Page 56 of Only Fools Rush

“My banking contacts traced the account numbers back to these corporations, but they did not have the ability to take it further,” Obi said as he typed something on his laptop. Awhooshsounded when he dropped it to Ciel’s computer. “We need to understand who owns them.”

Ciel’s screen dinged, and he opened a document with rows and rows of data. He scrolled through it, eyes scanning the columns. I tried to count the names that continually popped up, but immediately felt lost.

“There are at least twenty different corporations here.”

My mouth parted. Damn. Why had my father been making payments to each of these accounts? “Can you trace them?”

Would this even be relevant? Maybe this was a wild goose chase. Maybe we were wasting our time.

Ciel sat back in his chair. “I can try. But these are probably just the tip of a very deep iceberg. These have to be shell corporations, which then trace back to another corporation, and then another, before we even get close to who owns them. Everything gets filtered through three or five other places; that’s how these organizations keep their assets safe.”

Obi closed his laptop. “You need time.”

“Yeah.”

“How long?” Obi asked.

I scanned the rows, my eyes catching on something. I frowned.

Ciel cracked his knuckles. “A few days, maybe. Sometimes this is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. If I can find a thread and pull, the rest will untangle. I need to organize the data first.”

“Fine. Get started and let us know if there are any up?—”

“Wait.” I pointed at the screen. “Wait. Look there.”

Ciel followed my finger. “Piccolo Fiore.”

“Little flower,” I whispered. I folded my arms over my chest. Would he really do that? Use something so personal?

“What is it?” Ciel asked. “You know that name?”

“Don Vincenzo used to call Chiara his little blossom,” I explained. Our fathers were affectionate men—when they cared to be. When they weren’t using us or hiding things from us. My eyes scanned over the rest of the data on his screen, finding at least six other instances of payments to the corporationPiccolo Fiore.“Little flower.”

“You think this business belongs to Tommaso?” Obi asked, standing to crowd behind me and get a better look at the data. I could feel the heat of his chest against my back. He stared at the screen as if he were trying to put together the same puzzle I was.

I shrugged. It was a long shot. “No idea. It just rang a bell.”

“I can start there,” Ciel offered, starting to type. “See what I can trace.”

We watched as more screens flitted across his computer while he typed command after command. Eventually Obi sat back down and started working again, frowning at his laptop screen, but my eyes were locked on Ciel’s work.

We were on the cusp of something. I knew it. Whatever this was, whether it was connected to Vincenzo Tommaso or something else, it felt important.

Dad, what were you doing? Why?

I couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever was hidden in these account numbers would give us the answers we needed.

I wasn’t sure how long I stood there, watching. Ciel pointed out what he was doing as often as he could, trying to teach me the different commands and programs he ran. I chimed in when I recognized something, but I couldn’t stop the anxiousness causing my foot to tap.

Eventually, Obi left and returned with glasses of water for both of us. I downed mine, then forced Ciel to take a break and do the same. He never took care of himself when he got caught up in work.

More searching. More data.

I was just about to call it, to suggest we all take a break and come back to it later, when Ciel straightened.

“Shit,” Ciel breathed as one of his search results returned to his screen. “You’re right, Leona. It’s Tommaso. These assets belong to the Tommaso Family.”

I exhaled, feeling my heart pick up speed. “How many of these companies? Just that one?”