Chapter 6 - THE MAN WHO OWNED THE WRONG COMPANY
Rafe Santangelo had built his reputation on knowing what happened inside his businesses.
Now he was staring at records suggesting someone had used his companies to profit from stolen fashion designs.
Billy met him the next morning.
She didn't sit until he offered.
Not because she was afraid.
Because her hand still hurt, and she was trying to balance a folder against her chest.
Rafe noticed.
"Let me get that."
She handed him the folder.
Then said quietly, "Gideon Puit told me your family owns the company behind Sabine's foundation."
Rafe stopped moving.
"What company?"
"Three of them."
He opened the documents.
One handled shipping.
Another handled textile storage.
The third provided financial administration for the Second Thread Foundation.
Rafe's expression darkened.
"These belong to a holding company my father established."
Billy folded her arms.
"And you didn't know?"
"I knew the companies existed. I didn't know they handled Sabine's designs."
"Isn't that your responsibility?"
Rafe looked up.
The question would've terrified almost anyone else.
He simply answered.
"Partly, yes."
Billy hadn't expected that.
Most wealthy men she'd encountered explained away every mistake.
Rafe continued.
"I delegated management to people I trusted. That doesn't mean I get to pretend the consequences don't concern me."
For the first time, Billy saw why some people feared him.
He wasn't scrambling for an excuse.
He wanted to know who had betrayed him.
Then attorney Elaine Porter entered.
She placed a document on the table.
"The foundation has a private financing arrangement."
Rafe frowned.
"With whom?"
Elaine hesitated.
"Your family's real estate trust."
Billy stared.
Rafe leaned back.
"How much?"
"Nearly sixty million dollars across several years."
Silence.
Then Elaine continued.
"The transfers were approved by a director who held authority under the old trust agreement."
Rafe's expression hardened.
"Name him."
Elaine placed the signature page on the desk.
DOMINIC SANTANGELO.
Rafe's uncle.
The man who had raised him after his father died.
Billy swallowed.
"Your uncle?"
Rafe nodded slowly.
"Yes."
Then another memory surfaced.
The first time Billy saw Sabine at the Windmir, Dominic had been standing beside her.
He'd kissed her cheek.
Called her brilliant.
And told journalists she'd saved the family fashion foundation.
Rafe looked toward Billy.
"Did you ever see my uncle speaking to your sister?"
Billy shook her head.
"Not that I remember."
Elaine opened another file.
A photograph from four years earlier.
Anna Ror stood outside a restaurant.
Sabine faced her.
Between them stood Dominic Santangelo.
His hand was wrapped around Anna's upper arm.
Billy covered her mouth.
The photograph was dated three days before Anna died.
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And underneath it, someone had written:
THE LAST WARNING.
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