Betrayed at the Altar, I Married a Powerful Rival novel · Chapter 13 of 24

Chapter 13: Dario's Notebook

Federico told the guards to open the gate.

"Library," he said to Dario. "You say it there, out of the rain."

Dario stood dripping on the library rug, with Paola watching from the sofa and Federico at my shoulder.

I did not sit, and I did not offer him a towel.

He took a bundle out of his shirt, wrapped in oilcloth and tied with kitchen string.

His hands shook so badly that it took him three tries to loosen the knot.

Inside was a black notebook with a cracked spine and a rubber band around it.

"It's my father's," he said. "He keeps a book for every job he does off the books. He says it's insurance, so nobody can put it all on him."

"Where did you find it?"

"Under the workshop floor, behind the old jack." He wiped his face with his sleeve. "Mama said it in her sleep for a week. 'Why did he write it all down.' So I looked."

I took the notebook out of his hands.

The pages were pencil, in blunt capitals, with a date, a plate number and a sum of cash down the margin.

A strip of masking tape stuck out from one page.

I opened it there.

The entry was dated sixteen years ago in March, and it began with a place.

Shore road. Ferrante car, gray Buick. Boss's order. My Lincoln, from the left, at the guardrail.

Under that was a sum of money, and a note that the Lincoln had gone to a body shop the next morning.

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