Chapter 6 - THE PRICE OF A MORETTI NAME
The phrase haunted Dominic all morning.
The daughter must never take the throne.
The Moretti family had no official throne, of course. But within their criminal organization, the phrase had a precise meaning: control of the family business, its money, its territory, and the loyalty of the men who enforced its rules.
Richard's will had never been fully settled. Several assets remained in a trust controlled by Isabella, and the family council had spent years assuming Dominic would inherit everything.
If Emily was Richard's daughter, her existence could change the distribution of the estate—and the balance of power.
Dominic called an emergency meeting of his senior advisers.
Seven men gathered in the private conference room beneath the estate. None looked pleased to hear that a young maid might be Richard Moretti's legitimate heir.
Salvatore Greco, the oldest adviser, folded his hands.
"With respect, Dominic, blood alone doesn't make someone fit to inherit this family."
"Good thing I didn't ask you to judge her."
"Your father built this organization through sacrifice."
"And Emily didn't choose to be born into it."
Another adviser, Paul Rizzo, leaned forward.
"If she's entitled to part of the estate, the legal situation must be clarified. But bringing her into the family publicly could expose decades of concealed transactions."
Dominic looked around the table.
"Then we clean up what needs cleaning. We don't punish her for what we did."
Salvatore exchanged a glance with Rizzo.
"You're letting emotion dictate your decisions."
Dominic stood.
"Anyone who threatens Emily will answer to me. Anyone who tries to use her as leverage will be removed from my organization."
No one challenged him.
After the meeting, Marcus brought him a preliminary report on Vincent Hale.
Hale had received three large payments over the previous year from a shell company registered in Delaware. The company's director was listed as a lawyer named Charles Sterling.
Vanessa's father.
Dominic called him.
Charles answered on the fourth ring.
"Dominic. I hear your engagement celebration was eventful."
"Your company paid Vincent Hale."
A pause.
"I don't know that name."
"Then you'll have no problem explaining the transactions to my investigators."
Charles sighed.
"You're making a mistake. Vanessa was upset. She acted foolishly. I can compensate Emily for any medical expenses."
"She was shot."
Silence.
Then Charles said, "I understand."
"No, you don't."
Dominic ended the call.
Across the estate, Emily sat in the library with Isabella. She had refused to speak to Dominic's mother since hearing the recording, but now she needed answers.
"Why did you promise to protect my mother?"
Isabella stared at her hands.
"Because I knew what it meant to be controlled by the Moretti family. I had been married to Richard's world for years. I knew what Anthony could do to people who disobeyed him."
"Then why didn't you help her?"
"I tried."
"Not hard enough."
The words landed like a slap.
Isabella nodded slowly.
"You're right."
She described how she had secretly sent money to Claire and arranged for her to leave the clinic. But Anthony's men intercepted the plan. Isabella was threatened, and her own young son was used as leverage.
"I was afraid they'd kill Dominic," she whispered.
Emily's anger softened, but did not disappear.
"So you let my mother vanish."
"I thought I could find her again. By the time I understood what had happened, every trail was cold."
Emily looked down at the silver bracelet on her wrist.
"Why did you hire me?"
"Because I recognized the bracelet when I saw you at a charity kitchen. It had been in the photograph Richard kept beside his bed. I suspected who you were, but I needed proof."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I was afraid you would leave before I could protect you."
Emily gave a bitter laugh.
"Everyone keeps saying they were protecting me."
Isabella began to cry.
"I know."
That evening, Dominic found Emily on the terrace overlooking the gardens.
"I owe you an apology," he said.
She turned.
"For what?"
"For allowing this family to make you feel you had to earn the right to stand in a room with us."
Emily looked at him for a long time.
"You don't owe me a fortune or a family name. I just want to know what happened to my mother."
"Then that's what we'll find."
She studied his face.
"And if the truth destroys your family?"
Dominic glanced at the city lights beyond the estate.
"Then it was never worth protecting."
For the first time, Emily smiled.
It was small, uncertain, and gone almost immediately.
But Dominic felt the weight of it.
Later that night, Marcus arrived with a new lead. A bank account connected to Claire Carter had been accessed two weeks earlier. The withdrawal had been made in person at a private branch in Boston.
The signature matched Claire's old documents.
Dominic stared at the report.
"She's alive."
"We believe so."
"Where did the money go?"
Marcus hesitated.
"To an account belonging to a woman named Grace Miller."
Dominic frowned.
"Who is she?"
Marcus placed a photograph on the desk.
It showed a silver-haired woman leaving a church in Boston, wearing a dark coat and sunglasses.
Emily appeared in the doorway.
She took one look at the photograph and stopped breathing.
"I know her."
Dominic turned.
"How?"
Emily's voice shook.
"She came to the shelter where I grew up. She visited me every year on my birthday."
Her eyes filled with tears.
May you like
"She told me my mother was dead."
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