Chapter 5 - THE MAN WHO RAISED HIM
By noon, Dominic Moretti had been locked out of his own boardroom.
Not physically.
Men like Enzo preferred paperwork when paperwork could wound more deeply.
An emergency resolution suspended Dominic from executive authority pending an investigation into “unauthorized financial activity, coercion, and misuse of company security resources.”
I read it twice.
“This is absurd.”
Dominic stood in his private office, unusually calm.
“That is why it will work for a few days.”
“He’s accusing you of the things he did.”
“Yes.”
Marco dropped another document onto the desk.
“Four directors already signed.”
“Bought?”
“Probably.”
I looked at Dominic.
“Can they remove you?”
“Temporarily.”
“What about permanently?”
His silence answered.
Enzo did not hide.
He arrived at Moretti Tower at two in the afternoon.
Gray suit.
Silver hair.
An expression of paternal disappointment.
He kissed my mother’s hand when she reluctantly came upstairs.
Then he looked at me.
“Emma Clarke.”
I had received birthday flowers from this man.
I wanted to throw them retroactively.
“You look like your father.”
“Did you tell him that before or after you had him killed?”
Marco inhaled sharply.
Enzo smiled.
“You inherited Elias’s subtlety too.”
Dominic stepped between us.
“That’s enough.”
Enzo’s eyes moved toward his nephew.
“You always did become emotional when she was involved.”
I froze.
“When I was involved?”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
Enzo smiled wider.
“Oh.”
He looked genuinely delighted.
“She doesn’t know.”
I turned toward Dominic.
“What now?”
“Emma—”
Enzo answered for him.
“He attended your father’s funeral.”
I stared.
“No, he didn’t.”
“Yes, he did.”
I remembered hundreds of faces.
Neighbors.
Relatives.
Dad’s coworkers.
Men in dark coats standing beyond the cemetery fence.
Dominic had been one of them.
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you speak to us?”
“Your mother had just been told never to trust my family.”
Mom looked away.
Enzo chuckled.
“You see, Dominic has been orbiting your life much longer than two years.”
Dominic’s eyes became dangerous.
“Stop.”
“Why? She deserves honesty.”
I hated that Enzo was right.
He turned toward me.
“Did he tell you he paid your college tuition after Elias died?”
My breath caught.
“No.”
My scholarship.
The anonymous memorial grant my university said had come from a private foundation.
I looked at Dominic.
“You did that?”
“Yes.”
“My mother’s mortgage?”
He didn’t answer.
Mom did.
“Yes.”
I stared at her.
“You knew?”
“Not at first.”
The room suddenly felt full of people who had been making decisions around me for twelve years.
“Everybody knew except me.”
“No,” Dominic said. “Not everybody.”
“Enough.”
Enzo enjoyed every second.
That was when I understood his strategy.
He was not merely trying to remove Dominic.
He wanted me angry at the only person who had spent years standing between Enzo and me.
So I turned back to him.
“Why did you kill my father?”
His smile vanished.
“I didn’t.”
“Peter Rinaldi tried to take a North Shore file from me last night.”
“Did he?”
“He worked for you.”
“He worked for dozens of people.”
“Dad photographed you with Graves.”
“A prosecutor attending a party.”
“In an alley.”
“I enjoy fresh air.”
I almost laughed.
Dominic did not.
“You’re finished, Enzo.”
His uncle looked at him almost sadly.
“You sound like your father.”
Something passed across Dominic’s face.
Enzo noticed.
“So noble near the end.”
Dominic went still.
“Near what end?”
Marco’s head lifted.
Enzo realized he had said too much.
Dominic stepped closer.
“My father died of a heart attack.”
“Yes.”
“You just said near the end like you watched it happen.”
Enzo’s expression hardened.
“Careful.”
Dominic’s voice dropped.
“Did my father know about North Shore?”
No answer.
Marco whispered, “Dominic…”
Enzo walked toward the door.
“Enjoy your suspension.”
Dominic grabbed his arm.
Every security guard in the room moved.
So did Marco.
Enzo looked down at Dominic’s hand.
“Are you really going to strike an old man in front of witnesses?”
Dominic released him.
“No.”
Enzo smiled.
“I’ve taught you something after all.”
He left.
Only after the elevator doors closed did Dominic turn toward Marco.
“Get my father’s medical records.”
“Dominic—”
“All of them.”
I stared at him.
“You think Enzo killed your father too.”
“I don’t know what I think.”
For the first time, I saw the cost of the possibility.
Enzo had raised him.
Protected him.
Taught him the business.
Sat beside him at his father’s funeral.
The same man who might have created the funeral.
That evening, Lily came to my apartment.
I nearly shut the door.
“Please.”
I hesitated.
Then let her inside.
She placed her apartment key on the table.
“If you want me gone, I’ll go.”
I stared at it.
“Did Dominic order you here?”
“No.”
“Can I believe that?”
“Yes.”
“That’s the problem.”
Her eyes filled.
“I know.”
We sat across from each other.
“What exactly were your instructions?”
“Keep you alive.”
“That simple?”
“Yes.”
“Report threats.”
“Yes.”
“Relationships?”
“No.”
“My dates?”
“No.”
“My family?”
“Only if someone suspicious approached them.”
I looked away.
“Did you ever read my messages?”
“Never.”
“Search my room?”
“No.”
“Tell Dominic when I cried after my mother’s surgery?”
“No.”
That embarrassed me.
Lily smiled faintly.
“I did tell him when a car followed you home three nights in a row.”
I looked back.
“What?”
“Eight months ago.”
“What car?”
“Registered to North Shore.”
My anger cooled.
Only slightly.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Dominic thought you’d panic.”
“He really needs to stop deciding how I’ll react.”
“Agreed.”
I stared at her.
“You’re agreeing with me?”
“I’ve been telling him that for a year.”
Despite myself, I laughed.
It hurt.
Then Lily’s expression became serious.
“There’s something you need to know.”
“What now?”
“The security order that pulled me last night…”
“Yes?”
“It didn’t just use Dominic’s authorization.”
She opened her phone.
“It used a biometric confirmation.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“Voice authorization.”
“Someone recorded him?”
“Probably.”
“Who had access to enough private recordings?”
Lily hesitated.
“You.”
I stared.
“Excuse me?”
“Your office system stores Dominic’s dictated memos.”
Of course.
Hundreds of them.
Someone had accessed my workstation.
“Security logs?”
“Your login.”
My stomach dropped.
“They’re framing me.”
“Or trying to.”
I called Dominic.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Marco answered on the third attempt.
“Where is Dominic?”
Silence.
“Marco?”
“He left the tower forty minutes ago.”
“For where?”
“We don’t know.”
My heart started racing.
“Why would you let him leave alone?”
“He received a message from Enzo.”
“What message?”
Marco sent me the screenshot.
ONE LAST TRUTH ABOUT YOUR FATHER. COME TO THE OLD NORTH SHORE TERMINAL ALONE.
My entire body went cold.
The same kind of message that had lured me outside.
“Marco.”
“I know.”
“Go after him.”
“We are.”
I grabbed my coat.
Lily stood.
“No.”
I looked at her.
“Excuse me?”
“You nearly froze to death last night.”
“And Dominic is walking into a trap because of my father’s investigation.”
“You are not going.”
I picked up my purse.
“Congratulations.”
“For what?”
“You finally sound exactly like Dominic.”
May you like
Then I walked out.
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