Chapter 8 - The Man at the DoorDominic had trusted Marco Bellini with his life for seventeen years.
Marco knew the location of every family safe house.
He knew the names of Dominic's doctors.
He knew the routes Clara's drivers used.
He knew which gates at the Lake Forest estate were monitored and which were not.
And now Clara had awakened from a coma terrified of him.
Dominic stepped into the hallway and called Detective Brooks.
"Marco Bellini. I need you to investigate him."
Brooks was silent for a moment.
"Your security chief?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Clara tried to say his name."
"That doesn't establish wrongdoing."
"I know. But check him."
"Where is he now?"
Dominic looked toward the elevators.
"At the hospital."
Brooks's voice sharpened.
"Keep him away from your wife until we understand what's happening."
Dominic turned.
Marco stood twenty feet away.
Watching him.
"Everything okay, boss?" Marco asked.
Dominic slipped his phone into his pocket.
"She's waking up."
Marco smiled.
"That's good news."
"Yes."
"Did she say anything?"
Dominic studied him.
"Not yet."
Marco nodded.
But something moved behind his eyes.
A flicker.
A calculation.
The same expression Victor had worn.
Dominic felt cold.
"Go home, Marco."
"Boss?"
"You've been working all night. Get some rest."
"I'd rather stay."
"That wasn't a request."
Marco held his gaze.
Then smiled.
"Of course."
He walked toward the elevators.
Dominic waited until the doors closed.
Then called hospital security.
"Do not allow Marco Bellini into the intensive care unit."
The security supervisor asked whether there was a specific threat.
Dominic answered:
"Yes."
An hour later, Detective Brooks arrived with two federal agents.
They met in a private conference room.
Brooks placed photographs across the table.
Marco entering a parking garage.
Marco meeting Victor outside a restaurant.
Marco standing beside Serena at a private club.
Dates and times were printed beneath each image.
Dominic stared.
"How long?"
"At least eight months," Brooks said.
"Doing what?"
"We believe Bellini helped Victor gain access to your security systems."
Dominic looked at another photograph.
Marco shaking hands with a man Dominic recognized.
Patrick Sloane.
A former police officer who now operated a private security firm.
Sloane had been dismissed from the department after an internal corruption investigation.
"What does Sloane have to do with this?"
"He owned the company that serviced Clara's vehicle."
Dominic felt his stomach tighten.
Brooks continued.
"We also recovered messages between Bellini and Victor discussing a 'transfer of control' after your arrest."
"My arrest?"
"Victor planned to frame you for Clara's murder and financial crimes."
Dominic looked down.
The scheme was becoming clear.
Victor would steal the family fortune.
Forge Dominic's approval.
Kill Clara before she could expose him.
Then use the fabricated recording to send Dominic to prison.
Victor would inherit the empire.
Serena would get her rich husband.
Marco would control security.
Everyone would win.
Except Clara.
And the baby.
"Why did Marco stay loyal to me all these years?" Dominic asked.
Brooks studied him.
"Maybe he was loyal to your father. Maybe he believed your brother should have inherited the organization. We don't know yet."
Dominic rubbed his face.
"Where is he now?"
"We lost him after he left the hospital."
A silence followed.
Then Dominic's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
"Dominic."
Marco's voice.
Calm.
Familiar.
Almost affectionate.
"You should have left things alone."
Dominic closed his eyes.
"Where are you?"
"Somewhere safe."
"Why?"
Marco sighed.
"Your father made promises he never kept."
"What promises?"
"That I would be taken care of."
"You were."
Marco laughed softly.
"Money isn't the same as respect."
Dominic said nothing.
"Victor understood that."
"Victor used you."
"Maybe. But he paid what he owed."
Dominic gripped the phone.
"You tried to kill Clara."
Marco was silent.
Then:
"Your wife was smarter than any of us expected."
Dominic's breathing changed.
"She trusted you."
"I know."
"She treated you like family."
"I know."
"She was pregnant."
Another pause.
"That wasn't supposed to matter."
Dominic closed his eyes.
For a moment, rage nearly consumed him.
But Brooks was watching.
And Clara was alive.
He forced himself to remain still.
"Come in, Marco. Tell the police everything."
Marco laughed.
"You still think people listen because you tell them to."
The line went dead.
Brooks immediately ordered a trace.
Dominic looked at the photographs.
Then his phone vibrated again.
A video file.
He opened it.
The screen showed a dark room.
A wooden chair.
A man tied to it.
Blood on his shirt.
Agent Daniel Mercer.
The missing investigator.
He lifted his bruised face toward the camera.
"Mr. Valente," he whispered, "your wife wasn't the only one who found the accounts."
A hand entered the frame and struck him.
The camera shook.
Then Marco appeared.
He looked directly into the lens.
"Bring me the original financial records, Dominic."
May you like
He smiled.
"Or the next body they find will be your wife's mother."
