The investigation accelerated the next day. Aria and Sofia worked in the secure library, surrounded by old family ledgers and new digital files. The partial voice sample from the dock meeting matched a known lieutenant in Dante’s father’s revived network. More threads appeared: Marco had authorized three large wire transfers to offshore accounts tied to European shell companies. The coded language in his messages referenced “the queen’s leverage” and “removing the variable.”
“We need eyes inside his circle,” Sofia said, tapping the tablet. “One of his lieutenants owes me. I’ll set up a meeting under the guise of alliance talks. You stay here and dig into the financial trail.”
Aria agreed. She spent hours cross-referencing dates. One transfer coincided exactly with Dante’s “decoy” meeting
