Chapter 8 - THE BROTHER THEY TRIED TO FRAME
Every head turned toward Dominic.
He didn’t move.
“What amount?” he asked.
Not denial.
Not outrage.
A professional question.
Detective Bishop replied:
“Several payments totaling $940,000.”
Matteo stood.
“That’s impossible.”
Dominic held up one hand.
“Dates?”
Bishop listed them.
Dominic’s expression changed.
I knew why.
The earliest payment was dated fourteen years ago.
At that time Dominic had been overseas for almost nine months building the European arm of his security business.
Gabriel immediately opened his laptop.
“Accounts?”
“Wire references point to an entity called DMS Protective Solutions.”
Dominic frowned.
“Not mine.”
Nico was already searching.
Thirty seconds later:
“Delaware entity. Formed fifteen years ago.”
“Owner?”
“Hidden behind a registered agent.”
Luca asked Bishop:
“Do not state publicly that this belongs to Dominic until beneficial ownership is verified.”
“Understood.”
The call ended.
Margaret smiled.
It was small.
But I saw it.
“So the Morettis aren’t quite as clean as they pretend.”
Dominic looked at her.
“You seem relieved.”
Her smile vanished.
Nico turned the laptop toward us.
“DMS was dissolved eight months ago.”
Adrian asked:
“What does DMS stand for?”
Dominic Moretti Security.
Almost.
Close enough to frame.
Gabriel searched wire information.
Then stopped.
“Interesting.”
“What?” I asked.
“The recipient account was opened using a mailing address associated with one of Stephen Wren’s former companies.”
Dominic exhaled.
“So it’s fabricated.”
“Probably.”
Margaret stood.
“Convenient.”
Luca’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re very invested in my brother being guilty.”
“I’m invested in the truth.”
Vanessa laughed from the far end of the table.
Everyone looked at her.
Margaret snapped:
“What?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“You’re unbelievable.”
“Excuse me?”
“You knew.”
The room went silent again.
Margaret’s face changed.
Vanessa continued.
“Stephen told you he had built the Moretti trail.”
Richard slowly stood.
“What trail?”
Vanessa stared at Margaret.
“You told me it was insurance.”
Adrian whispered:
“Mom?”
Margaret said nothing.
Vanessa had reached the point of self-preservation where loyalty was useless.
She spoke rapidly.
“Stephen said if Elena or her brothers tried to expose Crown Meridian, he had records tying Dominic to bribery.”
Richard looked horrified.
“You knew he was framing them?”
Margaret shouted:
“I didn’t know it was fake!”
Dominic almost smiled.
“You just hoped it wasn’t.”
She looked away.
Then something else occurred to me.
“Why Dominic?”
Everyone turned.
“If Stephen had watched our family for ten years, he knew Dominic’s business had government clients. A corruption accusation would damage all of us.”
Nico nodded.
“And distract from Cole Dominion.”
Luca added:
“While undermining Elena’s credibility if she raised the historical claim.”
It was elegant.
Ugly, but elegant.
Destroy my oldest brother.
Make the Morettis look corrupt.
Then any accusation we made about Adrian, Crown Meridian, or the three-hundred-million-dollar obligation could be dismissed as extortion by a compromised family.
Stephen had planned beyond tonight.
Maybe years beyond.
I asked Vanessa:
“Where did Stephen keep his original records?”
“I don’t know.”
“You met him.”
“Three times.”
“Where?”
“New York twice. Once here.”
Richard frowned.
“Here?”
She nodded.
“This estate.”
“When?”
“Four months ago.”
Richard turned toward Margaret.
“You brought him into my house?”
Margaret said nothing.
Vanessa continued.
“He met someone else that night.”
“Who?”
“I never saw his face.”
“Man or woman?”
“Man.”
“How do you know?”
“I heard them arguing.”
“About?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“The Moretti agreement.”
Dominic leaned closer.
“What did he say?”
“One sentence.”
Her voice dropped.
“Stephen said, ‘Elena can never learn that Antonio changed the beneficiary.’”
I stopped breathing.
“What beneficiary?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Gabriel immediately reopened the trust documents.
“There’s no beneficiary change in Dad’s records.”
Luca frowned.
“Maybe not that trust.”
Richard’s face turned pale again.
I looked at him.
“You know.”
“No.”
But he did.
“Richard.”
He closed his eyes.
“Antonio drafted a second agreement.”
Dominic stared.
“What second agreement?”
Richard swallowed.
“One that replaced the original thirty-percent claim.”
My heartbeat slowed.
“What did Dad change?”
Richard looked directly at me.
“He removed the Moretti family trust.”
My brothers went silent.
“And named a single beneficiary.”
I already knew what he was about to say.
But hearing it still felt unreal.
Richard whispered:
“You, Elena.”
May you like
Adrian stood so quickly his chair fell backward.
And suddenly I understood why somebody had been watching me for ten years.
