Chapter 2
Alessio called the waterfront.
No one answered from Gate Nine.
That alone was wrong.
The terminal never went silent.
He looked toward his security chief.
“Lock the outer gates.”
The man nodded and moved.
Trent laughed under his breath.
Alessio’s eyes shifted toward him.
The laugh stopped.
“You already lost control of this.”
Trent’s voice had recovered some confidence.
He straightened his tie with one hand.
“You just don't know it yet.”
Alessio watched his breathing.
Steady.
Too steady for a man whose secret access card had just been found.
“What entered?”
Trent smiled faintly.
“Go look.”
Sylvia’s fingers tightened around her sling.
Alessio saw the reaction.
Trent did too.
He turned toward her.
The contempt in his eyes was immediate.
“You always needed your brother to finish your arguments.”
Sylvia’s face went pale.
Alessio stepped between them.
Trent’s voice hardened.
“She’s my wife.”
Alessio’s gaze dropped to Trent’s wedding ring.
Then slowly returned to his eyes.
“Not an ownership paper.”
The room went quiet.
Helen’s mouth tightened.
Alessio caught it.
“You disagree?”
Helen lifted her chin.
“I think marriage means something.”
Sylvia looked at her.
Her eyes were wet.
“So does locking the door from the outside.”
Helen’s expression barely moved.
That hurt Sylvia more than anger would have.
Alessio saw it.
Before he could speak, the security chief returned.
“Gate Nine received two trucks.”
“What cargo?”
“No manifest.”
“Who authorized entry?”
The man hesitated.
“Your office.”
Alessio’s eyes narrowed.
“My office?”
A printed authorization was placed on the table.
Alessio recognized the signature.
His.
Except he had never signed it.
Trent watched him read.
The confidence returned completely.
“There.”
His voice was almost amused.
“Maybe ask yourself why your own people follow orders with your name on them.”
Alessio looked closely.
The authorization carried a secondary digital approval.
Sylvia Grimaldi-Walsh.
Her face emptied.
“No.”
Trent looked toward her.
“There’s your loyal sister.”
Alessio said nothing.
Sylvia stepped forward.
“I never approved that.”
Helen folded her arms.
“Your name is there.”
Sylvia looked at her.
Her breath became uneven.
“Because somebody used it.”
Trent’s mouth curved.
“Convenient.”
Alessio ignored him.
He examined the timestamp.
2:17 a.m.
Last night.
While Sylvia was supposedly locked upstairs.
He looked at her.
She understood immediately.
Her good hand rose to cover her mouth.
“That’s why.”
“What?”
Her eyes moved toward Trent.
“He came into the room after I stopped shouting.”
Trent’s jaw tightened.
Sylvia continued.
“He had my tablet.”
A pause.
“He held my hand against it.”
Her voice became smaller.
“My thumb.”
Alessio’s face changed.
The tablet used biometric approval.
A thumbprint.
Trent could not sign as Sylvia without physically using her hand.
Her injured arm suddenly made more sense.
Helen looked at Trent.
For the first time, even she seemed unsettled.
Alessio’s voice dropped.
“You broke her arm to authorize a shipment.”
Trent’s nostrils flared.
“She resisted.”
The words left his mouth before he could stop them.
Silence swallowed the dining room.
Sylvia stared at him.
Not crying now.
Something colder.
Trent realized what he had admitted.
Alessio did too.
Then the waterfront finally called back.
One of the bodyguards put the line on speaker.
“We stopped the trucks before they cleared Gate Nine.”
Alessio looked toward Trent.
“What’s inside?”
A pause.
“Nothing.”
Trent’s expression shifted.
The guard continued.
“Both trucks are empty.”
Nobody spoke.
Alessio’s eyes narrowed.
May you like
If the trucks were empty, Gate Nine had not been opened to move something out.
It had been opened to bring someone in.
