Chapter 4 - The Rossi Family Lie
“My father knew yours.”
Gabriel said it quietly.
Lena stared at the photograph.
Antonio Rossi stood beside Michael Parker outside the Bellamy.
The date printed on the corner was six years old.
Three days before Michael died.
“You told me you didn’t know anything about my father.”
“I didn’t.”
“Gabriel—”
“I swear.”
Richard watched them.
Lena turned on him.
“Then explain it.”
Richard sat heavily.
“Michael discovered money moving through the Bellamy. He thought I was involved because my signature appeared on payments.”
“Were you?”
“No. My authorization was being copied.”
“By whom?”
“I never proved it.”
Gabriel’s patience snapped.
“Then why is Antonio Rossi in the photograph?”
Richard looked at him.
“Because Michael went to your father for help.”
Gabriel frowned.
“My father didn’t own the Bellamy.”
“No. But Rossi Holdings was one of the creditors.”
Gabriel remembered.
During that period, his father had controlled hundreds of investments.
“What happened?”
“Michael believed someone was stealing from the hotel and laundering additional money through fake suppliers. He came to me first. I told him to stop.”
Lena’s eyes hardened.
“You threatened him.”
“I tried to save him.”
“By frightening him?”
“Yes.”
Richard’s voice cracked.
“I had a wife. Two children. Michael had you. I told him whoever was doing it had connections we didn’t understand.”
“Then he went to Antonio,” Gabriel said.
Richard nodded.
“Your father promised to investigate.”
“And three days later Michael died.”
Silence.
Gabriel looked at the photograph again.
He knew his father had secrets.
Antonio Rossi had built an empire during a time when business sometimes depended less on contracts than leverage.
But murder?
“No,” Gabriel said.
Lena looked at him.
“You don’t know that.”
“My father wasn’t—”
“You were about to say he wasn’t capable.”
Gabriel stopped.
Because he couldn’t honestly say it.
Lena saw the answer.
She stepped away.
“I need air.”
“Lena.”
“Don’t.”
He let her go.
For the first time since meeting her, Gabriel didn’t follow.
That evening, Lena sat alone on the rooftop terrace.
The Adlers had left hours earlier.
The same table where they had celebrated sixty-five years now stood empty beneath the city lights.
She heard footsteps.
“Go away.”
Gabriel stopped.
“How did you know it was me?”
“Everyone else listens when I tell them no.”
He almost smiled.
Not tonight.
He sat several feet away.
“My father died two years ago.”
“I know.”
“He wasn’t an easy man.”
Lena remained silent.
“He loved his family. But he believed protecting us justified almost anything.”
She looked at him.
“Anything?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s the problem.”
“Yes.”
His willingness to admit it surprised her.
Gabriel handed her a phone.
“What?”
“An audio file from the flash drive.”
“You listened?”
“Only the first thirty seconds.”
“Why?”
“Because your father says my father’s name.”
Lena pressed play.
Static.
Then Michael Parker’s voice.
Older than she remembered.
Tired.
“If you’re hearing this, I ran out of time.”
Lena covered her mouth.
Gabriel looked away, giving her what privacy he could.
Michael continued.
“Antonio Rossi believes he knows who is responsible. He asked me to wait forty-eight hours. I don’t know if I can trust him, but I know this much: the theft goes higher than Richard.”
Lena glanced at Gabriel.
The recording continued.
“There’s a ledger. Whoever has it can prove everything.”
Static swallowed several words.
Then:
“Antonio says his brother—”
The recording cut.
Gabriel grabbed the phone.
“What?”
“Play it again.”
They did.
Same result.
Antonio says his brother.
Lena frowned.
“Your father had a brother?”
Gabriel’s face had gone still.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“Victor Rossi.”
“Where is he?”
Gabriel stood.
“We need to leave.”
“Why?”
“Now.”
She had never heard that tone from him.
Not arrogance.
Fear.
They entered the elevator.
Gabriel called Ben.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
The elevator reached the lobby.
Chaos waited below.
Police.
Hotel security.
Employees gathered near the concierge desk.
Lena ran forward.
“What happened?”
Tessa rushed toward her.
“Richard.”
Lena stopped.
“What about him?”
“They found him in the parking garage.”
Gabriel’s expression hardened.
“Alive?”
“Yes. Someone hit him.”
Lena exhaled.
Tessa handed her something.
“He kept saying to give you this.”
It was another envelope.
Blood stained one corner.
Inside was a note.
Three words.
THE LEDGER EXISTS.
Below them:
Ask Gabriel why his uncle wants the Bellamy.
Lena slowly looked up.
Gabriel was already on the phone.
“Find Victor.”
Ben’s voice finally came through.
Gabriel listened.
His face changed.
“When?”
Another pause.
Then he lowered the phone.
Lena stepped closer.
“What?”
“My uncle arrived in New York this morning.”
“Why?”
Gabriel looked around the Bellamy lobby.
“He says he came to buy the hotel.”
Lena’s blood went cold.
“But you’re buying it.”
Gabriel’s eyes met hers.
“Not anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“Victor just submitted an offer.”
“How much?”
Gabriel gave a humorless smile.
“Enough to make sure I can’t compete without knowing why.”
Then his phone buzzed.
A message.
Unknown number.
Gabriel opened it.
A photograph appeared.
Lena sleeping in her apartment.
Taken through her bedroom window.
Underneath was one sentence:
May you like
Walk away from the Bellamy, Gabriel, or the Parker girl finishes what her father started.
---
