Chapter 4 - THE KEY MY FATHER LEFT
Michael grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him.
“Zach.”
We both said his name at once.
Michael rushed into the bedroom.
Zach was awake.
Terrified.
Another gunshot echoed downstairs.
Michael lifted his son.
“Emergency room. Now.”
A hidden panel opened behind the bookshelf.
I stared.
“You have a panic room?”
“I have enemies.”
“Comforting.”
“Inside.”
We entered.
Elias followed seconds later.
The steel door sealed behind us.
Monitors showed security feeds throughout the estate.
Men moved through the gardens.
Michael’s guards intercepted them.
Then I recognized one face.
“Stop.”
Michael turned.
I pointed at the screen.
“That man.”
“You know him?”
“He worked for Regina.”
Michael’s jaw tightened.
The attack ended within minutes.
The intruders escaped before police arrived, but their message was obvious.
Tony wasn’t backing down.
By sunrise, Michael had doubled security.
I expected him to hide me deeper inside the mansion.
Instead, he placed my brass key on the kitchen table.
“We find what this opens.”
The mark led to an old private bank in Manhattan that had once handled accounts for Michael’s father.
Two hours later, we entered a secure vault.
The manager examined the key.
“Box 417.”
My hands trembled.
Michael noticed.
“You can do this alone.”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“I’m tired of doing everything alone.”
His expression softened.
The box contained no money.
There were documents, photographs, a flash drive, and one sealed letter.
My name was written across it.
Aurora.
I recognized my father’s handwriting.
I opened it.
My sweet girl,
If you are reading this, I failed to protect you long enough to tell you the truth myself.
Regina has been moving money for Tony Valenti.
I discovered it too late.
I copied everything I could.
Matteo Moretti helped me secure evidence because Valenti was responsible for the death of one of his employees.
If something happens to me, trust Matteo.
And trust yourself.
You were never weak.
Love,
Dad.
My vision blurred.
Michael silently passed me a handkerchief.
“This means Regina…”
“May have been involved in your father’s death,” he finished.
I closed my eyes.
Three years of grief rearranged itself into rage.
The flash drive contained financial records, recordings, photographs and transaction histories.
Enough to destroy Tony’s organization if verified.
But there was another file.
A photograph.
My father stood beside Matteo Moretti.
Between them was a much younger Michael.
I looked at him.
“You knew my father.”
“I met him once.”
“You never told me.”
“I didn’t remember his name.”
Michael stared at the photograph.
“I was twenty-one. My father said he was helping a good man who’d made the mistake of trusting the wrong woman.”
I sat back.
Everything connected.
Regina.
Tony.
My father.
Michael’s family.
“This isn’t coincidence.”
“No.”
Michael looked at me.
“Your father put this evidence somewhere Valenti couldn’t reach it. He spent years searching for it.”
“And now he knows I have it.”
“Yes.”
“What happens?”
“We take it to people who can build a case.”
“You trust law enforcement?”
“Some.”
That answer was very Michael.
When we returned home, Zach was waiting in the foyer wearing a miniature gray suit.
He carried his teddy bear under one arm.
In the other hand was a black velvet jewelry box.
I stopped.
“Oh no.”
Michael closed his eyes.
“Zach.”
“I upgraded.”
The boy opened the box.
Inside was a plastic ring with a huge fake diamond.
“Teresa said real diamonds are inappropriate.”
“Teresa is wise.”
Zach knelt.
I laughed for the first time in what felt like years.
Then he looked at his father.
“Dad, you look jealous.”
I stopped laughing.
Michael nearly choked.
“I am not jealous of a six-year-old.”
“You stare at her.”
“Zach.”
“A lot.”
“Zachary.”
I covered my mouth.
Michael’s ears actually turned red.
That evening, after Zach went to bed, I found Michael on the terrace.
“You do stare.”
He looked over.
“Apparently my son has destroyed my reputation.”
“You had a terrible reputation.”
“That’s fair.”
For a moment, we simply stood beneath the night sky.
Then he said, “You protected him before you knew who he was.”
“Any decent person would.”
“No.”
His gaze held mine.
“Not everyone would.”
My breath caught.
He stepped closer.
Not touching.
Waiting.
I realized he was giving me the choice.
I moved toward him.
His fingers brushed my cheek.
Then his phone rang.
He closed his eyes.
“Your timing is unbelievable,” I whispered.
He answered.
Elias’s voice came through.
“We found Regina.”
Michael’s expression hardened.
“Where?”
“At Valenti’s warehouse.”
May you like
A pause.
“She’s telling Tony how to get inside the estate.”
