Chapter 5 - The Lie in the TrunkEmma dropped her phone. It clattered against the marble floor, the screen cracking down the center.
Luca was beside her in a fraction of a second. He snatched up the phone, watched the video once, and his entire demeanor shifted. The calm, arrogant billionaire vanished, replaced by an incandescent, terrifying rage that made the air in the room feel heavy and cold.
"What did you take from my car?" Luca whispered, his eyes locked on hers.
"Nothing!" Emma gasped, tears finally spilling over her lashes. "I didn't take anything! When I fixed your battery, I didn't even open your trunk! I swear to God!"
Luca stared deep into her eyes, searching for deception, for hesitation, for a single micro-expression of guilt. He found none—only raw, unadulterated terror and confusion.
"Enzo!" Luca roared.
Enzo appeared from the security corridor in less than three seconds. "Boss?"
"Get the backup keys to the black sedan. The one from last night. It's in the sub-level garage. Tear it apart down to the chassis. Every wire, every panel, every seat cushion. Find out what Rostova thinks is in that car."
"On it," Enzo barked, spinning on his heel.
Luca turned back to Emma, his hands gripping her shoulders firmly. His touch was grounding, anchoring her against the panic threatening to pull her under. "Listen to me, Emma. You are safe here. Rostova isn't getting past these walls. But we need to know what he’s looking for."
"I didn't steal anything," she repeated, her voice breaking. "I just... I smelled smoke, I saw the loose terminal, I used my dad's wrench, and I told you to move."
Elena stepped forward, her expression grave. "Luca... what was in the trunk last night?"
Luca went very still. The color drained slightly from his face—a terrifying sign for a man who never showed fear.
"Nothing," Luca said slowly. "Just standard corporate documents. Portfolio backups. Ledger sheets for the shipping docks."
"Liar," Elena snapped. "If it were just ledgers, Rostova wouldn't have sent a hit squad to a diner and broken into her apartment twenty minutes later. What did you have in that car, Luca?"
Luca looked away from his sister, his jaw working. "A flash drive. Encrypted hardware containing the offshore banking routing numbers for the entire Bratva laundering network. I acquired it yesterday afternoon from a defector inside Rostova’s inner circle."
Emma’s jaw dropped. "And you left it in a disabled car on the side of a rainy highway?!"
"My tire blew out at ninety miles an hour!" Luca snapped defensively. "The impact fried the electronic ignition and locked the trunk servos. I couldn't open it even if I wanted to!"
"And when I leaned over the engine," Emma whispered, a sudden horrifying realization dawning on her, "when I was tightening the battery cable... my canvas grocery bag slipped off the fender and landed right in the trunk well when you popped it for me to show you the wiring harness."
Luca froze.
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Elena stared at her brother in absolute disbelief. "You popped the trunk for a stranger while carrying classified mob intelligence?"
"She was soaked, freezing, and carrying tomatoes and bread!" Luca shouted. "How was I supposed to know she was a walking magnet for international crime?!"
