Part 6: The Ledger of Lies
The shot struck the stone wall.
Edoardo had shoved Allegra aside an instant before Bellandi fired. Dust exploded across the cellar. He lunged for the prosecutor while Lucia seized his gun arm.
Allegra hit Bellandi with the metal box.
It was not graceful.
It was, however, effective.
Bellandi collapsed against a wine rack. The gun fell, and Edoardo kicked it away. Their guards thundered down the stairs.
Allegra stared at the dented box.
“Well,” she said shakily, “that’s one way to balance the books.”
Edoardo turned to her.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Are you certain?”
“Ask me again and I may use the box on you.”
He pulled her into his arms anyway.
She let him.
For approximately four seconds.
Then she pushed him back.
“Your suit is covered in dust.”
“I’ll survive.”
“Good. I haven’t finished being angry with you.”
Bellandi was handed over to an independent federal task force Edoardo had contacted through his lawyer weeks earlier. The guards had recorded the confrontation, and the gun, bullet and ledger were secured separately.
It wasn’t enough to convict him of everything. But it was enough to prevent his walking away that afternoon.
Lucia gave a statement with her own lawyer present.
She told Allegra the story later, sitting at the kitchen table of the Falcone estate.
Antonio had fathered Lucia before marrying Allegra’s mother. Lucia’s mother died when Lucia was young. Antonio supported his daughter secretly, telling himself he’d explain the truth when she was older.
He never did.
Bellandi learned of the secret and used Lucia as leverage. After Antonio vanished, Bellandi threatened both daughters. Lucia was forced to impersonate Allegra, sign documents and appear on security cameras.
“When he ordered me to approach Gabriele, I tried to tell him,” Lucia said. “I thought he could help us. Bellandi discovered the meeting. He sent a shooter.”
“Did you know about the fire in my building?” Allegra asked.
Lucia shook her head. “No. I found out later. That’s when I began keeping copies.”
Allegra looked at the woman who shared her father’s eyes.
“You could have come to me.”
“I thought he’d kill you if I did.”
“Everyone keeps protecting me by lying to me.”
Lucia lowered her head.
Allegra sighed.
“I’m not ready to forgive you.”
“I understand.”
“But I might be ready for a cup of tea.”
Lucia looked up.
“With you?”
“Unless you intend to impersonate me at breakfast too.”
Lucia laughed through her tears.
It wasn’t forgiveness. Not yet.
It was a beginning.
The ledger revealed Bellandi’s scheme in painful detail. He had used charitable foundations and shell companies to launder money, pay officials and purchase silence. The false Allegra had signed some transfers; other signatures were forgeries.
But the book also contained entries from years when Edoardo’s father ran the Falcone organisation.
Allegra brought the notebook into Edoardo’s study.
“We need to talk.”
“Those are the four words every husband fears.”
“Then sit down.”
He obeyed.
She laid out copies of the relevant pages.
“Your father’s businesses were involved. So were some of yours.”
“Yes.”
She stared. “You knew?”
“I knew there had been illegal payments. I didn’t know the full network until Antonio brought me the first records. After he was shot, I kept investigating.”
“Why didn’t you give it all to the authorities?”
“Bellandi was an authority. He had access to investigations, witnesses and evidence. The first time we tried to report him, one of our sources disappeared.”
“So you kept operating.”
“Some legitimate companies continued operating. Others should have been shut down sooner.”
“That’s not a defence.”
“I know.”
Allegra studied him.
He didn’t offer a clever excuse.
“I’ve made choices I regret,” he said. “I kept certain businesses running because closing them would have exposed people before I could protect them. But I also benefited from the system. I won’t pretend otherwise.”
“What happens now?”
“An independent investigation. Full records. My testimony. Whatever consequences follow.”
“And your empire?”
He looked around the study.
“I’d rather lose it than make you another person I have to lie to.”
Allegra’s throat tightened.
“That’s a very expensive declaration.”
“I’ve always had extravagant taste.”
“Your furniture suggests otherwise.”
He smiled, but she didn’t.
“Edoardo, I need time.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
“And I need to know whether you married me because you wanted the ledger.”
He held her gaze.
“At first, yes. I wanted to protect you, but I also believed you could lead me to Antonio’s evidence.”
Allegra looked away.
“And now?”
“Now I love you. Which is considerably less convenient.”
She wanted to believe him.
That was the trouble.
She wanted to very badly.
