of the operation.”
Dominic stepped closer, his broad shoulders shielding her from the chilly autumn wind as he looked down at the envelope in her hands. The protective fury in his gray eyes flared brighter than ever, but beside it was a profound, unshakable resolve. Whatever federal or underworld forces were waiting in the shadows outside their gates, they were no longer dealing with a tired waitress with eighty-seven dollars in her bank account.
They were dealing with the most dangerous woman in Chicago, standing shoulder to shoulder with the man who owned the city.
“Open it,” Dominic said quietly, his hand resting firmly and reassuringly on the small of her back.
Norah broke the red wax seal, slid the heavy paper out of the envelope, and began to read. A slow, brilliant smile spread across her face—not a smile of fear, but the triumphant grin of a strategist who had already calculated every possible move on the board.
May you like
She looked up at Dominic, her eyes shining with absolute confidence.
“Let them come,” Norah said. “We’re ready.”
