Chapter 13 - She Heard the Confession Through the Wall
Claire Bennett nearly arrested both of them when she heard the plan.
Instead, after five minutes of shouting, she improved it.
Alina would carry the original ledger.
Marco would accompany her.
Federal teams would surround the warehouse beyond Sebastian’s surveillance radius.
The ledger contained a tracking device.
So did Marco’s watch.
So did Alina’s coat.
“Three trackers?” she asked.
Claire replied, “I’ve met your luck.”
At 11:48 p.m., they entered Warehouse Twelve.
The building smelled of rust and river water.
Sebastian sat beneath a hanging industrial lamp.
He was seventy-three.
Alive.
The wheelchair from the photograph had been real, though he could apparently stand briefly with assistance.
Time had changed his face.
Not his eyes.
He looked at Marco.
“My brother’s boy.”
Marco’s expression remained stone.
“You stopped being family twenty years ago.”
Sebastian smiled.
“That’s dramatic.”
“Luca was dramatic too.”
The smile disappeared.
Alina saw Marco’s hands curl.
She touched his wrist.
Trust me.
He understood.
Sebastian turned toward her.
“Diego’s daughter.”
“Alina.”
“I know your name.”
“You seem to know everyone’s.”
“That was always my talent.”
Sofia sat tied to a chair nearby.
Vale sat beside her.
Dominic was nowhere visible.
“Where is Dominic?” Marco asked.
“Your loyal dog?”
“My brother.”
Sebastian laughed.
“Interesting choice.”
Marco did not react.
Alina placed the ledger on a table.
“Release them.”
Sebastian shook his head.
“You don’t understand negotiation.”
“I worked eleven months for Marco. I understand impossible men.”
Marco almost turned.
Even Sebastian smiled.
Then he nodded toward a side door.
A guard brought Dominic out.
Blood marked his temple, but he was walking.
Marco’s jaw clenched.
“They leave,” Alina said. “You get the ledger.”
Sebastian rolled closer.
“The ledger is only half of what I need.”
“What else?”
“Your signature.”
There it was.
He produced transfer documents.
If Alina signed, Briar Holdings and every company Diego had secretly gained leverage over would transfer to Sebastian-controlled entities.
“You could have forged this.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Diego created an annoying trust requiring biometric notarization from his direct heir.”
“My father was thorough.”
“He was irritating.”
“You killed him.”
Sebastian’s expression remained calm.
“Yes.”
The word nearly dropped Alina to her knees.
Twenty-four years.
One syllable.
Marco shifted.
She squeezed his wrist harder.
Sebastian continued.
“I did not intend the crash to be fatal.”
“That’s supposed to matter?”
“No. But facts matter to you.”
“Yes.”
“My driver was told to stop him.”
“And Luca?”
For the first time, Sebastian hesitated.
Marco spoke.
“Say it.”
Sebastian looked at him.
“Luca became dangerous.”
“You killed him.”
“I corrected a problem.”
Marco lunged.
Alina grabbed him.
“Marco!”
Sebastian smiled.
“That temper comes from Vittorio.”
Marco was shaking.
But he stopped.
Unknown to Sebastian, Claire’s equipment captured every word.
Or it should have.
Outside, Claire stared at dead audio monitors.
Somebody was jamming transmission.
Inside, Alina noticed her coat tracker stop blinking.
They had lost federal contact.
Sebastian knew.
His smile changed.
“You really thought I survived this long without learning how government surveillance works?”
Guards moved from the shadows.
Marco whispered, “Stay behind me.”
Alina looked toward the wall.
Then she heard something.
A faint hum.
An old ventilation duct.
Sound traveled through it.
She remembered the warehouse diagram Claire showed them.
The adjacent building housed an FBI listening team.
The electronics were jammed.
But sound—
ordinary human sound—
could still pass physically through the vent.
Alina raised her voice.
“Tell me about Starlight.”
Sebastian frowned.
“Why?”
“Because if I’m signing away my father’s legacy, I want to know what he died trying to stop.”
Pride won.
Villains rarely confessed because evidence forced them.
Sometimes they confessed because ego did.
Sebastian spoke.
About Antonio.
Vale.
Whitmore.
The accounts.
The false identities.
Diego.
Luca.
Everything.
Alina kept asking questions.
Louder.
Clearer.
Next door, Claire heard a faint voice through the wall.
She motioned everyone silent.
Then she heard Sebastian say:
“I ordered Luca Castalano removed.”
Claire’s eyes widened.
She began recording.
Inside, Sebastian finished.
“Now sign.”
Alina picked up the pen.
Marco stared at her.
She wrote.
Not her name.
Three words.
GO TO HELL.
Sebastian looked down.
May you like
Alina smiled.
Then the warehouse doors exploded open.
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