Chapter 9 - HER ANSWER
Domenico did not sleep.
Elena knew because at 6:03 the next morning he sent exactly one message.
Is it tomorrow yet?
She laughed into her pillow.
She did not answer.
At 8:15:
For accounting purposes, I believe the date has officially changed.
At 9:40:
Elena.
At 10:12:
This is cruel.
She finally replied.
Good. You’re developing patience.
Domenico arrived at Bruno Forensic Advisory at noon.
No bodyguards inside.
No expensive flowers.
No spectacle.
He carried two coffees and a paper bag from Elena’s favorite bakery.
Her receptionist stared at him as though Satan had arrived with cannoli.
Elena invited him into her office.
“You’re stalking me.”
“I’m courting you.”
“You already proposed.”
“I’m apparently required to do it repeatedly.”
She smiled.
He placed the ring box on her desk.
Then something unexpected happened.
He did not kneel.
He sat across from her.
“Elena, before you answer, there’s something else.”
She tensed automatically.
Domenico noticed.
“No secret ledger.”
“Good start.”
He handed her documents.
They transferred ownership of several Ricci properties into an independent charitable trust.
The beneficiaries were neighborhoods damaged by decades of organized crime and corruption.
Community housing.
Small-business grants.
Legal aid.
Elena looked up.
“You did this?”
“I started it before the proposal.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you told me not to change for you.”
Her eyes burned.
“So I needed to know I would still do it if you said no.”
That was the moment.
Not the diamond.
Not the penthouse.
Not the protection.
Choice.
He had finally understood.
Elena walked around the desk.
Domenico stood.
She held out her hand.
“Yes.”
He stared.
“Yes?”
“Yes, Domenico.”
His expression changed so completely she laughed.
“You could at least pretend you expected that.”
“I run companies worth billions. I have negotiated with men who wanted me dead. Nothing has prepared me for you.”
“Good.”
He slid the ring onto her finger.
It fit perfectly.
Three weeks later, Ashford’s case took an unexpected turn.
His attorneys offered information in exchange for reduced charges.
Elena assumed he would implicate corrupt officials.
Instead, Ashford requested to speak with her.
She refused.
Then he sent one sentence through his attorney.
Carlo was not the last partner.
Elena agreed to a monitored meeting.
Ashford looked different without tailored coats and armed men.
Smaller.
He smiled when she entered.
“Future Mrs. Ricci.”
“Elena Bruno.”
“Still?”
“Always.”
Ashford leaned back.
“Carlo kept one insurance policy.”
“What?”
“A recording.”
“Of whom?”
“Someone who knew about Antonio’s investigation before his death.”
Elena waited.
Ashford named a Chicago businessman celebrated for philanthropy and political donations.
Richard Vale.
Chairman of Vale Development.
More importantly, the man preparing to purchase several former Ricci properties.
Elena went cold.
If Vale was involved, the legitimate transition Domenico had spent months building might already be compromised.
“What did he do?”
Ashford smiled.
“He ordered Salvatore Ricci killed.”
Elena’s stomach dropped.
“Carlo killed Salvatore.”
“Carlo arranged it.”
Ashford leaned forward.
“Vale paid for it.”
“Why?”
“Because Salvatore and Antonio were not merely investigating Carlo.”
He paused.
“They were investigating an entire network.”
Elena left without giving Ashford the satisfaction of seeing fear.
Domenico waited outside.
She told him everything.
His first instinct was visible.
Violence.
Then he looked at Elena.
And stopped.
“What do we do?”
Not what will I do?
What do we do?
Elena took his hand.
“We audit him.”
For six weeks, they quietly investigated Vale.
They discovered bribery hidden inside charitable foundations.
Land purchases linked to forced foreclosures.
Political contributions routed through shell donors.
And one audio file.
Carlo’s voice.
Vale’s voice.
The order that led to Salvatore’s death.
Domenico listened once.
Then turned it off.
Elena watched him carefully.
“What are you thinking?”
“That twenty years ago, I would have killed him.”
“And now?”
Domenico looked at the evidence.
“Now I want him to live long enough to watch everything disappear.”
Elena smiled.
“Now you’re thinking like an accountant.”
They turned the evidence over.
Richard Vale was arrested on a cold Monday morning outside his Michigan Avenue headquarters.
Cameras captured everything.
For the first time, Domenico did not hide from the consequences of his family’s past.
He stood beside Elena.
That evening, they returned to the penthouse.
The war that had begun with a diamond was finally ending.
Or so Elena believed.
At 11:37, someone knocked.
Marco entered.
He looked terrified.
“Elena.”
“What happened?”
He held an envelope.
“It came to the shop.”
Inside was a photograph.
Elena and Domenico leaving the courthouse.
A red circle had been drawn around Elena’s stomach.
On the back were six words.
ASHFORD WAS NEVER THE REAL THREAT.
Domenico’s face went cold.
Elena stared at the photograph.
May you like
Then at the date printed in the corner.
The picture had been taken tomorrow.
