Chapter 8 - Marco Comes to the Gate
By morning, Alessandro had doubled security at Palazzo Moretti.
Elena objected.
He ignored her.
She objected louder.
He finally said, “Someone hid a Casano ledger inside my house.”
“That does not mean I need six people following me to breakfast.”
“Four.”
“That isn’t better.”
“It is mathematically better.”
She stared at him.
Matteo, seated at the breakfast table, laughed into his coffee.
Elena pointed at him.
“Don’t encourage him.”
Dante unfolded the newspaper.
“This is the happiest breakfast we’ve had in months.”
For one ridiculous second, Elena felt normal.
Then the intercom sounded.
A guard’s voice came through.
“Signor Moretti, Marco Bellini is at the main gate.”
The room went silent.
Elena set down her cup.
“Let him in.”
Alessandro said, “No.”
She turned.
“You told me I could leave whenever I wanted.”
“Yes.”
“You never said I couldn’t invite someone in.”
“He may be trying to provoke you.”
“Probably.”
“Then why reward him?”
“Because this time I want him to see exactly where I am.”
Alessandro studied her.
Then pressed the intercom.
“Send him to the south courtyard.”
Marco arrived five minutes later.
He looked exhausted.
His perfect façade had finally cracked.
No tie.
Wrinkled shirt.
Eyes shadowed from lack of sleep.
He stopped when he saw all three Moretti brothers.
“This is theatrical.”
Elena stood near the fountain.
“You came to their house.”
“I came for you.”
“No.”
Marco walked closer.
“I need five minutes.”
“You have three.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You were always like this.”
“Like what?”
“Cold.”
Elena almost laughed.
“You cheated on me with my sister for two years and your criticism is that I’m cold?”
“I’m trying to tell you something important.”
“Then try faster.”
Marco looked at Alessandro.
“Casano is going to destroy you.”
Alessandro replied, “Get in line.”
“This isn’t funny.”
“No one laughed.”
Marco turned back to Elena.
“Niccolò knows Sophia talked.”
“I assumed.”
“He knows about the ledger.”
Elena’s pulse changed.
“How?”
“I told him.”
Dante took one slow step forward.
Marco raised both hands.
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“You always have a choice,” Elena said.
“Easy for you.”
“Apparently not. I chose you.”
That landed.
Marco looked away.
“I owe Casano money.”
“How much?”
“Eleven million.”
Elena stared.
Bellini Development had been in worse condition than she knew.
“Why?”
“Projects collapsed. Loans came due.”
“And instead of telling me?”
“You would have tried to save me.”
“I did try to save you.”
“I know.”
His voice broke slightly.
“That made it worse.”
Elena struggled to understand.
“My helping you made it worse?”
“You never needed me.”
There it was.
The same poison she had heard from Sophia.
Jealousy disguised as injury.
Marco continued.
“You had the respected name. The successful firm. Your father’s legacy. Every room we entered, people wanted you.”
“So you decided to steal from me.”
“I decided to build something that was mine.”
“With Casano.”
“Yes.”
“With my father’s documents.”
He said nothing.
“With my sister.”
His face tightened.
“That wasn’t part of the original plan.”
“How comforting.”
“Elena, Sophia came to me.”
“And you said yes.”
“Yes.”
The honesty should have hurt.
It didn’t.
The wound had changed.
Marco no longer had access to the deepest parts of her.
“What do you want?”
“Protection.”
Dante laughed once.
Marco looked at him.
“I can give you Niccolò.”
Alessandro’s eyes sharpened.
“In exchange?”
“You get me out.”
“Out of what?”
“Everything.”
Elena stared.
“You want them to protect you from the consequences of what you did.”
“I can testify.”
“That’s not protection. That’s negotiation.”
Marco stepped toward her.
“Elena, if Casano gets what he wants, he will destroy Rossi Studio too.”
“Why?”
“Because the original preservation records are the only thing that can invalidate the transfer.”
“They’re protected.”
“You don’t understand.”
Marco’s voice dropped.
“They have someone inside your firm.”
Elena became still.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I only communicated through Enzo.”
“Who was inside?”
“Someone with archive access.”
Elena thought of Pietro.
Giulia.
Senior architects.
People who had worked beside her father.
Marco reached into his jacket.
Every guard in the courtyard reacted.
Marco froze.
“It’s paper.”
Alessandro nodded once.
Marco slowly withdrew an envelope.
He gave it to Elena.
Inside was a copy of a contract.
Her forged signature appeared again.
But this document was different.
It transferred controlling rights in Rossi Conservation Trust to a newly created entity if Elena became “incapacitated, unreachable, or subject to a conflict of professional interest.”
The receiving entity was Bellini Heritage Partners.
Elena looked at Marco.
“This is absurd.”
“Legally weak.”
“You know that?”
“Of course.”
“Then why?”
“Because Riccardo Moretti agreed to recognize it.”
Alessandro’s face hardened.
Marco continued.
“And Enzo agreed to certify it.”
Elena felt sick.
Two corrupt signatures could make a fraudulent document look credible long enough to force emergency court proceedings.
Long enough to pressure banks.
Investors.
Partners.
“Why the wedding?” she asked.
Marco looked at her.
“The marriage would have made everything cleaner.”
“So when I canceled—”
“We moved to the second plan.”
“What second plan?”
Marco hesitated.
Dante said, “You came for protection. Start earning it.”
Marco looked at Elena.
“They were going to discredit you professionally.”
“How?”
“Claim you manipulated conservation restrictions to benefit Moretti interests.”
Elena almost laughed.
“They hired me after the wedding.”
“I know. That made it easier.”
Her stomach dropped.
“Easier?”
“They’ll say the Morettis paid you.”
Alessandro swore quietly.
Marco continued.
“Casano has journalists ready. Documents. Emails.”
“Fake?”
“Some.”
“Some?”
Marco looked ashamed.
“Some came from your office.”
Elena remembered Sophia’s stolen files.
The conspiracy was designed to make truth and forgery impossible to separate quickly.
Marco stepped closer.
“Elena, listen to me. In forty-eight hours, they’re going public.”
Alessandro asked, “With what accusation?”
Marco answered without looking away from Elena.
“That Elena Rossi accepted Moretti money to falsify historic restrictions worth hundreds of millions.”
The courtyard seemed to become very quiet.
Elena’s entire career rested on professional trust.
One scandal could destroy decades of reputation.
Her father’s reputation too.
Marco whispered, “You think the affair humiliated you?”
His eyes filled with regret.
“What they’re about to do is worse.”
Elena folded the fraudulent contract.
Then looked toward Palazzo Moretti.
The house her father had protected.
The house being used to frame her.
She turned to Alessandro.
“How long would it take to audit every document in your San Aurelio archive?”
“Months.”
“We have forty-eight hours.”
“Yes.”
Elena looked back at Marco.
“Then I guess we work faster.”
Marco stared.
“That’s your answer?”
“No.”
Elena walked toward him and handed back the contract.
“My answer is this: if you want protection, tell the police everything.”
“Elena.”
“No deals from me.”
“I can help you.”
“You can start by telling the truth without being paid for it.”
She turned away.
Marco called after her.
“I did love you.”
Elena stopped.
For a second the courtyard blurred.
Then she looked over her shoulder.
“Maybe.”
Marco’s face changed.
“But whatever you loved was less important to you than what you wanted to take from me.”
She walked inside.
An hour later, the first anonymous article appeared online.
QUESTIONS SURROUND PROMINENT RESTORATION ARCHITECT ELENA ROSSI AND MORETTI ESTATE DEAL.
May you like
The war for her reputation had begun.
---
