Chapter 1 - THE PAPER ON MY BED
The first sentence on the document made my hands go cold.
“In the event Vincent Corvino remains physically incapacitated, Arya Bellini shall assume temporary authority over all Corvino maritime and real-estate holdings.”
I read it again.
Then a third time.
My signature sat at the bottom.
Except I had never signed it.
“Tessa.”
She closed the bedroom door.
“Where did you get this?”
“It was beside the downstairs printer.”
“That room is restricted.”
“I know.”
Her answer came too quickly.
I looked up.
“You went inside?”
“No. Someone printed it while I was helping you yesterday. It landed in the regular tray by mistake.”
I examined the signature.
It looked perfect.
Too perfect.
Arya knew my handwriting. She had watched me sign hundreds of documents during our engagement.
But she had made one mistake.
Whenever I signed legal papers, I placed a tiny diagonal stroke beneath the final letter of my surname.
My father taught me to do it when I was seventeen.
The mark wasn't there.
“This is forged.”
Tessa swallowed.
“I thought so.”
My phone sat on the nightstand.
I called my attorney.
No answer.
I called Dominic.
Straight to voicemail.
Then the bedroom door opened.
Arya stepped inside wearing sunglasses and carrying two shopping bags.
Her smile disappeared when she saw the paper.
“Where did you get that?”
Tessa moved between Arya and the bed without thinking.
Arya noticed.
So did I.
“You canceled my therapy,” I said.
Arya set the bags down.
“Vincent, your doctors said—”
“My doctors said recovery was uncertain.”
“They said you may never walk again.”
“So you forged my signature?”
Her face changed.
Only for half a second.
But it was enough.
“I was protecting what we built.”
“What you built?”
“Our future.”
I folded the paper slowly.
“Get out.”
Arya laughed nervously.
“This is my home too.”
“No.”
I looked toward Tessa.
“Call security.”
Arya's expression hardened.
“You're making a mistake.”
“Then explain the document.”
She stared at me.
Then she whispered something I wasn't expecting.
“You think this was my idea?”
The room went silent.
Arya stepped closer.
“Ask Dominic why he needed your signature so badly.”
And suddenly I remembered what she had said that morning.
Dominic needs your signature on the harbor property.
My oldest friend.
My second-in-command.
May you like
The man who had been standing six feet away from me the night I was shot.
And for the first time in six months, I wondered why the bullet had hit me instead of him.
