Chapter 9 - THE SHARES NO ONE KNEW SHE OWNED
Alina laughed in Thomas Bellini’s face.
That seemed to bother him.
“You think this is funny?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because every man in this story thinks secret money will make me behave differently.”
Thomas’s smile disappeared.
“You own eleven percent of Marchetti Logistics.”
“I clean houses.”
“Not anymore.”
“I actually like cleaning.”
He stared.
Alina continued.
“And I don’t care about your shares.”
“You should.”
“Why?”
“Because Vincent cannot maintain control without them.”
There it was.
The manipulation.
Choose him.
Choose yourself.
Choose power.
Turn every relationship into leverage.
Alina refused.
“Then the board can decide without me until lawyers verify anything.”
Thomas’s face tightened.
“You sound like Carlo.”
“I barely knew he existed.”
“He was stubborn too.”
“You poisoned him.”
Silence.
The admission had already been recorded.
Thomas realized too late how much he had said.
His eyes shifted toward Eddie.
“You wired her.”
Eddie smiled.
“Learned from the best.”
Thomas reached inside his coat.
Before he could draw anything, Dominic entered from the side hall.
Vincent behind him.
Federal agents followed.
Thomas froze.
“You brought police.”
Vincent’s face was calm.
“Yes.”
Thomas looked disgusted.
“Your father would be ashamed.”
Vincent stepped closer.
“My father’s dead.”
“And you’re dismantling everything he built.”
“Some things deserve dismantling.”
Agents arrested Thomas.
No execution.
No dramatic revenge.
Alina watched Vincent choose law over blood.
That mattered.
Then Thomas laughed while being cuffed.
“You think this ends?”
Vincent ignored him.
Thomas looked at Alina.
“Ask Gabriel why he was really close to Sofia.”
Gabriel went still.
Alina felt exhaustion before fear.
“Please don’t tell me there’s another affair.”
Teresa almost choked.
Gabriel shook his head quickly.
“No.”
“Then what?”
He looked toward Vincent.
“Sofia was helping me leave.”
“Leave what?”
“The Marchetti organization.”
Alina frowned.
“You said you worked security.”
“I did.”
“Why did you need help leaving?”
“Because I was more than security.”
His face changed.
“I handled private acquisitions.”
Vincent’s expression hardened.
“What acquisitions?”
Gabriel looked ashamed.
“Businesses people didn’t always want to sell.”
Alina stared.
“You threatened people.”
“Yes.”
“Hurting them?”
“Sometimes.”
Her stomach turned.
The man she loved had hidden violence from her.
“I stopped before Mia.”
“I didn’t know I was pregnant yet.”
“I know.”
“Sofia knew about me?”
“Yes.”
That hurt.
“She knew?”
“Everything.”
“And she helped you disappear from the organization.”
“Yes.”
“Before she died.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you leave me before?”
“I was trying.”
Alina stepped back.
The reunion she had imagined never existed.
Gabriel was alive.
But the man she remembered had never fully existed.
She looked at Vincent.
He did not defend Gabriel.
Good.
Then Dominic received a call.
Lawyers had confirmed Carlo Russo’s trust.
Alina truly owned eleven percent of Marchetti Logistics.
But another provision existed.
If Alina died before formally accepting or rejecting the shares, they transferred to Eddie Russo.
Everyone turned.
Eddie stared.
“What?”
Dominic’s face changed.
Thomas Bellini had manipulated Eddie for years.
Suddenly the reason became obvious.
Thomas had not only wanted Eddie angry enough to kill Vincent.
He had wanted Alina discovered.
Then killed.
Because her death would place the deciding shares into the hands of a man Thomas believed he controlled.
Eddie sat down.
“I almost helped him.”
Alina looked at her brother.
“Yes.”
He covered his face.
May you like
And for the first time, she realized the most dangerous thing Thomas Bellini had stolen was not money.
It was years of people’s ability to trust their own families.
