Chapter 10 - DEREK WAS PART OF THE FALCO FAMILY
Roman refused to believe it.
Marcus had proof.
DNA records obtained from an old paternity dispute.
Derek’s mother had worked for Salvatore thirty-one years earlier.
Salvatore paid her to disappear.
Derek grew up knowing the truth.
Roman sat silently.
Harper understood pieces suddenly clicking together.
Derek’s access.
His confidence.
His obsession with status.
His hatred of Roman.
He had spent his life as the unacknowledged son watching Roman inherit the legitimate empire.
Derek’s relationship with Harper had begun as an assignment.
But his real goal was larger.
He wanted Roman destroyed.
The hostage video might be theater.
Investigators enhanced the recording.
Derek’s bruises were real.
But one detail exposed the deception.
At the end of the video, Salvatore turned away.
Derek looked toward someone off-camera.
And smiled.
Harper felt no heartbreak.
That surprised her.
Only clarity.
Derek was not a tragic man trapped by his father.
He had chosen this.
Again and again.
Roman refused the transfer.
Instead Harper proposed something better.
“Give him what he wants.”
Roman stared.
She explained.
Create a fake ownership transfer with traceable authentication.
Derek and Salvatore would rush to move assets.
That movement would expose their remaining accounts.
Federal prosecutors agreed.
The bait went out.
Within nine hours, money began moving.
Zurich.
Cayman Islands.
Montreal.
Then Boston.
A final domestic trust activated.
Account holder:
Natalie Price.
Harper stared.
Natalie had not merely helped Derek escape.
She controlled a major portion of Salvatore’s hidden cash.
Police found her at a private airport preparing to leave.
She surrendered immediately.
Derek was not with her.
Natalie agreed to cooperate.
“I thought he loved me once,” she told Harper.
“Then I realized Derek only loves whoever he can control.”
Harper almost laughed at the familiarity.
Natalie gave them Salvatore’s current location.
An abandoned Falco-owned hotel undergoing renovation.
Federal teams moved in.
Roman and Harper remained at command.
Gunfire was reported inside.
Then silence.
Agents emerged with Salvatore in custody.
Alive.
Marcus arrived minutes later.
For the first time in years, the three Falco men were in the same place.
Salvatore looked at Roman through the police vehicle window.
“You think this ends with me?”
Roman said nothing.
Salvatore smiled.
“Ask her.”
His gaze moved to Harper.
“Ask Harper who paid Derek’s bail the first time he was arrested.”
Harper frowned.
She never knew Derek had been arrested.
Investigators searched the record.
An assault charge.
Six years earlier.
The bail had been paid anonymously.
Through a trust.
May you like
The trust belonged to Maya.
Harper’s sister.
