Chapter 6 - THE SECRET VITTORIO BURIED FOR FOURTEEN YEARS
Rafael DeLuca had been twenty-two when Vittorio’s sister died.
Young enough for everyone to forgive arrogance.
Old enough to understand betrayal.
His connection to Amelia Servino’s boyfriend had never appeared in police records.
The boyfriend’s name was Julian Cross.
He came from a family of contractors tied loosely to Servino business interests.
Vittorio despised him from the beginning.
Amelia loved him anyway.
Years later, Vittorio learned Rafael had introduced them.
That alone meant nothing.
Now Nathan found bank transfers from a company controlled by Julian’s family to Rafael.
Old money.
Old favors.
Small compared with the millions moving through Stonebridge.
But the pattern began weeks before Amelia died.
Katarina watched Vittorio process it.
He did not rage.
He became quiet.
Dangerously quiet.
They were inside the executive conference room at Servino Holdings.
Katarina had returned to work voluntarily after ten days away.
Her ankle was healing.
The bruises had faded.
For the first time in years, she wore short sleeves to work.
Joanna noticed.
She did not comment.
She simply smiled.
Vittorio had been keeping his distance.
Professional.
Almost painfully so.
Katarina appreciated it.
And occasionally hated it.
Nathan placed old financial records on the table.
“Julian owed gambling debts.”
Vittorio looked up.
“How much?”
“Almost four hundred thousand.”
“At twenty-five?”
“Yes.”
“Who paid them?”
Nathan pushed forward another page.
“Rafael.”
Silence.
Katarina frowned.
“Why?”
Nathan answered carefully.
“Julian had access to Amelia.”
Katarina felt cold.
Vittorio already understood.
“What did Rafael want?”
“Information.”
Rafael had apparently begun stealing from Servino businesses long before Stonebridge.
Fourteen years earlier, the amounts were smaller.
Fifty thousand.
Twenty.
Eighty.
But Vittorio’s father was still alive then and monitored accounts obsessively.
Rafael needed advance warning of internal audits.
Amelia sometimes overheard business conversations at family dinners.
Julian encouraged her to share harmless details.
Meeting dates.
Travel.
Which accountants Vittorio’s father distrusted.
She had no idea the information helped Rafael hide theft.
Then she found out.
One week before her death, Amelia confronted Julian.
A neighbor remembered hearing them fight.
The night she died, Julian had been drinking.
Amelia got into his car.
They crashed forty minutes later.
Julian survived.
Amelia did not.
Vittorio had always blamed himself for failing to get her away from Julian.
Now another possibility emerged.
Amelia may have been trying to leave him that night.
Rafael may have helped create the circumstances that kept her trapped.
Katarina watched Vittorio stare through the windows.
“You didn’t know.”
“I should have.”
She almost smiled sadly.
“That sentence seems popular around here.”
He looked at her.
“You’re right.”
“No.”
She walked closer.
“You’re doing what I did.”
“What?”
“Turning hindsight into responsibility.”
Vittorio said nothing.
“I told myself I should have known Chase targeted me.”
“He deceived you.”
“And Rafael deceived you.”
“That’s different.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m supposed to know.”
“Why?”
Vittorio looked almost irritated.
“Because this is what I do.”
“What?”
“Know where threats are.”
Katarina shook her head.
“No one knows everything.”
“My family survives because I do.”
“Your family survived fourteen years while Rafael stole from you.”
That landed.
Katarina continued.
“Maybe knowing everything isn’t what kept you alive.”
“What did?”
“People who stayed.”
Vittorio looked at her.
She thought about Nathan.
Joanna.
Employees.
Family photographs.
Even his sister’s memory.
“Control isn’t the same as safety.”
His jaw tightened.
“You’ve been talking to my therapist.”
Katarina blinked.
“You have a therapist?”
“For three weeks.”
She stared.
“Why?”
“Someone told me control isn’t the same as protection.”
Katarina tried not to smile.
“That person sounds exhausting.”
“She is.”
The moment softened.
Then Nathan returned.
“Rafael wants a deal.”
Vittorio’s expression hardened.
“For what?”
“He says he’ll testify about Chase, Stonebridge and the entire vendor network.”
“In exchange?”
“Reduced sentence.”
“No.”
Katarina looked at Vittorio.
Nathan sighed.
“I expected that.”
“He used my sister.”
“We need his testimony.”
“We have records.”
“We have enough for fraud.”
Nathan paused.
“Not necessarily enough to connect Chase directly to the entire conspiracy.”
Katarina spoke.
“I want the deal.”
Vittorio looked at her.
“This isn’t your decision alone.”
“No.”
She met his eyes.
“But Chase used me because Rafael told him to. If Rafael can prove that, I want him talking.”
“You’re willing to see him serve less time?”
“I’m willing to see Chase convicted.”
Vittorio looked away.
Katarina continued.
“Justice doesn’t always look emotionally satisfying.”
His expression shifted.
“You sound like Nathan.”
“That is the meanest thing you’ve said to me.”
Nathan muttered, “I’m standing here.”
The deal moved forward.
Rafael confessed.
He explained everything.
He had noticed Katarina because she worked directly adjacent to finance and executive operations.
He instructed Chase to meet her.
Chase originally agreed for money.
Then the relationship became personal.
Not healthier.
More possessive.
Rafael admitted he exploited Chase’s jealousy.
Whenever Katarina resisted requests for information, Rafael implied Vittorio was interested in her.
That detail made Katarina physically ill.
Chase’s accusations had not come from nowhere.
Rafael fed them deliberately.
He weaponized insecurity because it made Chase easier to control.
During a recorded interview, Rafael said:
“Chase needed to believe every man wanted what he owned.”
Katarina stopped the playback.
“What he owned.”
Nathan nodded grimly.
She continued watching.
Rafael described the night Chase hurt her ankle.
He had ordered Chase to obtain Katarina’s password before Monday.
Chase failed.
The audit began.
Their scheme started collapsing.
Rafael also confessed to following Joanna.
Leaving the envelope at the hotel.
Returning Katarina’s badge and key.
That was him.
Not Chase.
He wanted Katarina terrified enough to return home where Chase could control her.
Every part of her fear had been engineered.
That realization should have made her weaker.
Instead it made her furious.
People had treated her emotions as buttons.
Press here.
She stays.
Press there.
She apologizes.
Press harder.
She lies.
Katarina was done being programmable.
The prosecution began preparing charges.
Chase’s attorney attacked immediately.
He claimed Katarina was romantically involved with Vittorio.
He called the investigation retaliation.
He leaked photographs of Vittorio entering the protected residence.
Online gossip followed.
MAFIA CEO PROTECTS BEAUTIFUL ASSISTANT.
SECRET AFFAIR BEHIND FRAUD CASE?
EMPLOYEE CLAIMS ABUSE AFTER BOSS ROMANCE.
Katarina stared at headlines in disgust.
Joanna wanted to throw the laptop from the window.
Nathan advised against it for insurance reasons.
Vittorio offered to issue a statement.
Katarina said no.
“Why?”
“Because if you defend my character, it looks like I need a powerful man to certify me.”
“What do you want?”
“I’ll speak.”
Nathan frowned.
“To press?”
“Yes.”
Vittorio immediately said, “You don’t owe anyone—”
Katarina looked at him.
He stopped.
She smiled faintly.
“Good recovery.”
The next afternoon Katarina entered Servino Holdings’ press room.
Not as Vittorio’s assistant.
Not as Chase’s girlfriend.
As herself.
Cameras waited.
She had prepared a statement.
Then put it aside.
“My name is Katarina Aiello.”
Her voice trembled once.
She continued.
“For a long time, I thought the most embarrassing thing about being hurt by someone you love was that people might ask why you stayed.”
The room became quiet.
“I know the answer now.”
She looked directly into the cameras.
“Because leaving is not a single door. Sometimes it is a hundred small doors, and fear closes ninety-nine before you can reach them.”
Vittorio watched from outside the room.
Katarina continued.
“I am not having an affair with my employer. I am not accusing Chase Mercer because a powerful man told me to. I am cooperating because Chase hurt me, stole my credentials and helped use my name to hide crimes.”
Her shoulders straightened.
“And I am finished apologizing for telling the truth late.”
The clip spread everywhere.
Not because Katarina wanted fame.
Because thousands of people recognized the sentence.
Comments appeared.
Women.
Men.
Sisters.
Mothers.
Friends.
Some had left.
Some had not yet.
Katarina read only a few.
One said:
I needed to hear that leaving can take a hundred doors. I’m opening my first one today.
Katarina cried.
That evening Vittorio found her alone in the conference room.
“You did well.”
She smiled.
“Only well?”
“Extremely well.”
“Better.”
He turned to leave.
“Vittorio.”
He stopped.
“Thank you for not rescuing me.”
He looked confused.
Katarina continued.
“You gave me doors.”
His expression softened.
“You opened them.”
For several seconds they simply looked at one another.
Then Nathan entered too quickly.
“Sorry.”
Neither believed him.
He placed a phone on the table.
“We have a new problem.”
Katarina almost laughed.
“Of course.”
“Chase posted bail.”
Her smile disappeared.
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
“Can he contact me?”
“No. Protective order.”
“Does he know where I am?”
Nathan hesitated.
“That’s the problem.”
Katarina felt cold.
“He disappeared before officers could attach the GPS monitor required by the release order.”
Vittorio’s face hardened.
Nathan continued.
“And his car was found outside Joanna’s apartment.”
May you like
Katarina was already reaching for her phone.
Joanna did not answer.
