Chapter 4 - The Secret Her Father Left Behind
Bella remembered the music box.
The thought arrived so suddenly that she stood.
Blake watched her.
“What?”
“My father gave me something.”
“When?”
“A week before he died.”
Bryce moved closer.
“What?”
“A wooden music box.”
Blake’s expression sharpened.
“Where is it?”
Bella hesitated.
“My apartment.”
“We’re going.”
“No.”
Blake stared.
“What do you mean, no?”
“I mean you’re not turning my apartment into an armed invasion.”
“Someone stole your address.”
“And showing up with six black SUVs won’t exactly make me less noticeable.”
Blake looked irritated because she was right.
Bryce intervened.
“Two vehicles. Plain clothes.”
Blake looked at him.
Bryce shrugged.
“She’s right.”
Bella gave him a grateful smile.
Blake noticed.
Naturally.
“This is not the moment to encourage her.”
“Encourage me?”
“You already argue enough.”
Bella almost laughed.
For one brief moment, the fear loosened.
Then she remembered why they were going.
Forty minutes later, Bella entered her apartment with Blake behind her.
Two security men remained downstairs.
Bryce checked the rooms.
“Clear.”
Bella walked toward her bedroom closet.
On the highest shelf sat a cardboard box she had not opened in years.
She carried it to the living room.
Inside were photographs.
Birthday cards.
Her father’s watch.
Several old notebooks.
And beneath everything else, wrapped in a faded blue cloth, was the music box.
Bella lifted it carefully.
Her father had made it himself.
At least, that was what she had always believed.
A small brass keyhole sat beneath it.
Bella looked at Blake.
He removed the key.
It fit.
The bottom panel clicked open.
Inside was a flash drive.
Nobody spoke.
Bella stared at it.
“All these years.”
Blake crouched beside her.
“Your father knew the safest place was somewhere nobody knew mattered.”
“Except me.”
“Yes.”
Bryce inserted the drive into an isolated laptop.
Encrypted files appeared.
Hundreds.
Financial records.
Photographs.
Audio files.
Names.
Dates.
Bella watched Bryce scroll.
“This could destroy Romano,” he whispered.
Blake’s expression remained hard.
“It could destroy more than Romano.”
One folder was labeled:
CARUSO.
Bella looked at Blake.
He opened it.
Inside were records connecting members of the Caruso organization to businesses, officials, and financial transactions.
Bella slowly turned toward him.
“So this destroys you too.”
Blake did not deny it.
Bryce looked uncomfortable.
Bella stood.
“Was that why you wanted the ledger?”
“No.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Why should I believe you?”
Blake looked directly at her.
“Because if protecting myself mattered more than protecting you, I would destroy that drive right now.”
Bella looked down.
He could.
Nobody in the room could realistically stop him.
Instead, Blake moved away from the laptop.
“It belongs to you.”
Bella blinked.
“My father created it.”
“It’s yours.”
“What am I supposed to do with something like this?”
“That decision is yours.”
Before Bella could answer, the lights went out.
Bryce immediately drew his weapon.
“Down!”
Blake pulled Bella behind the kitchen island.
Glass shattered somewhere near the balcony.
Bella covered her ears.
A suppressed gunshot struck the wall.
Blake shielded her with his body.
Bryce fired toward the balcony.
“Back exit!”
Blake grabbed the laptop and flash drive.
They moved through the hallway.
Bella’s heart pounded.
Another shot.
Blake shoved her down.
A bullet struck the doorframe.
Then silence.
Bryce checked the stairwell.
“Move!”
They descended six floors before meeting security.
Only when Bella was inside the armored SUV did she realize Blake was bleeding.
“Your arm.”
“It’s nothing.”
“That’s blood.”
“An observation worthy of your promotion.”
“Not funny.”
Bella grabbed his sleeve.
A bullet had grazed his upper arm.
Bryce handed her a medical kit.
Blake tried taking it.
Bella slapped his hand away.
“I can do it.”
He watched silently as she cleaned the wound.
Her hands trembled.
“Bella.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re shaking.”
“Someone shot at me.”
“At me.”
“They shot through my apartment!”
Blake became quiet.
Bella wrapped the bandage.
Then she realized how close they were.
His face was inches from hers.
His eyes had softened.
“You protected me,” she whispered.
“I promised your father.”
The words hurt more than she expected.
“So that’s all this is?”
Blake frowned.
“What?”
“The job. The surveillance. Bringing me closer. Protecting me. Is this all because you promised my father?”
He looked at her for several seconds.
“No.”
Bella’s heart beat harder.
“What else?”
Blake’s gaze dropped briefly to her mouth.
Then returned to her eyes.
“You really want that answer now?”
“Yes.”
“You won’t like it.”
“Try me.”
He leaned closer.
“I brought you closer because watching you from across an office stopped being enough.”
Bella forgot how to breathe.
Blake continued quietly.
“I told myself it was security. Responsibility. A debt.”
His fingers brushed hers.
“Then yesterday you called Bryce handsome.”
Bella almost laughed.
“That ridiculous comment?”
“I hated it.”
“I noticed.”
“I hated that you looked at another man and saw something worth noticing.”
“That sounds unhealthy.”
“It probably is.”
“At least you’re self-aware.”
His mouth nearly smiled.
Then his expression became serious.
“I’m not asking you for anything, Bella. Not while your safety depends on me.”
That surprised her.
The most controlling man she had ever met was deliberately giving her space.
“Blake—”
Bryce interrupted.
“Sorry.”
They separated.
Bryce looked at his phone.
“We have a bigger problem.”
“What?”
“The attackers weren’t Romano’s men.”
Blake’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re certain?”
“One hundred percent.”
“Then whose?”
Bryce hesitated.
“Someone inside Caruso Holdings authorized the operation.”
Blake became completely still.
Bella understood immediately.
A traitor.
Someone close enough to know her address.
Someone close enough to know about the ledger.
Someone close enough to know where Blake would be.
Bryce turned the phone toward them.
“We traced the access credential used at Bella’s building.”
Blake read the name.
His expression changed.
Bella had never seen him look genuinely betrayed before.
“Who?” she asked.
Blake lifted his eyes.
“My uncle.”
Bella’s stomach dropped.
“Your own family?”
Blake stared out the window.
“My own family.”
Then Bryce received another message.
His face went pale.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“Your uncle isn’t working for Romano.”
Blake turned.
Bryce swallowed.
“He’s working with someone else.”
“Who?”
Bryce showed him the screen.
Bella saw a photograph.
A woman.
Elegant.
Silver-haired.
Familiar.
Bella’s entire body went cold.
“No.”
Blake looked at her.
“You know her?”
Bella could barely speak.
The woman in the photograph was someone Bella had believed was dead for almost twenty years.
May you like
“My mother.”
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