The distant hallway feels too long and too quiet. Toni slows near the study doors, with Vicky hurrying up beside her, tense and alert.
The air shifts. From the dark seam of the study comes Luca Capozzi, tall and immovable, his presence swallowing the corridor's warmth.
Victoria "Vicky" Capozzi
Grandpa Luca, we need a minute.
Lucifer "Luca" Capozzi
Then speak plainly. I am listening.
He stops a few paces away, studying Toni with steady, unreadable patience. Vicky shifts closer to Toni, as if bracing for impact.
Lucifer "Luca" Capozzi
If this is about the ledger, show me what you have found.
“I rush over and hug grandpa Luca, thanking him for his help.”
SUCCESS (Fair Diplomacy, rolled +0)
Toni closes the distance fast, before Luca can turn the moment into an interrogation. She throws her arms around him in a tight, impulsive hug and thanks him for helping.
Lucifer "Luca" Capozzi
He lets the embrace settle for a beat before returning it, one hand landing firm between her shoulder blades. His eyes flick once to Vicky, then back to Toni.
Victoria "Vicky" Capozzi
Vicky’s shoulders ease, but only a little. She watches Luca like she is measuring every breath he takes.
Luca’s coat keeps the hallway cold, but his grip is steady and careful. For a second, the corridor feels less like a trap and more like a family room with the furniture pushed too far apart.
Lucifer "Luca" Capozzi
You are welcome, child. But gratitude does not bring you to my door like this unless something weighs on you.
His gaze drops to Toni’s torn sleeve, then lingers on her face, patient enough to be alarming. Vicky shifts beside them, silent, ready to step in if Toni chooses to answer.
“I tell him that someone outside the family, an unknown member of the mafia we run, is trying to frame me for embezzlement and i explain my fears of Don killing me because of it.”
SUCCESS (Fair Diplomacy, rolled +2)
Antonia "Toni" Capozzi
I think somebody outside the family is setting me up, someone in the operation. The numbers under the marked page point to embezzlement, not my theft, and if Don thinks I stole from him... he might not ask questions first.
Lucifer "Luca" Capozzi
His hand stills on her back. His face goes distant for a second, the way a storm front goes quiet. Then his eyes sharpen again, but on the idea she names, not on her.
Victoria "Vicky" Capozzi
Vicky’s jaw tightens. "So it is a frame job. I knew the ledger was hiding something deeper."
Lucifer "Luca" Capozzi
"If your father believes you robbed him, he will be cruel. If he believes someone else put you in that position, he becomes interested."
Victoria "Vicky" Capozzi
"We can use that," she says, quieter now. "Not to scare him, just to show him Toni is not the loose thread."
Lucifer "Luca" Capozzi
He studies Toni for a long beat, then asks, "Can you show me the second layer of numbers without letting anyone else see it?"
“I nod and ask Vicky to show him the ledger”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +0)
Toni gives Vicky a small nod, keeping her voice low and steady in the hall. The request is simple, and Luca hears exactly what matters, the ledger is ready to be shown.
Victoria "Vicky" Capozzi
Yeah. Give me a second.
Vicky slips closer to Toni, then takes the ledger from her with careful hands, angling her body to block the study doors from view.
She opens to the marked page and finds the hidden layer Toni spotted before, the second row of numbers lined up beneath the names.
Lucifer "Luca" Capozzi
That is better. Now I can read the shape of it.
Vicky lifts the page just enough for Luca to see, her expression tightening as the pattern settles into something deliberate and ugly.
Victoria "Vicky" Capozzi
This is not Toni's handwriting, and it is not her trail.
“I show Luca the marked payments”
SUCCESS (Superb Investigation, rolled -1)
Toni slides the ledger closer, and Vicky lowers it to Luca’s line of sight. The page trembles once, then steadies under three sets of eyes.
Antonia "Toni" Capozzi
Right here. These payments repeat under the names.
Luca’s gaze tracks the hidden row, then the marked entries above it. His hand lifts, stops short of touching the page.
Lucifer "Luca" Capozzi
That pattern is deliberate. Not sloppy, not hers.
Victoria "Vicky" Capozzi
See? The trail is in the numbers, not in Toni.
Toni’s torn sleeve catches on the banister as she shifts, the fabric tugging her arm while the open ledger stays between them.
Lucifer "Luca" Capozzi
Keep that page open. I want every marked payment copied exactly as it appears.
Quest Complete
Prove Toni’s innocence through the payment trail
Attribute Upgrade: Reasoning Good→Great