Page 98 of Ruined By Capture

"We've been through everything twice," Alessio says gently, his hand covering mine as I reach for the same papers I've already examined three times. "There's nothing here, Melania."

The weight of his statement crashes through me. I twist my mother's ring frantically, the metal chafing my skin.

"No," I whisper, snatching back another file. "No, there has to be something. Leo risked everything to get this. It can't be for nothing."

My hands shake as I flip through the pages again. Balance sheets. Property acquisitions. Import records for the restaurant supply business. All perfectly legal. All perfectly documented.

Nothing about trafficking. Nothing about organs. Nothing that could possibly save any of those people.

"I don't understand," I say, my voice cracking. "I know what I saw on Raymond's drive. I know what they're doing."

Damiano sighs heavily, running a hand through his silver-streaked hair. "Perhaps Antonio keeps those records elsewhere. Or perhaps he doesn't keep records of those activities at all."

The implications hit me. All this—Leo's risk, our planning, everything we've done—for nothing. My knees give out and I sink into the nearest chair, the room suddenly spinning around me.

"I put my brother in danger for nothing," I whisper, dismay whittling through me. "If my father realizes what Leo did..."

Alessio crouches before me, his hands steady on my knees. "We'll protect Leonardo. Just like we're protecting you."

But I barely hear him. My mind screeches through every possibility, every horrible scenario. My father isn't stupid. He knows how to hide his tracks. And Raymond's security on the USB drive was military-grade for a reason.

"All those people," I whisper, my voice breaking. "All those people in those files. We have nothing to help them."

The tears come then, burning and hopeless, as the weight of my failure crashes down. I press my palms against my eyes, trying to hold back the flood, but it's useless. Three hours of hope, destroyed. Lives hanging in the balance, with no way to save them.

"I thought I could stop them," I choke out between sobs. "I really thought I could stop them."

Suddenly strong arms envelop me. Alessio pulls me against his chest, his heartbeat steady beneath my ear.

"This won't help them either," he murmurs, his voice rumbling through his chest. "The crying won't help, and neither will giving up."

I try to pull away, but he holds me tighter.

"We still have the USB," he continues, his hand moving in soothing circles on my back. "And now we're not alone. We have people who can help with the hacking, with the hiding."

I lift my tear-stained face. "But Raymond's security?—"

"Can be broken," Alessio says firmly. "You've been working alone. Now we bring in specialists, people who?—"

The office door snaps open without warning. Noah stands there, his expression unreadable as always, but there's tension in the set of his shoulders.

"Leonardo Lombardi is at the gate," he announces. "He's alone. Wants to come in."

My heart stops. Leo? Here?

"What?" I pull away from Alessio, blood rushing in my ears. "That's impossible. He can't be here. If my father finds out?—"

"He insists on speaking with his sister," Noah continues, looking to Damiano. "Says it's urgent."

I'm on my feet now, twisting my mother's ring so hard it leaves a weal on my finger. "Leo wouldn't come here unless something was terribly wrong."

Damiano studies me for a long moment, then gives a single nod to Noah.

"Let him in," he says. "Bring him directly here. Check him for guns and wires and remain alert."

Noah disappears and panic claws at my throat. Leo coming to the Feretti estate is unthinkable. Whatever drove him here must be catastrophic.

"Melania." Alessio's hands frame my face, forcing me to look at him. "Breathe. We don't know why he's here yet."

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