Chapter 14 - When the Moretti House Turned Against Itself
Paolo arrived under guard shortly before midnight.
Norah did not want him near Salvatore.
Salvatore insisted.
The meeting took place in the library.
Dominic stood behind his father.
Frank remained by the door.
Norah sat close enough to monitor Salvatore’s pulse.
Paolo looked exhausted.
The confidence he had shown in the service corridor was gone.
“Victor tried to kill me.”
Dominic’s expression did not change.
“Unfortunate.”
Paolo laughed once.
“I deserve that.”
Salvatore stared.
Paolo looked at him.
“We’re the last ones, Sal.”
Salvatore’s eye narrowed.
“Pietro’s gone. Elena’s gone.”
His voice softened.
“Half the people who started this are underground.”
Salvatore pointed to the board.
YOU.
KILLED.
HER.
Paolo looked down.
“Yes.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
Paolo did not defend himself.
“Pietro told me she was destroying everything.”
Salvatore’s hand shook with rage.
Paolo continued.
“I was twenty-seven. I thought loyalty meant obedience.”
Norah said quietly, “You were old enough to know murder was wrong.”
Paolo looked at her.
“Yes.”
No excuse.
That almost made it worse.
Dominic stepped forward.
“What does Victor plan?”
Paolo looked toward him.
“He moved money out of three holding companies this afternoon.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
“Where?”
“Offshore accounts.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“I don’t know.”
Dominic’s patience thinned.
Paolo continued quickly.
“He also contacted people in the district attorney’s office.”
“Why?”
“To offer Salvatore.”
Silence.
Norah frowned.
“Offer him?”
Paolo nodded.
“Victor wants to blame everything on Salvatore.”
Dominic laughed coldly.
“Original.”
“He has documents.”
“False?”
“Some.”
“Some?”
Paolo looked at the old man.
“Salvatore did enough real things that Victor won’t need to invent much.”
Salvatore did not flinch.
That mattered.
Dominic asked, “What is Victor trying to protect?”
“Construction.”
Frank frowned.
“What about it?”
“The legitimate companies aren’t legitimate.”
Dominic went still.
Paolo continued.
“Not all of them.”
He explained.
For fifteen years Victor had used Moretti construction contracts to launder money for outside groups.
Salvatore discovered it after his stroke was already beginning to affect him.
He quietly gathered proof.
Victor realized.
That was why nurses kept being driven away.
Not because Salvatore hated them.
Because Victor needed him isolated.
Norah looked sharply at Salvatore.
“You were throwing people out on purpose?”
He avoided her eyes.
She stared.
“The pitchers.”
Still no eye contact.
“The food.”
Salvatore looked guilty.
Dominic actually smiled.
Norah pointed at him.
“Do not encourage this.”
Dominic raised both hands.
“I didn’t say anything.”
She turned back.
“You terrorized four nurses because you were trying to stop Victor from getting information about what you remembered?”
Salvatore nodded.
“Unbelievable.”
Paolo looked almost amused.
Norah glared.
“You are not allowed to enjoy this.”
His smile vanished.
Dominic asked, “Why let Norah stay?”
Everyone looked at Salvatore.
He pointed:
NOT.
AFRAID.
Norah’s anger softened despite herself.
He continued:
LISTEN.
Then:
Basta.
The word.
The memory.
Elena.
Something about Norah refusing to fear him had broken through thirty years of defensive instinct.
Paolo looked toward the old man.
“Victor knows the federal investigation is coming.”
Dominic turned back.
“How?”
“Matteo.”
Of course.
“He has someone inside your financial department copying records now.”
Dominic pulled out his phone.
Frank stopped him.
“Who are you calling?”
“Finance.”
“Don’t.”
Dominic looked at him.
Frank continued.
“If Victor has someone inside, you don’t know who answers.”
Dominic lowered the phone.
For the next two hours, they worked offline.
Paper records.
Trusted people physically contacted.
Accounts frozen.
Servers isolated.
By dawn, Victor’s access to the largest legitimate companies had been cut.
But the cost was enormous.
Employees panicked.
Banks suspended credit lines.
News outlets received anonymous allegations.
Moretti Group stock in two public subsidiaries fell sharply.
Dominic’s phone never stopped.
By breakfast, reporters gathered outside the gates.
The empire was cracking.
Norah found Dominic alone in the dining room.
The same table.
No guards.
No suit jacket.
He sat with his shirt sleeves rolled up, staring at a cup of coffee gone cold.
“You should sleep.”
“So should you.”
“I’m a nurse. We survive on caffeine and bad decisions.”
Dominic looked at her.
“I may lose twelve thousand employees.”
“That’s not the same as losing companies.”
“If lenders panic—”
“Then protect the people first.”
He leaned back.
“You say things like that as though they’re easy.”
“No.”
Norah sat opposite him.
“I say them because being difficult doesn’t make them less true.”
Dominic studied her.
“What would you do?”
“With twelve thousand employees?”
“Yes.”
“I would start by not making decisions at five in the morning while emotionally destroyed.”
A tired smile appeared.
“Very helpful.”
“I’m serious.”
He rubbed his face.
“I spent my life learning how to preserve this family.”
“Maybe you need to decide what family means.”
He looked at her.
Norah continued.
“Is it the name? The companies? The men at the table?”
She glanced toward the ceiling.
“Or the eighty-year-old man upstairs who finally learned how to apologize?”
Dominic’s gaze softened.
“And you?”
The question surprised her.
“What about me?”
“Where do you fit?”
Norah’s heart shifted.
“I’m the nurse.”
“Are you?”
Silence.
His eyes held hers.
For the first time, the tension between them had nothing to do with danger.
Norah looked away first.
“Your coffee is cold.”
Dominic smiled.
“Coward.”
She looked back.
“Careful.”
He stood.
For one breath, she thought he might come closer.
Then Frank entered.
“Dominic.”
The moment vanished.
“What?”
Frank held his phone.
“The attorney general’s office just issued a warrant.”
“For Victor?”
Frank shook his head.
“For Salvatore.”
Norah stood.
Dominic’s face went cold.
“Charges?”
“Racketeering. Conspiracy. Bribery.”
Frank hesitated.
“And homicide.”
Silence.
“Elena?” Dominic asked.
“Yes.”
Victor had done exactly what Paolo predicted.
He had turned Salvatore into the villain Dominic had believed in for twenty-eight years.
May you like
And this time, he planned to make the entire world believe it too.
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