She refused.
“I am not going to one of your mansions.”
“Penthouse.”
“No.”
“Hotel?”
“No.”
“Safe house?”
“Absolutely not.”
They were sitting in the Grand Aurelia manager's office while Dante's men checked the building.
“You've rejected every secure location I have.”
“I have an apartment.”
“Someone photographed it.”
Rosa leaned forward.
“Then tell me what's happening.”
Dante remained silent.
“Five years ago you decided what I deserved to know. Don't do it again.”
That landed.
He removed his coat.
The tattoos across his left hand and wrist became more visible as he rolled his sleeve slightly.
“Victor Hargrove has been trying to buy several properties along the South Branch waterfront.”
“I heard him bragging about it.”
“One parcel won't sell.”
“Yours?”
“No.”
Dante slid his phone across the desk.
The screen showed an old brick building.
Rosa recognized it immediately.
Her father's repair shop.
“Bellamy Machine Works?”
“Your father left it to you.”
“I know.”
“What you apparently don't know is that the property sits directly between Hargrove's development and its planned access corridor.”
Rosa frowned.
“He offered me money last year.”
“How much?”
“Eight hundred thousand.”
Dante leaned back.
“The land is worth considerably more if he needs it.”
“How much more?”
“Potentially twelve million.”
Rosa stared at him.
“He offered me eight hundred thousand?”
“He assumed you didn't know.”
She laughed once, bitterly.
“That sounds like Victor.”
Dante's phone rang.
His lieutenant, Marco, spoke briefly.
Dante's expression hardened.
“Send it.”
A document arrived.
Dante read it.
“What?”
“Victor filed preliminary paperwork this morning for a redevelopment agreement.”
“So?”
“Your signature is on it.”
Rosa stood.
“I never signed anything.”
“I know.”
“How?”
Dante looked at her.
“Because your signature still leans left at the end of the B.”
She stared at him.
“You remember my signature?”
“I remember everything about you.”
“Dante.”
“Wrong moment?”
“Extremely.”
He turned the phone toward her.
The signature looked convincing.
Rosa's anger replaced her fear.
“He forged it.”
“Probably.”
“Can we prove it?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Dante reached for his coat.
“We start with whoever notarized the document.”
Rosa stepped around the desk.
“We?”
“You're staying here.”
“No.”
“Rosa.”
“That's my name on the document.”
“And potentially dangerous people behind it.”
She grabbed her coat.
“Then you'd better keep up.”
Dante stared at her.
For the first time that night, he smiled.
“There she is.”
“Who?”
“The woman I remember.”
Rosa stopped.
“That woman waited four hours for you.”
His smile disappeared.
“I know.”
“She won't do it again.”
Dante nodded.
“Then this time I'll be the one waiting.”
The notary was named Leonard Price.
By midnight, they found him at a private card room above an Italian restaurant in River North.
Leonard turned pale when Dante entered.
“Mr. Moretti.”
“Leonard.”
“I didn't know this involved you.”
“It doesn't.”
Dante gestured toward Rosa.
“It involves her.”
Leonard looked at Rosa.
She placed the document on the table.
“You notarized my signature.”
Leonard swallowed.
“I was given identification.”
“Did you see me sign it?”
Silence.
Rosa leaned closer.
“Look at me.”
He did.
“Have you ever seen me before?”
“No.”
“Who paid you?”
Leonard looked at Dante.
Dante said nothing.
That frightened him more.
“Victor Hargrove's attorney.”
“Name?”
“Charles Mercer.”
Rosa took out her phone.
“Say it again.”
Leonard's eyes widened.
“You're recording?”
“Yes.”
He looked toward Dante.
Dante shrugged.
“You heard the lady.”
Leonard slowly repeated the name.
Rosa stopped recording.
Dante looked impressed.
“What?”
“You didn't need me.”
“I needed someone who could get through the door.”
“Fair.”
His phone rang again.
Marco.
Dante listened.
Then his eyes went to Rosa.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Your apartment.”
Her stomach tightened.
“What about it?”
“Someone broke in.”
Rosa stopped breathing.
“Was anything taken?”
Dante listened another moment.
“Yes.”
“What?”
He ended the call.
“Only one thing.”
“What?”
“The deed to Bellamy Machine Works.”