Chapter 9 - What Belini Wanted Buried Before the Wedding

Daniel Reed did not run.

That surprised Emma.

He sat in a hotel suite with Grace’s metal box open in front of him and both hands visible on the table.

Luca entered first.

Matteo behind him.

Emma followed.

Daniel looked older than she remembered.

Tired.

Defeated.

“I was going to bring it back.”

Emma stared at him.

“You broke into my apartment.”

“I was trying to get there before them.”

“Them?”

Daniel looked at Luca.

“Vescari people.”

Luca said, “Names.”

“Belini. Her brother Marco. Carlo Moretti.”

Emma felt the final shape of the conspiracy appear.

Not one family.

Two.

Daniel opened the box.

Inside were letters tied with blue ribbon.

A sealed trust document.

And a small ledger.

“This is what they wanted.”

Luca picked up the ledger.

Daniel shook his head.

“Not the trust.”

“The ledger?”

“Yes.”

Emma stepped closer.

“What is it?”

“Your mother’s copy.”

Her chest tightened.

Daniel continued.

“She found Vescari money being moved through Moretti subcontractors twenty-eight years ago.”

Luca looked up.

“Before I ran anything.”

“Before your father ran most of it.”

“Who authorized it?”

Daniel looked toward the door.

Nobody was there.

Still, he lowered his voice.

“Carlo.”

Luca became still.

Emma understood.

Carlo had not joined Belini’s plan recently.

He had been connected to the Vescari money for decades.

“Why didn’t Grace expose it?” Emma asked.

“She tried.”

“What happened?”

“Your mother died.”

Emma stopped breathing.

Daniel looked ashamed.

“The official report said an accident.”

“And you don’t believe that.”

“No.”

Luca opened the ledger.

Names.

Dates.

Amounts.

Carlo Moretti.

Vescari Holdings.

Payments routed through shell companies.

Enough to explain why Carlo needed the merger.

It was not expansion.

It was concealment.

“If the merger closed,” Luca said, “old liabilities would disappear inside the combined books.”

Daniel nodded.

“And if Maria blocked it?”

“They needed her vote.”

Emma looked at the trust document.

“And if she became incompetent, I became proxy.”

“Yes.”

“Which meant they needed me gone too.”

Daniel nodded again.

Emma closed her eyes.

Luca’s voice turned hard.

“Belini knew who Emma was?”

“Not until tonight.”

Emma opened her eyes.

Daniel continued.

“Carlo knew Grace had a successor but not the name. When Sofia told Belini the waitress helping Maria was Emma Reed, Belini sent the surname to Carlo.”

That explained the sudden interest.

The apartment search.

The urgency.

Luca looked at Matteo.

“Marco Bellini?”

“Picked up twenty minutes ago.”

“Carlo?”

“Still secured.”

“Belini?”

“At Bellarosa.”

Daniel laughed bitterly.

“For now.”

Luca looked at him.

“What does that mean?”

Daniel pointed at the box.

“There is one more thing.”

Emma opened the blue ribbon bundle.

A letter from Grace.

Addressed to Maria.

The final paragraph was only three lines.

If anything happens to me, do not trust the first confession.

Carlo will sacrifice a Vescari before he sacrifices himself.

The proof is in the wedding account.

Luca read it twice.

“Wedding account?”

Daniel nodded.

“Belini’s engagement expenses.”

Emma frowned.

“What could be hidden there?”

“Not expenses.”

Daniel looked at Luca.

“Payments.”

Matteo was already on his phone.

Three minutes later, he had the answer.

A private account opened for the Moretti-Vescari wedding had transferred money to Sofia.

To the forged physician service.

To Daniel’s building superintendent.

And one more recipient.

Marco Bellini.

Belini’s brother.

Luca’s expression hardened.

Then Matteo scrolled farther.

“Boss.”

“What?”

“There’s an outgoing transfer scheduled for tomorrow.”

“To whom?”

Matteo looked up.

“Carlo Moretti.”

Emma felt the room go silent.

Amount:

Twenty-five million dollars.

Payment reference:

FINAL CONTROL.

Luca closed the ledger.

Now there was nothing left to guess.

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Only one question remained.

Whether Belini would betray Carlo before Carlo betrayed her.