Chapter 41 Amelia

Chapter 41 Amelia
Amelia

The sunlight filters through the heavy velvet curtains of the library. I have been awake for three hours and the caffeine from the espresso machine is finally starting to kick in. My side still throbs when I first sit down, but the dull ache has faded into the background. I have bigger problems than a healing gunshot wound. I have a life to get back to.

I spread the maps of the north district across the mahogany table. I have the delivery manifests I swiped from the port authority files and the shell company records I flagged last night. Something is not adding up. The company is called Northern Logistics. On paper, they move grain and industrial parts. But their fuel consumption is three times higher than their reported mileage. They are idling trucks or running routes that do not exist on the official grid.

"Still at it?"

I don't jump, but my hand tightens around my pen. Luca is standing in the doorway. He is wearing a crisp white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He looks refreshed. It is annoying considering he looked like he had been run over by a train a few hours ago. The bandage on his temple is clean. He carries two mugs of coffee and sets one down near my elbow.

"The world doesn't stop turning just because you have a nice house, Luca," I say without looking up. "I went back over the north district files. Northern Logistics is a front. I would bet my career on it."

Luca pulls out the chair opposite me and sits down. He picks up one of the manifests and glances at it with a bored expression. "You are very persistent, Amelia. Most people in your position would be enjoying the view and the vintage wine."

"I am not most people," I snap. I point to a specific line on the paper. "Look at the timestamps. These trucks leave the warehouse at two in the morning and return at four. There are no grain silos within a two-hour radius of that facility. They are moving something else. Something illegal, I'm sure. Something that belongs to Ren Moretti."

Luca leans back and sips his coffee. He watches me over the rim of the mug. His eyes are unreadable. "It is a compelling theory. But the north district is a maze of small industrial parks. Even if you are right, finding the specific unit they use would take weeks of surveillance. You are looking for a needle in a haystack of needles."

"Then I need more magnets," I say. I lean forward and look him in the eye. "You said you could get me access to the regional database. The one the private contractors use for tracking. If I can overlay their GPS pings with these times, I can pinpoint the drop-off zone."

He pauses. He seems to be weighing his options. "I can get you the data. But it will take time to bypass the encryption. My IT team is good, but they are currently tied up with a merger in Milan."

I let out a sharp, frustrated breath. I push the folders away and the sound of paper sliding against wood echoes in the quiet room. The walls of this villa are starting to feel like they are closing in on me. The air is too clean. The silence is too loud.

"I can't do this from here anymore," I say. My voice is flat.

Luca raises an eyebrow. "Do what? Investigate?"

"Any of it," I say. I stand up and walk toward the large floor-to-ceiling windows. The mountains are beautiful, but they are a cage. "I appreciate everything you have done. You saved my life. You gave me a place to hide. But I feel like a prisoner in a five-star hotel."

"You are a guest, Amelia," Luca says calmly. "There is a difference."

"Not from where I am standing," I counter. I turn around to face him. "The doctors cleared me for light duty yesterday. My side is fine. My head is clear. While I am sitting here eating gourmet meals and looking at old paperwork, my unit is being dismantled. Valentino is probably sitting in my office right now, rewriting my protocols and making my men look like amateurs."

Luca sets his coffee down. The clink of the ceramic against the desk sounds like a gavel. "Valentino is a complicated man. From what I hear, he is doing a very efficient job of cleaning up the streets. Perhaps his methods are what the city needs right now."

I let out a short, sarcastic laugh. "His methods involve burning everything down to find one person. He does not care about collateral damage. He cares about the Russo legacy. If I stay here any longer, I am going to lose the only thing I actually worked for. My reputation."

"You are safe here," Luca says. He stands up and walks toward me. He stops just outside my personal space, but I can feel the heat radiating off him. "In Verona, you are a target. Not just for Moretti, but for the people who think you are a liability. Your brother included."

"I don't care about being safe," I say. I step closer, defying the warning bells in my head. "I am a captain in the Italian Army. I am trained for conflict. Staying hidden makes me look weak. It makes it look like I am running from the fight. If I want my command back, I have to be on the ground. I need to return to Verona."

Luca’s expression hardens. The charm drops away, replaced by a cold, calculated stillness. "It's too dangerous. The city is a powder keg. One spark and the whole place goes up. You are the spark, Amelia."

"Then let it burn," I say. I am not asking for permission. I am telling him. "I am going back. I can stay at my apartment. It has a reinforced door and a direct line to the precinct. I can conduct my investigation from there. I can see the movements of the trucks myself instead of waiting for your IT team to find a gap in their schedule."

"You are being reckless," he says. His voice is a low rasp.

"I would rather be reckless than useless," I shoot back. "I am not a decorative piece of furniture, Luca. I am a soldier. If you will not take me, I will find my own way back. I will walk to the main road and hitch a ride if I have to."

We stare at each other. The tension in the room is thick. I can see the gears turning in his head. He is not used to people telling him no. He is used to being the one who controls the board. But I am not a pawn. He looks at the bandage on my side, then back at my eyes. He sees the fire there. He knows I mean every word.

"If you go back," he says slowly, "you do it under my conditions. You do not stay at your apartment. It is the first place they will look. I have a penthouse in the city center. It is secure. It has a private entrance and a dedicated security team."

"I don't need a security team," I start to protest.

"You do if you want me to drive you," he interrupts. "You go to the penthouse. You stay off the main grid. You use the encrypted lines I provide. If you step foot in your old office without telling me, I will have my men bring you back here in zip ties. Do we have a deal?"

I want to argue. I want to tell him I don't need his penthouse or his protection. But I know this is the only way he lets me leave without a struggle. A penthouse in the city center is a better tactical base than a villa in the mountains.

"Fine," I say. I offer him a mock salute. "I will play by your rules for now. When do we leave?"

Luca looks at his watch. A small, dangerous smile plays on his lips. "Pack your things, Captain. We leave in an hour. But remember this. Once we enter the city, the game changes. You are not just hunting Moretti anymore. You are walking right into the middle of a war."

"Good," I say, gathering my folders. "I was getting bored of the peace and quiet anyway."

I walk past him and head toward the stairs. My heart is racing. It is not just the prospect of getting back to work. It is the look in Luca’s eyes. He is hiding something. He is letting me go back because it suits him. I don't care. As long as I am back in Verona, I am one step closer to Ren Moretti. Once I find him, I will deal with Luca’s secrets later.

I go to my room and start packing. The quiet of the villa is already fading. I can hear the distant sound of an engine starting up outside. I am finally going back. I just hope I am ready for whatever is waiting for me in the shadows.

I sit in the passenger seat of the black SUV and watch the mountain villa fade into the mist. The drive back to Verona is quiet. Luca keeps his eyes on the road and his hands steady on the steering wheel. I have my laptop open on my knees and the Northern Logistics files spread out over my lap. My side gives a sharp twinge every time we hit a bump in the road but I ignore it. I am already mapping out the surveillance perimeter for the warehouse district.

"You just convinced me to take you into the center of a potential bloodbath," Luca says. He doesn't look away from the road. "And your first instinct is to go back to paperwork?"

"Yes," I say. I tap a key on the laptop to refresh the GPS data. "Because once we arrive in the city I will not have time for reading. I need to be ready to move the moment we hit the penthouse."

"You are obsessed, Amelia," he says. He sounds more tired than annoyed.

"I am focused," I correct him. I turn the screen so he can see the logistics map. "Look at this. If Northern Logistics is moving goods at two in the morning, they are using the secondary service roads to avoid the weigh stations. I need to know if you have any contacts who can get me the traffic camera feeds for those specific intersections."

Luca lets out a short breath. He glances at the screen for a split second before looking back at the road. "I might have people who can look. But you are assuming Moretti is even in the city. Most people believe he is long gone."

"He is there," I say. I feel a strange certainty in my chest. "He is not the type of man who leaves his kingdom when things get difficult. He is the type who stays in the shadows and waits for the right moment to strike."

Luca remains silent for a long minute. The car winds down the mountain pass and the air starts to lose its crisp edge. The city is waiting for us at the bottom of the ridge. I can see the distant lights of the outskirts beginning to flicker through the grey morning light.

"What exactly do you plan to do if you ever find Ren Moretti?" Luca asks.

I stop typing and look at him. "When I find him, Luca. Not if."

"Fine," he says. He grips the steering wheel a little tighter. "When you find him. What then? Do you think a man like that is going to let you just put him in the back of a squad car?"

"I am going to throw him in jail for the rest of eternity," I say. My voice is flat and certain. "I am going to make sure he rots in a cell until he forgets the color of the sky. I want to dismantle every brick of the empire he built. I want him to watch it fall before I lock the door."

Luca cocks his head to the side. "What if he kills you? Have you ever even thought about that? You are chasing a man who has erased entire families for less than what you are doing."

I shrug my shoulders. The thought of my own death does not scare me as much as the thought of failing. "I have thought about it countless times. It is a occupational hazard. If I end up dying, though, I will make sure I take him with me. He will not outlive the damage I do to his network."

Luca looks at me then. His eyes are dark and he seems to be searching my face for something. "Why do you hate him so much? You are so bent on catching him, but he has done absolutely nothing to you personally. You have never even met the man."

"He doesn't have to do anything to me personally for me to want him gone," I snap. I close my laptop and lean back in the seat. "The sole purpose of my unit is to destroy criminal organizations and catch every member. Ren Moretti is the leader of the most sinister and ruthless organization in Italy. He is the reason the docks are a graveyard. He is the reason the local police are too terrified to do their jobs."

Luca nods slowly. He looks back at the road as we pass the first city limits sign. "And that is the only reason you are after him? Professional duty?"

I stare at him. There is a strange tone in his voice that I cannot quite place. He sounds almost protective. "Why are you being so defensive, Luca? Do you have some kind of secret admiration for the man?"

"I am not being defensive," he says. He gives me a small, tight smile. "I am just trying to understand things from your end. I want to see why the whole thing is worth dying for. To me, it seems like a lot of blood for a man you don't even know."

"It is worth it because someone has to do it," I say. "If people like me don't stand in the way, men like him will own everything. I would rather die trying to stop him than live in a world where he wins."

"You are a very dangerous woman, Captain Russo," Luca murmurs.

"And you are a very curious billionaire, Mr. D'Angelo," I retort.

We enter the heart of Verona. The streets are busy and the noise of the city begins to fill the cabin. I feel my adrenaline start to spike. The safe house is close. I can feel the weight of the handgun in my bag and the heat of the files on my lap. I am back.

Luca pulls into an underground parking garage in a high-rise building near the center of the district. The gates are heavy and the security guards at the entrance nod to him.

"We are here," he says. He kills the engine and the car falls into a heavy silence. "The penthouse is on the top floor. My team is already inside. You stay there until I give you the all-clear."

"I'll stay there until I have a lead," I say.

I open the door and step out. The air in the garage is thick with the smell of exhaust and damp concrete. It feels like home. I look at Luca as he gets out of the car. He is watching me again with that unreadable expression.

I don't care what his reasons are for helping me. I don't care why he is so interested in my motivation. All that matters is that I am back in Verona. I am going to find Northern Logistics. I am going to find the warehouse. And then I am going to find Ren Moretti.