Chapter 4 - The Contract Beneath the Engagement

Marco read every page.

Twice.

No one interrupted him.

The clock in the study moved past midnight.

The engagement ball continued outside without music.

Guests were quietly leaving.

At the bottom of page twelve was a signature block.

Marco Santoro.

Blank.

Alessandra Vane.

Already signed.

Victor closed his eyes when Marco noticed.

“You signed this?”

Alessandra nodded.

“When?”

“Six weeks ago.”

“Before I proposed publicly.”

“Yes.”

Marco stared at her.

“Why?”

“Because my father told me it was only an asset-protection agreement.”

Victor spoke.

“That was what I was told too.”

Marco looked at him.

“By Dominic.”

“Yes.”

Marco dropped the pages onto the desk.

“What happens if I sign?”

Alessandra pointed to a paragraph.

“Your voting control falls below fifty-one percent.”

Marco read it.

Forty-nine.

Dominic’s trust would hold the deciding block.

Marco looked at Victor.

“And your family gets what?”

Victor answered:

“Protection from old liabilities.”

“What liabilities?”

“The ones Anna’s testimony created.”

Anna gave him a cold look.

“Say it correctly.”

Victor swallowed.

“The crimes my father committed.”

Marco paced once across the study.

“So Dominic wanted the marriage because it would give him my company.”

“Control,” Alessandra said.

“Same thing.”

“No.”

She stepped toward him.

“He didn’t want to own it.”

Marco stopped.

“He wanted to use it.”

“For what?”

Alessandra looked at her father.

Victor shook his head.

She ignored him.

“To move money again.”

Marco’s face hardened.

“How much?”

“I don’t know.”

“You always know more than you say.”

“I know.”

“Then try again.”

Alessandra reached into her purse and removed a small black phone.

Not her normal phone.

A second one.

She unlocked it.

Then handed it to Marco.

There were messages from a contact saved only as D.

SIGN BEFORE THE CEREMONY.

MAKE SURE ELLIS DOES NOT REACH HIM.

ANNA MUST STAY OUTSIDE.

IF SHE ENTERS, END IT.

Marco read the last message twice.

Then looked at Alessandra.

“What does ‘end it’ mean?”

“I don’t know.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“No.”

She was crying again.

“But I swear I don’t know.”

I remembered something.

Three hours earlier.

Before Father Ellis arrived.

A man from the catering entrance had asked me whether the terrace cameras were working.

I thought he was security.

He wore a dark suit.

No guest badge.

I spoke before I could stop myself.

“Marco.”

Everyone looked at me.

“There was a man near the service corridor.”

Marco’s attention sharpened.

“What man?”

I described him.

Black suit.

Gray tie.

Scar beside his right ear.

Victor stood so quickly his chair fell.

“Anton.”

Marco looked at him.

“Who is Anton?”

Victor’s face had lost all color.

“Dominic’s security chief.”

Marco reached for his phone.

Then stopped.

No signal.

He looked at me.

“Does yours work?”

I checked.

No service.

Alessandra checked hers.

Nothing.

Marco moved to the landline.

Dead.

Father Ellis whispered:

“They cut the house.”

Marco opened the study door.

Two of his guards stood outside.

He spoke quietly.

“Lock every exterior entrance. No one leaves alone. Find Anton Valez.”

One guard nodded.

The other asked:

“Should we call Dominic?”

Marco looked at him.

“No.”

A sound came from the hallway.

The front doors opening.

Then footsteps.

Slow.

Measured.

Familiar.

Marco stepped into the corridor.

At the far end stood Dominic Santoro.

Sixty-one.

Silver hair.

Black overcoat.

A calm smile.

The man who had taught Marco to drive.

The man who had attended every birthday after his father died.

The man Marco called Uncle Dom.

Dominic looked toward the study.

Then at Anna.

His smile disappeared.

“Anna.”

She stared back.

“Dominic.”

Marco stepped between them.

“I was just reading the marriage agreement you prepared for me.”

Dominic looked at the phone in Marco’s hand.

Then at Alessandra.

His expression changed only slightly.

That was enough.

Marco saw it.

“You knew she kept the messages.”

Dominic said nothing.

Marco moved closer.

“Tell me something, Uncle.”

Dominic’s eyes stayed on Anna.

Marco asked:

“Where did you take my father after the warehouse?”

May you like

[COMPLETED] “GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY DRESS! YOU’RE NOTHING BUT AN OLD SEAM...

[COMPLETED] At the Mafia Boss's Engagement Party, I Served His Hungry So...

[COMPLETED] The Mafia Boss’s Fiancée Tried to Dismiss His Father’s Loyal...

For the first time that night,

Dominic looked afraid.