Chapter 8 - The Enemy Inside Moretti Holdings
Marco did not run to Salvatore.
That was the first surprise.
The second arrived forty minutes later when Cameron received a message.
Meet me alone. Moretti Maritime. Your father’s office.
Avery read it over his shoulder.
“You’re not going alone.”
Cameron didn’t even bother answering.
“Cameron.”
“No.”
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
The words stopped her.
He stopped too.
For one second, neither moved.
Then Cameron looked away.
“That came out wrong.”
“Did it?”
“Yes.”
Avery folded her arms.
“Interesting.”
“Not now.”
“Convenient.”
They drove to Moretti Maritime with security following discreetly.
The headquarters stood near the harbor—a steel-and-glass tower overlooking cranes and cargo vessels.
Lorenzo Moretti’s old office had been preserved on the thirty-first floor.
Marco waited inside.
Alone.
The flash drive sat on the desk.
Cameron entered first.
Avery followed before he could stop her.
Marco sighed.
“Of course.”
Cameron said, “Why steal it?”
“To copy it.”
“For Salvatore?”
“For federal prosecutors.”
Silence.
Avery blinked.
“What?”
Marco removed a second drive.
“I’ve been cooperating for nineteen months.”
Cameron stared.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“I expect you to verify it tomorrow.”
Marco sat.
“I spent fourteen years helping Salvatore.”
His voice was flat.
“I told myself I was surviving. Then your father died.”
Cameron’s expression hardened.
“Don’t use my father to clean your conscience.”
“I’m not.”
Marco looked at Avery.
“Vincent’s death did that.”
Avery said nothing.
“He should have hated me. Instead, before he died, he told me I could still choose what kind of man I became.”
Marco laughed bitterly.
“I thought he was naive.”
“And now?” Avery asked.
“Now I know he was the toughest man I ever met.”
Avery’s eyes burned.
Marco pushed the drive toward Cameron.
“The files contain enough evidence to destroy Salvatore’s financial network.”
“Then why does he want them?”
“Because there’s one document in there that matters more.”
Cameron inserted the drive into an offline computer.
Marco directed him toward a folder.
L.M. TRUST
Inside was a legal document.
Avery read the header.
THE LORENZO MORETTI HUMANITARIAN MARITIME FOUNDATION.
“What is this?”
Cameron stared.
“I’ve never seen it.”
Marco nodded.
“Because Salvatore buried it.”
Lorenzo had established a foundation days before his death.
Its purpose: using private shipping and real estate assets to relocate threatened witnesses, domestic violence survivors, exploited workers, and families endangered by organized criminal groups.
The endowment was staggering.
Nearly one billion dollars.
Avery whispered, “Your father was giving away a billion dollars?”
Cameron looked stunned.
Marco nodded.
“Salvatore wanted control of those assets.”
“Why?”
“Ports. Warehouses. Apartments. Transportation companies. Perfect infrastructure for illegal operations.”
Cameron leaned back.
“And who controls the trust?”
Marco looked at Avery.
She immediately disliked that.
“No.”
Marco tapped the document.
Cameron scrolled.
His face changed.
Avery leaned closer.
The original trustees:
Lorenzo Moretti.
Vincent Russo.
And, upon Vincent’s death, Vincent’s legal heir.
Avery Elena Russo.
She stared.
“That can’t be right.”
Marco said, “It is.”
“I was sixteen.”
“You didn’t control anything until twenty-five.”
Avery frowned.
“I’m twenty-four.”
Marco nodded.
“For four more months.”
The room went silent.
Cameron understood first.
“Salvatore doesn’t need Avery because of Vincent’s evidence.”
“No.”
“He needs her signature.”
“Yes.”
Avery stepped backward.
“What happens when I turn twenty-five?”
“You become voting trustee of assets currently worth approximately 1.6 billion dollars.”
She laughed.
Nobody else did.
“You’re serious.”
“Yes.”
Avery sat down.
“I served pancakes yesterday.”
Cameron almost smiled.
Marco continued.
“With your vote and Cameron’s corporate control, Salvatore permanently loses access.”
“Why didn’t Cameron know?”
“Lorenzo hid the trust from his own board.”
Avery looked at Cameron.
“Your family is exhausting.”
“You have no idea.”
Her phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
A message.
CHECK ON YOUR MOTHER.
Avery stood so quickly the chair fell.
“Elena.”
Cameron called his residence.
No answer.
Security line.
No answer.
He swore.
They raced back to Manhattan.
The front security room was empty.
One guard unconscious but breathing.
The guest suite door stood open.
Elena was gone.
On the bed rested an envelope.
Avery opened it.
Inside:
SIGN AWAY YOUR TRUSTEE RIGHTS TOMORROW AT NOON.
OR YOUR MOTHER DISAPPEARS THE WAY YOUR FATHER DID.
Avery’s hands shook.
Cameron took the letter.
His face became colder than she had ever seen.
“I’m bringing her back.”
Avery whispered, “How?”
“Whatever it takes.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
She wiped tears from her face.
“We do this my father’s way.”
“What does that mean?”
“We stop reacting.”
Cameron frowned.
Avery held up the trust document.
“Salvatore thinks he needs my signature.”
“Yes.”
“Then tomorrow, we give him exactly what he wants.”
Cameron stared.
“You’re not going near him.”
“Actually…”
Avery straightened.
“For once, Cameron Moretti is going to sit quietly in the corner.”
Despite everything, he looked almost offended.
May you like
And for the first time since this began, Avery had a plan.
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