Chapter 20 - The City Turns Against the Ducas
The ledger leaked forty-eight hours later.
Not from Clara’s servers.
From Kessler.
But he released only selected pages.
Every page implicated Antonio Duca.
Every reference to Arthur Kessler had been removed.
By sunrise, Roman’s name dominated every television network in the country.
DUCA DYNASTY BUILT ON BLOOD MONEY.
FEDERAL QUESTIONS MOUNT.
CRIME EMPIRE HID BEHIND LEGITIMATE CORPORATIONS.
Protesters gathered outside Duca hotels.
Banks froze accounts.
Business partners fled.
Roman watched his empire burn from a hospital bed while Adrian stitched the bullet graze along his ribs.
“You move again,” Adrian warned, “and I’m stapling you to the mattress.”
Roman looked offended.
“I have survived gunshots.”
“Yes, and apparently learned nothing.”
Clara smiled from the chair.
Roman noticed.
“This is entertaining you?”
“A little.”
Marcus entered with terrible news.
“Three directors resigned.”
Roman’s humor vanished.
“The shipping union?”
“Threatening a walkout.”
“Payroll?”
“Covered for six weeks.”
Clara stood.
“Then we tell the truth.”
Roman looked at her.
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because the complete ledger destroys people who had nothing to do with what their grandparents did.”
Clara understood.
Some companies could collapse.
Families could lose jobs.
Entire institutions could burn.
Adrian finished the bandage.
“So Kessler weaponized partial truth.”
Roman nodded.
“Best kind of lie.”
Prosecutor Rhodes arrived.
She carried a subpoena.
Marcus groaned.
Rhodes ignored him.
“Roman Duca, your companies are under federal review.”
Roman took the papers.
“Charming.”
“But I also have this.”
She placed another file down.
“We recovered security footage from a marina twelve miles south.”
Kessler.
Alive.
Boarding a private boat after escaping the lake.
Clara cursed.
Rhodes continued.
“He crossed into Canada using diplomatic credentials issued to a foundation adviser.”
Roman looked up.
“Whose foundation?”
“Kessler Medical.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
Rhodes sat.
“He’s not running. He’s reorganizing.”
Roman turned toward Clara.
“Cancel the wedding.”
The room went silent.
Clara stared at him.
“What?”
“Until this is over.”
Her hurt appeared instantly.
Roman saw it.
“This is not about us.”
“It sounds exactly like it’s about us.”
“Kessler will target the ceremony.”
“Then we change security.”
“No.”
Clara stepped closer.
“You proposed because you said your life had stopped being about survival.”
“It did.”
“Then stop living like survival is the only goal.”
Roman’s face tightened.
“He shot at you.”
“And you jumped in front of it.”
“I will always jump.”
“That is the problem!”
Everyone quietly found reasons to look elsewhere.
Clara’s voice broke.
“I don’t want a husband whose only idea of love is dying for me.”
Roman stared at her.
“I want one who lives with me.”
The words destroyed his argument.
Clara took his hand.
“I am not asking for a cathedral next week. I’m asking you not to let Daniel Kessler decide what parts of our future we are allowed to keep.”
Roman looked down at her ring.
Then at her.
“The wedding remains.”
Marcus muttered, “I knew it.”
Rhodes almost smiled.
Then Adrian’s phone buzzed.
He read the message.
His face drained.
“What?” Roman demanded.
Adrian turned the phone around.
A photograph showed Leo leaving a Swiss hospital.
A red target had been drawn over his chest.
Beneath it:
ONE BROTHER FOUND.
ONE BROTHER FAR AWAY.
HOW MANY CAN ROMAN SAVE?
Clara’s blood turned cold.
May you like
Kessler had just expanded the war.
And this time, her brother was thousands of miles away.
