Chapter 5: Digging deeper
1643 Words
Aurora woke to the quiet hum of the hospital air conditioner.
For a few seconds, she stared at the white ceiling without remembering where she was.
Then it came back.
The elevator.
The darkness.
The flames.
Dante.
Her breathing changed.
She remembered his voice telling her to breathe. The steady sound of it cutting through the panic. She remembered him stepping toward her.
Then nothing.
Aurora slowly turned her head.
Sophia was asleep in the chair beside her bed, her arms folded across her chest.
Aurora pushed herself upright.
The movement woke Sophia immediately.
“You're awake.”
Aurora rubbed her temple. “Apparently.”
Sophia leaned forward. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine.”
“You fainted.”
“I know.”
“In an elevator.”
Aurora looked at her.
Sophia sighed. “Don't give me that look.”
The door opened.
Matteo walked in carrying a bottle of water. He stopped when he saw Aurora sitting up.
His expression changed.
“Hey.”
Aurora nodded.
Matteo placed the water on the table.
Then he looked at her for a long moment.
“Did you see it?”
Aurora's brows pulled together.
“See what?”
“The fire.”
The room went quiet.
Sophia looked between them.
Aurora's fingers tightened around the blanket.
For a second, she didn't answer.
Then she looked away.
“Yes.”
Matteo's jaw tightened.
“Damn it.”
Sophia frowned. “What fire?”
Aurora glanced at her.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?” Sophia repeated. “You passed out.”
“It's over.”
Matteo looked at Aurora.
“You haven't had one of those episodes in years.”
Aurora's eyes hardened.
“Don't.”
He stopped.
Sophia looked confused, but she didn't push.
Aurora reached for the water and took a slow drink.
“I don't want to talk about it.”
Matteo nodded.
“Fine.”
A few minutes later, the doctor came in, checked Aurora's vitals, asked a few questions and eventually cleared her to leave.
Aurora didn't wait around.
She changed, gathered her things and walked out with Sophia and Matteo.
The drive home was quiet.
Aurora stared through the window, her mind returning to the elevator despite herself.
She hated that it had happened.
She hated even more that Dante had been there to see it.
The man she had spent weeks preparing to destroy had witnessed her at her weakest.
And worse—
He had saved her.
When they reached home, Aurora went upstairs immediately.
She removed the chestnut wig, took out the brown contacts and stared at herself in the mirror.
Her real grey eyes stared back.
For a moment, she remembered the flames.
She looked away.
She changed into darker clothes and opened her laptop.
She couldn't afford to dwell on what had happened.
There were more important things.
Aurora pulled up the information she had collected on Morrow Strategic Logistics.
The company looked insignificant on paper.
That was exactly what bothered her.
Its financial activity didn't match its size.
Money moved through it constantly, yet there was barely anything publicly available about the company.
She opened the corporate records.
Most of the information had been buried behind layers of subsidiaries.
Aurora traced the ownership again.
Moretti Holdings.
One subsidiary.
Another.
Then Morrow.
She leaned closer to the screen.
Someone had deliberately made the connection difficult to follow.
She wrote down the names of the companies involved.
Then she noticed something else.
One of the companies connected to Morrow had appeared in a file Lucian had been studying before his death.
Aurora froze.
She opened an old folder.
Lucian's files.
She searched through them until she found the document.
There it was.
Morrow Strategic Logistics.
Her stomach tightened.
Lucian had been looking into it.
Why?
Aurora grabbed her phone and opened their old conversation.
His last message was still there.
Don't tell Matteo yet. I'll explain everything when I can.
She stared at the words.
At the time, she'd thought Lucian had simply been following another lead.
Now she wasn't so sure.
Aurora closed the conversation and grabbed her keys.
If Lucian had discovered something about Morrow before he died, she needed to know what it was.
She quickly found a face mask and base ball cap to cover up. She was no longer the clumsy, easy to please Vivianna; she was the Mafia princess, soon to be Donna.
She got in her car and drove off
Father Angelo was inside the church when Aurora arrived.
He looked up as she approached.
“Young Miss De Luca.”
“I need the latest reports.”
He handed her a folder.
“The warehouses are running normally. The western routes are quiet.”
“And the ports?”
“One shipment was delayed yesterday.”
“Why?”
“Customs inspection.”
Aurora opened the folder.
“And the southern warehouses?”
Father Angelo's expression changed slightly.
“We've noticed unfamiliar vehicles there twice this week.”
“What kind?”
“Black SUVs. No plates we could identify.”
Aurora closed the folder.
“Keep surveillance on them.”
“I will.”
She looked at him.
“There's another matter.”
He waited.
“Morrow Strategic Logistics.”
His expression remained calm, but Aurora noticed the slight pause.
“You know it?”
“I know of it.”
“Lucian was investigating it before he died.”
Father Angelo was silent.
Aurora's eyes narrowed.
“What did he find?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
Father Angelo met her gaze.
“I am not.”
Aurora studied him for another moment.
“Find everything you can.”
“I'll have someone begin tonight.”
“Good.”
She turned toward the doors.
“Miss De Luca.”
Aurora stopped.
Father Angelo's voice was quieter now.
“Be careful.”
She glanced back.
“I always am.”
Then she left.
Across the city, Dante sat behind his desk, scrolling through the report on his tablet when Alessandro walked into the office.
“We have a problem.”
Dante looked up.
“What happened?”
“Someone attempted to access Morrow's internal records.”
Dante's expression hardened.
“Did they get in?”
“No. The security system blocked them before they could reach anything important.”
“Who?”
“I'm still tracing them.”
Alessandro placed the tablet on Dante's desk and turned the screen toward him.
“They weren't randomly searching. Whoever this was knew exactly where to look.”
Dante studied the access logs.
“Morrow isn't supposed to attract attention.”
“Apparently someone didn't get the memo.”
Dante's eyes narrowed.
“Find them.”
“I already have people working on it.”
“Then make sure they don't know we're looking.”
Alessandro nodded.
Before either man could say anything else, the office doors opened.
Valeria walked in, coffee in one hand and her phone in the other.
She stopped when she saw the two men staring at the tablet.
“Should I come back later?”
“No,” Dante said.
Valeria raised an eyebrow.
“That sounded suspiciously like an invitation.”
Alessandro leaned back in his chair.
“Don't get excited. We're working.”
“I can see that.”
Valeria walked closer and glanced at the screen.
“What happened?”
“Someone tried to breach Morrow,” Alessandro said.
Her expression changed.
“How far did they get?”
“Not far enough.”
Valeria leaned over the desk and looked at the tablet.
“Morrow?”
Dante nodded.
“Someone tried to breach the internal records.”
She took the tablet from him without asking.
“Valeria!” Dante groaned
“Relax, Grumpy.”
Dante held out his hand.
“Give me that.”
“No.”
“Valeria.”
“Dante.”
He stared at her.
She stared back.
Alessandro quietly moved farther away from the argument.
Valeria scrolled through the logs.
“Whoever did this wasn't guessing.”
Dante crossed his arms.
“How do you know?”
“They went straight for the restricted files.”
Alessandro nodded. “That's what I said.”
Valeria glanced at him.
“Then why are you still sitting there?”
“Because your brother hasn't fired me yet.”
“He's considered it.”
“Several times.”
Dante held out his hand again.
“The tablet.”
Valeria ignored him.
“I'll trace the access attempt.”
“You have ten minutes.”
She looked up.
“Seven.”
“Ten.”
“Eight.”
“Valeria.”
She smiled.
“Fine. Ten.”
She returned her attention to the tablet.
Alessandro glanced at Dante.
“She's going to find something.”
“I know.”
Valeria looked between them.
“Was that a compliment?”
“No.”
“Shame.”
She turned back to the screen.
Dante's expression remained unreadable as he watched the security logs.
Whoever had gone after Morrow had known exactly what they wanted.
And Dante intended to find out why.
Meanwhile Aurora returned to her car and sat behind the wheel.
She pulled out her phone again.
Lucian's message remained on the screen.
Don't tell Matteo yet.
She stared at it.
Why had Lucian specifically told her not to tell Matteo?
Aurora frowned.
She had trusted Matteo with almost everything.
Almost.
Her eyes moved back to the name on the document.
Morrow Strategic Logistics.
Whatever Lucian had found, it had been important enough for him to keep investigating.
And now someone had tried to access the same records.
Aurora started the car.
The elevator incident could wait.
The hospital could wait.
Even Dante could wait.
For now, she had one question.
What had Lucian discovered before he died?
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