Chapter 11 - THE LAWYER AT ROMAN'S SIDE
Elijah didn't run.
That almost made it worse.
He sat in his office and waited.
Roman placed the delivery record on his desk.
“You intercepted Marcus's package.”
“Yes.”
Sadi stared.
“Why?”
“Because it implicated my clients.”
“Your clients committed crimes.”
“Yes.”
No performance.
No excuse.
Elijah had spent forty years protecting Moretti interests.
Sometimes legally.
Sometimes not.
When Marcus mailed the archive, Elijah opened it under the pretense of privileged family review.
He discovered evidence against Carlo, Lorenzo, Isabella, Lucia—and Roman's companies.
He locked it away.
Then told no one.
“Did you know Arthur killed Marcus?” Sadi asked.
“Not until later.”
“Did you report it?”
“No.”
Roman looked at him.
“You taught me the law mattered.”
Elijah's face finally changed.
“I taught you the law was a battlefield.”
“No.”
Roman stood.
“You taught me rules applied differently if we were powerful enough.”
Silence.
Then:
“I was wrong to listen.”
That was bigger than Sadi expected.
Elijah surrendered the missing archive copy.
Federal investigators now had corroboration.
Carlo's crimes.
Arthur's murder.
Isabella's solicitation.
Lorenzo's obstruction.
Lucia's laundering.
Elijah's concealment.
The whole network.
But one set of files was missing.
Documents tied to Roman.
Elijah had removed them.
“Why?”
“To protect him.”
Roman laughed bitterly.
“Enough protection.”
Elijah told the truth.
Roman's signatures appeared on several later corporate transfers.
Not knowing transfers.
Routine acquisitions.
But they involved assets originally tainted by criminal profits.
That didn't make Roman a trafficker.
It created potential forfeiture exposure.
Millions.
Maybe hundreds of millions.
Roman could lose legitimate businesses built on contaminated foundations.
He looked at Sadi.
For the first time, she saw real fear.
Not of prison.
Of realizing his empire might never have been clean.
Then Sadi found another page.
Roman Moretti Foundation.
Annual payments.
Law-school scholarships.
One recipient:
Sadi Al-Hassan.
She froze.
Her first three years of law school had been funded by an anonymous scholarship.
Roman's foundation.
He didn't know.
Foundation board handled recipients.
But the money came from Moretti assets.
Potentially tainted money.
Sadi laughed without humor.
“Your family paid for my law school after your uncle killed my father.”
Roman had no answer.
Then the federal prosecutor offered Sadi something.
Return to law school.
Not charity.
Witness-support educational assistance and a scholarship funded by seized Arthur assets.
Sadi stared.
Her old life suddenly stood in front of her again.
May you like
But accepting it meant becoming a key witness against the entire Moretti family.
Including Roman's parents.
