Chương 10 - THE UNCLE AT THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING
Marco expected me to scream.
I didn't.
Maybe I'd exhausted my supply of appropriate reactions.
“What do you want?”
“The memory card.”
“Federal agents have copies.”
“That wasn't the only thing Valentina hid.”
Of course.
Everyone in this family hid things in layers.
Marco stepped closer.
I raised the poker.
He laughed.
“You're going to hit me?”
“If necessary.”
“That's cute.”
He reached for me.
I swung.
Not elegantly.
Not dramatically.
But hard enough to strike his forearm.
He swore and grabbed the poker.
Before he could wrench it away, Alessandro hit him from behind with a heavy bookend.
Marco crashed against the desk.
He recovered quickly and lunged at Alessandro.
I pulled the fire alarm.
The house erupted in noise.
Security men arrived.
Marco made it through a side door before they caught him.
He disappeared into the trees.
Nico arrived nine minutes later.
Blood on his temple.
Alive.
I hated how relieved I felt.
He crossed the room toward me.
Stopped before touching me.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
Only then did I notice his hand shaking.
“What happened?”
“Marco's men hit the car.”
“Arthur?”
“Fine.”
Alessandro sat down.
“My brother.”
Nico looked at him.
“You didn't know?”
“No.”
For once, I believed him.
Marco had been the hidden partner behind Salvatore's recent operation.
Not because he was loyal to Salvatore.
Because he wanted Bellandi control.
If Nico and Alessandro destroyed each other fighting Rizzi, Marco could inherit the organization cleanly.
Valentina discovered the money trail.
That's why she disappeared.
Not to escape Nico.
To escape Marco.
Arthur received another video.
This time Valentina wasn't alone.
She stood in what looked like a hotel room.
“I can't keep hiding.”
She explained she had infiltrated Marco's financial network using one of his accountants.
For eleven months, she had collected records tying Marco to Salvatore.
Then she said something directly to Nico.
“Marco isn't trying to take the Bellandi organization from you.”
Nico frowned.
“He's trying to sell it.”
To whom?
A corporate crime syndicate operating through ports in Montreal, Miami, and New York.
The buyer wanted Bellandi shipping access.
Marco had promised control.
But first Nico had to disappear.
Permanently.
I felt Nico go very still.
Valentina continued.
“Elena leaving saved your life.”
I stared at the screen.
What?
“Marco planned to kill Nico the night after the Rizzi agreement. But when Elena vanished, Nico canceled every meeting, changed every car route, and locked down the entire tower.”
My disappearance had accidentally destroyed the assassination schedule.
Nico looked at me.
I almost laughed.
“You're welcome.”
He didn't.
His expression was strange.
“You leaving saved me because I hurt you.”
“Don't romanticize it.”
“I wasn't.”
Good answer.
Valentina's video continued.
“One more thing. Marco has a second target.”
We all listened.
“Elena.”
Again.
But this time, not because of Salvatore.
Marco needed my signature.
“On what?”
Nico asked the screen as though she could answer.
She did.
A document appeared.
Trust amendment.
Rizzi Family Holdings.
My biological status as Salvatore's daughter gave me a dormant claim.
If I signed it away, Marco's corporate buyers could acquire Salvatore's controlling shares after his arrest or death.
I wasn't merely leverage.
I was the last legal obstacle to a takeover worth almost half a billion dollars.
Then the video ended with Valentina saying:
“And don't trust the attorney who prepared the document.”
I recognized the name at the bottom.
Charles Wexler.
May you like
Nico's personal attorney.
The man who had handled every legal document I'd signed for three years.
