The Gala Was a Trap
Chapter 12 - The Gala Was a Trap
Bianca kept the package in a private vault at her Manhattan apartment.
No one liked the idea of going into the city.
They went anyway.
The box was wrapped in brown paper and tied with kitchen string.
Celeste Moretti had written Isabella's name across the top.
Inside were four flash drives, a notarized statement, and a handwritten letter.
Bianca read her mother's letter first.
Halfway through, she sat down.
"What?"
Alessandro asked.
She handed him the page.
Celeste had known Daniel and Elena.
She had also known Salvatore Romano was smuggling weapons with Petrov.
For years, the Moretti family had laundered money for both sides.
Celeste wanted out.
Daniel gave her copies of witness statements as insurance.
Then came the line that made Bianca cover her mouth.
MATTEO KNOWS MORE THAN ALESSANDRO. DO NOT CONFUSE HIS CHARM WITH LOYALTY.
Below it:
IF ISABELLA SURVIVES TO ADULTHOOD, THE CHOICE BELONGS TO HER. NOT TO THE ROMANOS. NOT TO THE MORETTIS. NOT TO THOMAS.
Thomas stopped breathing.
Isabella turned.
"What?"
He shook his head.
"Thomas."
"I made a mistake."
Her stomach tightened.
"What mistake?"
He looked at the floor.
"Three months ago, Matteo asked me to help get you a better-paying catering shift."
Silence.
Isabella already knew which one.
"No."
Thomas's eyes filled.
"I didn't know."
"The Grande Hotel."
"He said rich donors tipped well."
"You got me that gala job?"
"I spoke to your staffing manager."
Her skin went cold.
The agency had called her two days before the event.
Double hourly pay.
Cash tips.
She had thought herself lucky.
"You put me there."
"I didn't know Petrov would be there."
"But Matteo did."
Thomas began to cry.
"I swear to you, Bell, I thought I was helping."
"Stop calling me that."
He nodded quickly.
"I'm sorry."
Alessandro took the staffing records from Marco.
Within twenty minutes, they had proof.
Matteo had donated fifty thousand dollars to the charity event through a shell company.
The catering agency had received a "preferred staff list."
Isabella's employee number was first.
Her assigned section was the terrace.
The two men discussing Warehouse 17 had been seated nowhere near that area.
They had moved there fifteen minutes before Isabella's shift began.
"It was staged," Bianca said.
Isabella felt sick.
"The conversation."
"Probably enough of it."
"Why?"
Alessandro understood first.
"To make me take her."
Everyone looked at him.
He continued.
"Matteo knew Petrov's men would notice her listening. He knew I would notice them noticing her."
Thomas whispered, "He knew you'd protect her."
"Yes."
Isabella looked at Alessandro.
The first three seconds of her nightmare replayed in her head.
His hand beneath her chin.
You're mine now.
The room watching.
"What was he trying to do?"
"Bring you inside my security."
"Why?"
Bianca held up the flash drives.
"Because Matteo had spent years searching Thomas, your apartment, your mother's facility."
She looked at Isabella's brass key.
"He couldn't find Daniel's archive."
Alessandro nodded.
"So he forced the one person who might have it into my house."
"Where your things would be searched."
"And Thomas would be questioned."
"And my mother would be found."
The whole chain snapped into place.
Matteo had not expected Isabella to overhear a secret.
He had arranged for her to overhear it.
Her fear.
The public claim.
The escape from the gala.
All of it had been bait.
Maya sat beside Isabella.
"That's unbelievably messed up."
It was not elegant language.
It was exactly right.
They opened Celeste's first drive.
Witness testimony.
The second contained financial records.
The third held video.
On-screen, Salvatore Romano sat across from Victor Petrov in a private club.
The date was seventeen years earlier.
Their conversation was clear.
Weapons.
Ports.
Daniel Santos.
Then Salvatore said something that made Alessandro lean closer.
"If my brother's boy keeps interfering, I'll handle him too."
Petrov smiled.
"Your son won't object?"
Salvatore laughed.
"Matteo understands family."
The video ended.
No one spoke.
Matteo had known his father wanted Alessandro dead.
Even as a teenager.
The fourth drive was encrypted.
Celeste's letter contained the password.
BELLROSE.
The screen opened to a single video file.
Recent.
Recorded four months ago.
Matteo appeared on camera.
Isabella leaned forward.
He looked different.
Exhausted.
Frightened.
"If this file has been opened, either Celeste's plan worked or everything has gone to hell."
Bianca whispered, "Matteo?"
He continued.
"Alessandro, if you're watching this, you believe I betrayed you."
A pause.
"I needed you to."
Everyone went still.
"Petrov has someone inside federal law enforcement. Someone high enough to bury every case built against him."
Matteo looked directly into the camera.
"I staged the gala because Isabella was the only person both Petrov and you would move heaven and earth to keep alive once Daniel's evidence resurfaced."
Isabella's heart pounded.
Matteo continued.
"I did not sell Isabella to Petrov."
His eyes darkened.
"I have spent seven years making Petrov believe I did."
Alessandro stared at the screen.
"If I tell you the name of his federal contact before I have proof, we all die."
The video ended.
There was one final line of text.
PROOF WILL BE DELIVERED AT THE WINTER GALA. MIDNIGHT.
Bianca looked at the date.
The Winter Gala was tomorrow night.
Isabella's voice came out barely above a whisper.
"So Matteo isn't the traitor?"
Alessandro's expression hardened.
"He lied, manipulated Thomas, endangered Maya, and used you as bait."
He looked at the black screen.
"But he may not be the traitor we've been hunting."
Marco's phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
Then went white.
"What?" Alessandro demanded.
Marco lowered the phone.
"The FBI is at the gate."
"Why?"
"They have a warrant."
"For what?"
Marco looked at Isabella.
"The murder of Daniel and Elena Santos."
May you like
His gaze shifted to Alessandro.
"And the warrant is for you."
