Chapter 9 - The Fiancée’s First Lie
Roman left Warehouse C three minutes later.
Nobody tried to stop him.
Cross drove.
Roman sat in front.
Emily and Vanessa sat behind.
Thomas remained with trusted security and the evidence.
During the first five minutes, Roman said nothing.
That frightened Emily more than anger would have.
The city moved past them in streaks of rain and reflected light.
Finally Vanessa spoke.
“Roman.”
He did not turn.
“What?”
“I need to tell you something before we get there.”
Emily watched Vanessa carefully.
Roman’s voice was flat.
“You’ve had three years.”
“I know.”
“Then use the next ten minutes well.”
Vanessa took a breath.
“I knew David was involved.”
Roman slowly looked over his shoulder.
“How much?”
“Not everything.”
“Vanessa.”
“I knew Victor reported to him.”
“When?”
“A year after Luca died.”
Roman turned fully.
“You have been engaged to me for eight months.”
Her face twisted.
“I know.”
“You accepted my ring knowing my uncle may have been involved in my brother’s death.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“You knew enough.”
“Yes.”
Roman looked away.
Vanessa continued.
“My father told me David had leverage over Victor.”
“What leverage?”
“I don’t know.”
“Lie.”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“Money.”
Roman waited.
“Sinclair Development had debt after the 2008 crash. David secretly financed several projects.”
Roman stared.
“Through Moretti funds?”
“Through offshore companies.”
“Victor arranged them?”
“Yes.”
Roman laughed softly.
It was the kind of laugh Emily had heard from people after receiving eviction notices.
Not amusement.
Disbelief finally becoming pain.
“So our entire engagement…”
“No.”
Vanessa leaned forward.
“That part wasn’t fake.”
Roman’s face hardened.
“Don’t.”
“I loved you.”
“Then you should have told me.”
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
“By lying?”
“By keeping David calm.”
Roman looked at her.
“You think marrying me kept David calm?”
“He wanted the Sinclair and Moretti interests tied together.”
“Why?”
“So nobody reopened old investigations.”
Emily understood.
“The marriage would bury the past.”
Vanessa looked at her.
“Yes.”
Roman turned toward the windshield.
“Was that why you agreed?”
“At first?”
Roman’s shoulders stiffened.
Vanessa answered.
“Yes.”
Cross glanced at Roman but said nothing.
Vanessa continued.
“My father asked me to get closer to you.”
Roman shut his eyes.
Emily felt uncomfortable witnessing something so intimate and brutal.
Vanessa whispered, “But I fell in love with you.”
Roman answered without turning.
“That doesn’t improve the first part.”
“I know.”
A long silence.
Then Emily said quietly, “Why did you tear the letter?”
Vanessa looked at her.
“Because I thought Thomas was forcing everything into the open.”
“And you were afraid David would hurt Roman?”
“Yes.”
“Or your father?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“Both.”
Emily nodded.
At least that sounded true.
Roman asked, “Why did David take Nicholas?”
Vanessa’s face changed.
“I don’t know.”
Roman turned.
“You know something.”
“Luca left something to Nicholas.”
Roman stared.
“What?”
“A trust.”
“I know about the trust.”
“Not money.”
“What?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“An access key.”
Roman’s pulse jumped.
“To what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who told you?”
“Victor.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
Emily leaned forward.
“Why would Victor tell you?”
“Because he wanted me to retrieve it.”
“From Nicholas?”
“Yes.”
Roman’s face hardened.
“What kind of access key?”
“Physical. Small metal key on a chain.”
Roman remembered.
Nicholas had worn a silver pendant since his father died.
A simple rectangular piece.
Roman always assumed it was jewelry.
“Luca gave it to him.”
Vanessa nodded.
“Apparently.”
Roman grabbed his phone and searched old photographs.
Nicholas at twelve.
At thirteen.
At fifteen.
Always the necklace.
Emily looked.
“That doesn’t look like a key.”
Roman enlarged it.
Tiny grooves lined one edge.
“It is.”
Cross asked, “Key to what?”
Roman shook his head.
Then remembered something Luca once said.
A week before his death.
“If anything happens to me, make sure Nicholas keeps what I gave him.”
Roman had assumed Luca meant family heirlooms.
The guilt hit hard.
His brother had tried to tell him.
Cross accelerated.
Harbor Crest appeared ahead.
Roman’s secure channel suddenly activated.
A guard from the tower.
“Mr. Moretti.”
“Status.”
“David Moretti is in your penthouse.”
“Nicholas?”
“With him.”
“Harmed?”
“No.”
“Why didn’t you stop David?”
A pause.
“Sir, he had override authority.”
Roman stared.
“What?”
Cross looked surprised.
Roman continued.
“Who gave him override authority?”
“Your account.”
Roman’s face went cold.
“I never did.”
The guard hesitated.
“System says authorization was added eighteen months ago.”
Cross whispered, “Inside access.”
Vanessa looked toward Roman.
“Victor.”
Roman shook his head.
“Victor didn’t control my personal security credentials.”
“Who did?”
Roman thought.
Only three people.
Himself.
Cross.
And—
Roman turned toward Cross.
The security director met his gaze.
“What?”
Roman said nothing.
Cross understood.
“You think I added David?”
“No.”
“Then?”
Roman stared at him.
“You were unconscious when Victor took you.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Maybe four minutes.”
“Did anyone take your phone?”
Cross checked his pocket.
His expression changed.
“My backup authentication key.”
“Where is it?”
Cross searched.
Gone.
Victor had taken it.
But eighteen months ago?
No.
Someone had accessed Cross’s credentials long before tonight.
Emily noticed Cross becoming pale.
“When did you last change your password?”
Cross looked embarrassed.
“Six months ago.”
“That doesn’t explain eighteen months.”
Roman stared through the windshield.
Another possibility.
“Cross, who set up Harbor Crest security originally?”
Cross answered.
“My predecessor.”
“Name.”
“Michael Sarto.”
Roman looked at him.
Victor’s son.
Cross swore.
Michael had died two years ago.
But before his death he could have created hidden administrator access for David.
The conspiracy was older and deeper than Roman thought.
They reached the tower.
Police vehicles were absent.
Cross had kept everything private to avoid tipping off compromised authorities.
Roman stepped out.
Emily followed.
Roman turned to her.
“Stay downstairs.”
She folded her arms.
“No.”
“This is family.”
“My father died because of your family.”
Roman stopped.
She had him.
Vanessa almost smiled despite herself.
Roman sighed.
“Fine.”
They entered.
The lobby looked nothing like earlier.
Guests had been moved to a secure ballroom.
Guards stood at every doorway.
Torn fragments of Thomas’s letter remained on the coffee table.
Emily looked at them.
Four dollars.
A bus ride.
A letter.
And now twelve years of buried history were tearing open.
They entered the private elevator.
Forty-eight floors.
Roman stood in silence.
At floor forty-six, Vanessa reached for his hand.
He looked at it.
Then at her.
She withdrew.
The doors opened.
Roman’s penthouse was quiet.
Warm lights.
Manhattan skyline.
Engagement flowers.
A celebration abandoned in the middle of the night.
David Moretti sat near the windows.
Seventy years old.
Silver hair.
Perfect black suit.
A cane beside him.
Nicholas sat opposite.
Sixteen.
Dark-haired like Luca.
Angry rather than frightened.
When Nicholas saw Roman, relief flashed through his face.
David smiled.
“Roman.”
Roman entered.
Emily and Vanessa behind him.
David looked at Emily.
His smile changed.
“Edward’s daughter.”
Roman said, “Nicholas comes with me.”
David leaned back.
“Of course.”
Roman stopped.
“That easy?”
“He was never a hostage.”
Nicholas stood.
“Uncle Roman, he wanted my necklace.”
David sighed.
“Teenagers do make everything dramatic.”
Roman moved between them.
“Give me the key, Nick.”
Nicholas touched the pendant.
David smiled.
“I wouldn’t.”
Roman stared.
“Why?”
“Because Luca made sure only one person could use it.”
“Who?”
David looked directly at Emily.
“Her.”
Emily froze.
Roman turned.
David continued.
“Your father built the lock, Ms. Carter.”
Emily whispered, “What lock?”
David picked up his cane.
“The one protecting the evidence your father and Luca died trying to preserve.”
Roman’s voice sharpened.
“Where?”
David looked toward the city.
Then smiled.
“Under the first Moretti building ever built in New York.”
Roman knew exactly which one.
An abandoned tenement in Little Italy purchased by his grandfather seventy years ago.
David continued.
“Luca called it the Mercy Vault.”
Nicholas removed the pendant.
He held it toward Emily.
“Dad told me if a woman named Carter ever asked for this, I should give it to her.”
Emily stared.
“When?”
“The week before he died.”
Roman closed his eyes.
Luca had prepared everything.
Nicholas placed the key in Emily’s palm.
David watched.
Then Roman asked the question that mattered.
“Did you kill Luca?”
David’s smile disappeared.
For the first time all night, the old man looked tired.
“No.”
Roman stared.
“Did you order it?”
“No.”
“Did you know it would happen?”
David said nothing.
Roman stepped closer.
“Did you know?”
David finally answered.
“Yes.”
Nicholas went completely still.
Roman’s voice shook with controlled rage.
“And you did nothing.”
David looked at him.
“I tried.”
“How?”
“I warned Luca to leave New York.”
Roman laughed bitterly.
“That was your solution?”
“It was the only one that might have saved him.”
“From Victor?”
David looked toward Vanessa.
Then back to Roman.
“No.”
“Then from whom?”
David’s eyes moved to Nicholas.
He hesitated.
When he finally spoke, the answer changed everything again.
“From your father.”
Roman stared.
“Salvatore was dead.”
David nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then what are you talking about?”
David leaned forward.
“The person who ordered Luca’s death was following instructions Salvatore left before he died.”
Silence filled the penthouse.
Roman looked at his uncle as though the floor had disappeared beneath him.
David whispered:
“Your father knew Luca would eventually uncover everything.”
Roman’s voice became almost inaudible.
“And he planned for that?”
David nodded.
May you like
“Years before Luca died.”
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