Chapter 3 - The Voice on the USB

Marco took us into his private study.

Anna.

Father Ellis.

Victor.

Alessandra.

And me.

I did not expect to be included.

Marco looked at me when I stopped at the door.

“You heard everything.”

“Yes.”

“Then stay.”

He locked the door.

The study computer was never connected to the estate network.

Marco inserted the USB drive.

One folder appeared.

LUCA.

Inside were four files.

A scanned ledger.

A photograph.

A legal document.

And an audio recording.

Marco clicked the recording.

Static filled the room.

Then a man’s voice.

Older than Marco.

Rougher.

But unmistakably similar.

“If Anna gets this, tell Marco I did not leave him.”

Marco froze.

The voice continued.

“Dominic knows I intend to dissolve the partnership. Victor has been ordered to bring me to Dock Warehouse Four. I am going because Anna’s location may already be compromised.”

Victor looked at the floor.

“I made a mistake trusting my brother.”

Marco’s face went white.

“I will not make another.”

The recording paused.

Then Luca said:

“If I do not return, the accounts under Morrow Holdings belong to Dominic. They are not mine. They were used to move Vane money through Santoro companies.”

Marco turned slowly toward Victor.

“Morrow Holdings still exists.”

Victor nodded.

“Yes.”

“My companies still pay it.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Victor looked at Alessandra.

She answered instead.

“Because Dominic never stopped the arrangement.”

Marco looked at her.

“You knew that too?”

“Not at first.”

“When?”

“Eight months ago.”

Marco laughed once again.

That same empty laugh from the ballroom.

“Every answer you give me has another lie behind it.”

Alessandra wiped her face.

“I know.”

Marco clicked the scanned ledger.

Transfers.

Shell companies.

Dates.

Initials.

D.S.

V.V.

L.S.

But many entries beside L.S. had been crossed out in red.

Anna leaned over the desk.

“Luca marked every payment he intended to reverse.”

Marco scrolled lower.

One transfer was dated three days after the warehouse fire.

Beneficiary:

DOMINIC SANTORO TRUST.

Amount:

$18,000,000.

Marco stopped.

“My father’s estate paid Dominic eighteen million dollars?”

Victor shook his head.

“No.”

“What then?”

“It was payment for silence.”

“From whom?”

Victor looked ashamed.

“My father.”

Marco leaned back.

“So your family paid my uncle after my father disappeared.”

“Yes.”

“For helping kill him?”

Victor did not answer.

Anna did.

“For helping erase him.”

Marco looked at her.

“What does that mean?”

Anna pointed at the legal document on the screen.

Marco opened it.

A death declaration.

Not a death certificate.

A petition filed six months after the warehouse fire.

Signed by Dominic Santoro.

Victor Vane.

And a physician whose name had been blacked out.

Marco looked at Father Ellis.

“You said my father was killed.”

Father Ellis nodded.

“He was.”

“Then why fake the body?”

Anna answered.

“Because he survived the fire.”

Marco stood.

The chair rolled backward.

Anna continued.

“Victor pulled him out.”

Marco turned toward Victor.

Victor’s eyes filled.

“I couldn’t leave him there.”

“Where did you take him?”

“A private clinic.”

“Then?”

Victor’s voice shook.

“Dominic found us.”

Marco became completely still.

Anna looked down.

“Your father lived for three days after the fire.”

Marco stared at Victor.

“And Dominic?”

Victor whispered:

“He took Luca from the clinic.”

“Where?”

“I didn’t know then.”

“But you know now.”

Victor nodded.

“Yes.”

“Where?”

Victor looked at Anna.

She shook her head.

“Not yet.”

Marco’s hand hit the desk.

“Not yet?”

Anna did not flinch.

“If I tell you before you understand why, you will go there angry.”

“I am angry.”

“I know.”

“He was my father.”

“He was my husband.”

That stopped him.

Anna stepped closer.

“And the man who betrayed him has spent twenty-four years teaching you how to think exactly like him.”

Marco looked away.

Alessandra reached into her purse.

Marco’s security reflex returned instantly.

She placed a folded document on the desk.

“What is that?”

She answered:

“Our marriage agreement.”

Marco frowned.

“I never signed a marriage agreement.”

“No.”

She unfolded it.

“But Dominic prepared one for you.”

Marco looked at the first page.

His name.

Her name.

A trust transfer effective on marriage.

Thirty percent of Santoro Global Holdings.

Manager:

DOMINIC SANTORO.

Secondary manager:

VICTOR VANE.

Marco lifted his eyes.

Alessandra whispered:

“The engagement was never just about us.”

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Then she looked at her father.

“It was the final transfer.”