Chapter 14 - REGINA MORETTI
My stepmother wasn't born Regina Vale.
Or Regina Price.
Or any of the names I'd known.
She was Regina Moretti.
Carlo's daughter.
Hidden from the family after Carlo had an affair with a married woman.
Lorenzo knew a child existed.
He never knew her identity.
Carlo had secretly supported Regina for years.
That explained everything.
Her relationship with him wasn't romantic, as I'd assumed from the hotel photograph.
The angle had fooled me.
He had been kissing her cheek.
Father and daughter.
Regina later married my father deliberately.
Not because she loved Daniel.
Because Carlo told her to stay close to the auditor investigating him.
Then Carlo died.
Regina blamed my father.
When she couldn't kill Daniel without losing access to the encrypted accounts, she imprisoned him instead.
And me?
I was leverage.
For eight years.
The truth was uglier than anything I'd imagined.
Regina confirmed it during a second federal interview.
“My father promised me everything,” she said through the glass.
“And you believed him?”
“He was my father.”
“So you destroyed mine?”
Her eyes hardened.
“Daniel killed him.”
“In self-defense.”
“He still died.”
“And that justified eight years?”
She looked away.
I realized something then.
I had spent my entire childhood wishing Regina would love me like a daughter.
She had spent it resenting me for being Daniel Bell's daughter.
There was no childhood misunderstanding to repair.
No relationship underneath.
Only manipulation.
I stood.
“Where is Carlo's third account key?”
She laughed.
“You think I'm giving Michael Moretti another fortune?”
“It isn't his.”
“Then whose?”
“Probably the people Carlo stole from.”
That silenced her.
Eventually, she gave investigators the location.
An old summer property in Long Island.
Inside a wall safe, agents found records for the remaining accounts.
More than $110 million in stolen and laundered assets accumulated over decades.
Much of it could be traced to victims.
Businesses.
Pension funds.
Families.
Some couldn't.
Michael made a decision that shocked even Lorenzo.
He relinquished every Moretti claim to the recovered funds.
Anything that couldn't be returned directly would go into a restitution foundation for victims of organized financial crime.
“You don't want any of it?” I asked.
“No.”
“Your family built part of it.”
“Exactly.”
That answer told me more about Michael than every rumor I'd ever heard.
Months passed.
Vale was convicted on corruption, kidnapping, conspiracy, and fraud charges.
Regina received a long sentence despite her cooperation.
Tony took a plea.
My father's legal identity was restored.
Carlo's crimes became public.
Michael's legitimate companies survived the investigation because he'd spent years separating them from the old organization.
And I went back to work.
Not Bellarosa.
I enrolled in a forensic-accounting certification program.
Apparently chasing criminal money ran in the family.
Dad thought it was hilarious.
Then, one afternoon, Zach appeared outside my classroom holding flowers.
Michael stood behind him.
“What is this?”
Zach sighed dramatically.
“I have bad news.”
I crouched.
“What?”
“I can't marry you.”
“Devastating.”
“I know.”
He handed me the flowers.
“But Dad likes you.”
Michael closed his eyes.
“Zach.”
“And you like Dad.”
“Zach.”
“He's too scared.”
Michael muttered something in Italian.
I laughed so hard my stomach hurt.
Then Zach ran toward Lorenzo waiting near the car.
Leaving Michael and me alone.
He looked at me.
“For the record, I wasn't planning to do this in a parking lot.”
“Do what?”
He stepped closer.
“Ask whether you'd have dinner with me.”
I smiled.
“We've had dinner approximately thirty times.”
“A date.”
My heart kicked.
No kidnappings.
No secrets.
No six-year-old engagement negotiations.
Just dinner.
“Yes.”
Michael exhaled.
“That was surprisingly terrifying.”
“Most feared man on the East Coast?”
“Apparently overrated.”
Then his phone rang.
He checked the screen.
His face changed.
“What?”
“It's Zach's school.”
My heart jumped.
“Is he okay?”
“Yes.”
Michael listened.
Then looked at me.
Slowly.
“He apparently told his entire class we're getting married Saturday.”
I burst out laughing.
May you like
Michael didn't.
“He invited forty-seven people.”
