Page 151 of Merciless Daddy

After a few more mumbled words, I pushed the door open.

Every face turned.

The wall screen showed flames climbing the back of Mezza Notte. Orange fire ate the brick around the loading door. Men in dark clothes moved through smoke. One lifted his arm and threw something burning inside.

Tonio stood beside the table with his hands locked behind his back. Pietro had gone still near the fireplace. Serafina held a paper folder against the wood.

Sal’s face changed when he saw me.

Not guilt. Not irritation.

Concern.

“Little one,” he said.

“What happened?”

Serafina tapped the screen. “Gianni’s people firebombed Mezza Notte. Everyone got out. One guard was shot at the produce yard. He’s alive. Kateriana’s bakery, thank god, was unharmed.”

My stomach dropped anyway.

The restaurant. Tonio’s restaurant.

Fire moved across the screen again.

“He did this because of me.”

“No,” Sal said.

“Yes.” I looked at the paperwork in front of Serafina. “He did this because I left. Because you took me. Because my father decided I am worth more as an example than a daughter.”

“Gianni prepared the attack before your rescue,” Serafina said.

I looked at her.

“He acquired the loans months ago. He built the defaults into the financial structures. He positioned people before you came to Chicago. He’s been after that block for months—it was a whole thing.”

That should have helped.

It did not.

“He might have planned it,” I said. “But I gave him the reason to pull the trigger.”

Tonio’s jaw flexed. He did not contradict me.

That hurt worse.

I walked to the table and stared down at the documents. Shell companies. Lenders. Receivership notices. My father’s name did not appear anywhere, but I could see him in every clean line of the strategy. Lev Sokolov did not need to sign a paper to make blood spill.

“There’s an obvious solution,” I said.

Sal’s eyes narrowed slightly.

I hated that he knew before I finished.

“I transfer my shares to a neutral trust. Everything Gianni needs from me becomes unavailable. Then I leave this house. I make contact through someone he trusts. He follows me, and he stops burning your businesses to flush me out.”

“No,” Serafina said.