[COMPLETED] The Wrong Door Led Me Into Chicago's Most Dangerous Family

Enzo DeLuca did not look like the villain my father’s notes had prepared me to meet.

He looked like someone’s elegant uncle.

Silver-haired, broad-shouldered despite his age, he arrived at the Langford in a charcoal suit with no visible weapon and kissed Dominic on both cheeks as though he had come for Sunday dinner. Two men waited downstairs at Dominic’s insistence.

“Your hospitality has become suspicious,” Enzo said lightly.

Dominic did not smile. “You asked to speak privately.”

Enzo’s gaze found me.

“And this must be Harper Bellamy.”

My skin tightened.

He knew exactly who I was.

I stood beside the conference table with Chloe on the far side of the room and Marco near the door. Nico monitored the security feeds from an adjoining office.

Enzo took in every detail in one sweep.

“You resemble Thomas around the eyes,” he said.

“You knew my father.”

“Well enough to regret how things ended.”

Dominic’s voice turned cold. “Then tell us how they ended.”

Enzo slowly removed his gloves.

“Victor Salerno killed Antonio. That is still true, regardless of whatever Thomas wrote while frightened.”

“You told my father Antonio died because Salerno discovered he was investigating city contracts,” Dominic said.

“He was.”

“And the payments from Salerno companies into your redevelopment funds?”

For the first time, Enzo’s composure shifted.

“Where did you see those?”

Dominic did not answer.

Enzo looked at me again. “The ledger.”

“You seem very certain it exists,” I said.

“Because your father stole it.”

“No. He copied records because he believed someone planned to kill him.”

“Thomas believed many things by the end.”

Anger rose in me. “Be careful.”

Enzo’s eyebrows lifted. Dominic’s mouth almost moved.

I stepped closer to the table. “You do not get to call a dead man unstable because his evidence is inconvenient.”

Enzo studied me more carefully after that.

Then he told us his version.

According to Enzo, Antonio had discovered that Salerno was bribing city inspectors and using DeLuca construction contracts without authorization. Antonio confronted him. Salerno retaliated by burning a storage facility where Antonio was meeting an informant. My father survived because he had left minutes earlier.

“Thomas blamed himself,” Enzo said. “Grief became suspicion. He started seeing conspiracies everywhere.”

“And you?” Dominic asked. “Why were your initials all over the accounts?”

“Because I supervised redevelopment. Salerno forged approvals and moved money through subcontractors.”

It was plausible.

That made it dangerous.

Enzo turned to me. “Your father hid something beneath the Fulton warehouse. Salerno has searched for it for years. If he believes you found it, you are in danger. Give me whatever Thomas left, and I can end this.”

Dominic’s face went expressionless.

“That sounds generous.”

“I protected you after your father died,” Enzo said. “I protected this family when you were too young to understand what protection cost.”

The words were aimed at Dominic, not me.

I saw the old loyalty in Dominic’s face, buried beneath suspicion. Enzo knew exactly where to press.

Then Chloe spoke.

“If you’re protecting everyone, why did Caleb say you were giving the orders?”

Enzo turned toward her as if noticing her for the first time.

“Caleb Mercer is a liar.”

“That part I believe,” Chloe said.

“He works for Salerno.”

“He also had documents transferring Harper’s warehouse into a company you control.”

Enzo’s eyes narrowed.

Dominic slid a copy of the memorandum across the table.

Enzo did not touch it.

“That company has hundreds of investors.”

“Your trust owns the controlling interest,” Dominic said.

Silence stretched.

Then Enzo sighed.

“You are making the same mistake Antonio made. Looking at fragments and deciding the ugliest explanation must be true.”

“Then give me a better one.”

“I bought an interest in the property structure to keep Salerno from controlling it.”

“Without telling Harper.”

“For her protection.”

I laughed once. “Men keep doing things to my property for my protection.”

Enzo’s gaze cooled.

He put his gloves back on.

“I came to warn you. Salerno knows about the ledger. He believes the final copy remains below the Fulton foundation. If he cannot get the property through Mercer, he will take it another way.”

He headed for the door.

Dominic stopped him with one question.

“Who told you we found Antonio’s ledger?”

Enzo paused.

A fraction too long.

Then he said, “Victor’s people talk.”

The door closed behind him.

Marco looked at Dominic. “You believe him?”

“No.”

“Any of it?”

Dominic stared at the untouched legal memorandum.

“Enough to know he’s scared.”