Chapter 5 - The Night the Mafia Boss Lost Everything
"Your cousin just took control of your company, Dominic. And the federal agents are waiting outside your office."
Isabella Moretti's voice was steady, but Dominic heard the urgency beneath it.
He stood in the kitchen of a small lakeside house owned by a retired family friend.
Emily was asleep upstairs.
She had spent most of the night trembling after the attack at the storage facility.
Dominic looked at the clock.
6:17 a.m.
"Explain."
"Adrian called an emergency board meeting. He presented documents alleging that you diverted corporate funds and authorized illegal payments."
"Forged documents."
"Almost certainly. But he also obtained temporary control of several voting proxies."
"Whose?"
"Three directors. And apparently, Antonio's."
Dominic went silent.
"My father's authorization was revoked after his stroke."
"That's what we believed. Adrian produced a medical competency declaration signed by Dr. Mercer."
Dominic gripped the kitchen counter.
The same physician who had supervised Antonio's questionable medication schedule.
The same physician Victoria had insisted should remain in charge.
"What did the board do?"
"Suspended your executive authority pending an independent investigation. Adrian is acting chief executive."
Dominic stared through the window.
For fifteen years, he had built an empire around his father's name.
In less than an hour, Adrian had taken its public face away from him.
"And the federal agents?"
"They have a warrant to search your office and seize records. They haven't charged you."
"Good. Let them search."
"Dominic, listen carefully. You need to cooperate through counsel. Don't give Adrian an opportunity to portray you as obstructing an investigation."
He ended the call.
Behind him, Emily spoke.
"You're not going to run, are you?"
He turned.
She stood in the doorway wearing an oversized sweater, one hand supporting her stomach.
"No."
"Then what are you going to do?"
"Find out how much damage they've done."
Emily approached the kitchen table.
"Maybe losing the company isn't the worst thing that could happen."
Dominic gave a humorless laugh.
"Easy to say when it isn't yours."
She flinched.
He immediately regretted the words.
"I'm sorry."
Emily looked at him.
"My mother almost died. Your father almost died. Someone threatened my baby. I'm not worried about your stock price."
Dominic lowered his gaze.
"You're right."
"Then stop thinking like a boss for one minute."
He looked up.
"Think like a son."
By noon, news of Dominic's suspension had spread across New York.
Business networks described a leadership crisis.
Financial commentators speculated about criminal investigations.
Society reporters resurrected old stories about the Romano family's underworld connections.
Victoria appeared outside the family mansion wearing black sunglasses and an expensive camel-colored coat.
Cameras surrounded her.
"Ms. Sterling, are you still engaged to Dominic Romano?"
She removed her sunglasses.
"This is an incredibly painful time for everyone involved."
"Do you believe Mr. Romano committed financial misconduct?"
Victoria lowered her eyes.
"I believe the truth should come out, regardless of whom it hurts."
"Will the wedding proceed?"
She paused.
"I cannot marry a man whose integrity is under serious investigation."
The statement was carefully rehearsed.
Within minutes, headlines announced that Victoria had broken off her engagement.
She returned inside smiling.
Adrian waited in the library.
"Beautiful performance," he said.
Victoria kissed him.
"Now we announce our relationship."
"Not yet."
She pulled away.
"What?"
"We need the board to approve the restructuring first."
"Adrian, I have spent eighteen months pretending to love your cousin."
"And you've been paid very well for your patience."
Victoria's expression hardened.
"Don't talk to me about payment."
Adrian opened a folder.
"Your investment company has already received millions in diverted funds. That should buy some patience."
Victoria stepped closer.
"You promised we'd run everything together."
"We will."
"Then why did you transfer controlling interests into a trust I can't access?"
Adrian said nothing.
Victoria stared at him.
"You did what?"
"Temporary protection."
"From whom?"
"From anyone who might become a liability."
She slapped him.
The sound echoed across the library.
Adrian slowly turned his face back toward her.
"Do that again," he said quietly, "and you'll discover how little protection your engagement ring provides now."
Victoria backed away.
For the first time, she understood something dangerous.
She had helped betray a powerful man.
And the man she betrayed him for was prepared to betray her too.
At St. Catherine's, Antonio listened as Dominic explained the board takeover.
The old man's expression grew increasingly distressed.
"I'm sorry, Dad."
Antonio shook his head.
Dominic leaned closer.
"I should have listened when you tried to warn me."
Antonio reached for his communication board.
He selected a sentence slowly.
YOU ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR CHOICES.
Dominic swallowed.
"I trusted Adrian."
Antonio selected another sentence.
SO DID I.
For a long moment, father and son simply looked at one another.
Then Antonio began typing again.
MARCO.
Dominic stiffened.
"What about Marco?"
Antonio struggled to move his hand.
He selected three words.
CHECK THE GARAGE.
Dominic frowned.
"The garage at the estate?"
Antonio nodded.
Then he added:
BLUE CAR.
That evening, Isabella arranged for a licensed investigator to examine security records from the Romano mansion.
The blue car was an antique 1968 Chevrolet Camaro Antonio had restored with Dominic when his son was sixteen.
It had remained untouched in a private garage for years.
Security footage showed Marco entering that garage on six separate occasions during the previous month.
Each visit occurred shortly before suspicious financial documents were transferred from the estate.
The investigator also discovered that Marco had secretly received payments from a consulting company connected to Adrian.
Dominic watched the footage in silence.
Marco had carried him out of a burning warehouse when he was twenty-three.
Marco had stood beside him at his mother's funeral.
Marco had once taken a bullet protecting Antonio.
And now Marco was accepting money from the people trying to destroy them.
"Bring him in," Dominic told Isabella.
"Carefully," she replied. "We need evidence, not a confrontation."
But before they could arrange an interview, Dominic received a video call.
Marco's face appeared.
He was sitting in an unfamiliar room.
"Sir."
Dominic stared at him.
"Where are you?"
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
Marco looked away.
"I didn't know Adrian was going to hurt your father."
Dominic felt something tighten in his chest.
"What did you know?"
"That he wanted access to the records. That Victoria needed certain doors left unlocked. That Dr. Mercer was being paid to keep the family from asking questions."
"Why?"
Marco's eyes filled with tears.
"My daughter."
Dominic froze.
Marco's seventeen-year-old daughter, Sofia, had been undergoing treatment for a rare blood disorder.
Adrian had apparently offered to cover experimental medical expenses in exchange for access.
"Why didn't you come to me?"
"Because Adrian showed me records he claimed proved you were under federal investigation. He said helping you would put Sofia at risk."
"You believed him?"
"I wanted to."
Dominic closed his eyes.
Then Marco said something unexpected.
"I kept copies of everything."
Dominic looked up.
"Where?"
"Somewhere safe."
"Give them to Isabella."
Marco hesitated.
"Adrian has people watching me."
"Then call the police."
"I already contacted an attorney. I'm arranging to surrender the evidence."
Dominic studied his face.
"Do it before someone gets hurt."
Marco nodded.
Then the call ended.
Upstairs at the lakeside house, Emily woke to severe abdominal pain.
At first, she thought it was another uncomfortable movement from the baby.
Then the pain returned.
Sharper.
She gripped the edge of the bed.
"Dominic?"
No answer.
She stood carefully.
A sudden wave of dizziness forced her to sit again.
"Dominic!"
He reached the room seconds later.
Emily was pale.
"Something's wrong," she whispered.
He knelt beside her.
"Tell me."
"My stomach keeps tightening. It hurts."
Dominic immediately called emergency services.
He helped her lie on her side while the dispatcher guided them through the next steps.
Emily clutched his hand.
"I'm only seven months."
"I know."
"Grace isn't ready."
Dominic looked into her frightened eyes.
"You're going to the hospital. They'll take care of both of you."
Her fingers tightened around his.
"Please don't leave me."
He remembered the last time someone had asked him that.
His mother.
On the night she died.
He had been nineteen and too frightened to promise anything.
Now he held Emily's hand and answered without hesitation.
"I'm staying."
At the hospital, doctors evaluated Emily for threatened preterm labor.
The contractions gradually eased after treatment and monitoring, but her obstetrician warned that stress and exhaustion had become serious concerns.
"She needs rest, follow-up care, and a safe environment," the doctor told Dominic.
Emily slept through most of the conversation.
Dominic sat beside her.
For the first time, the company he had lost seemed distant.
The board.
The money.
The headlines.
None of it mattered as much as the quiet rhythm of the fetal monitor.
His phone vibrated.
A message from Isabella.
Marco's attorney delivered the first batch of evidence.
Then another.
Dominic, the files contain something we weren't expecting.
He called immediately.
"What?"
Isabella took a breath.
"Adrian wasn't planning merely to take the company."
Dominic looked toward Emily.
"What was he planning?"
"There's an insurance policy. A very large one. And a set of documents preparing for your father's death."
Dominic stood.
"How large?"
"Two hundred million dollars."
"Who's the beneficiary?"
A pause.
"Adrian's newly controlled holding company."
Dominic closed his eyes.
His father's death wasn't an unfortunate possibility in Adrian's plan.
It was a financial objective.
May you like
And somewhere in New York, the people responsible were already preparing their next move.
End of Chapter 5.
