Chapter 5: The Price of Silence
The Moretti conservatory was filled with flowers, champagne, and relatives expecting an engagement.
Conversations stopped when Dominic entered with Elena and the boys.
Victor Moretti waited beside the long table.
Dominic’s mother, Teresa, stood near him with both hands clasped.
Victor glanced at Sloane.
“You were supposed to prevent this.”
Dominic moved forward.
“Say that again.”
“I was protecting the family.”
“You watched four children for six years.”
“I monitored a woman who tried to extort your father.”
Elena placed the warning photograph on the table.
“Is that what you call this?”
Victor barely looked at it.
“I call it a response to your broken agreement.”
“I signed no agreement.”
Victor opened a leather folder and pushed a document toward her.
“That signature says otherwise.”
Elena read the first page.
“This is forged.”
“It was witnessed.”
“By whom?”
“Gavin Pike, head of Moretti security.”
Dominic turned to Teresa.
“Did you know Elena was pregnant?”
Teresa’s lips parted, but Victor answered first.
“Your mother knew enough.”
“I asked her.”
Teresa gripped the back of a chair.
“Your father told me Elena had lost the babies.”
Elena covered her mouth.
“Babies?” Dominic asked.
“You knew there was more than one?”
Teresa’s knees weakened.
Dominic caught her elbow.
“He said there were two,” she whispered.
“He said Elena blamed you and left.
I begged him to let me call her.”
“And you believed him?”
“I had watched him bury every person who challenged him for thirty-four years.”
Dominic released her arm.
Teresa nearly reached for him, then stopped.
Victor tapped the document.
“Elena received two million dollars in exchange for leaving Massachusetts and making no claim against the estate.”
“Show me the transfer,” Dominic said.
“The records are confidential.”
“That means there was no transfer.”
Sloane stepped beside Victor.
“There was an account in Elena’s name.”
Elena faced her.
“You knew about the money too?”
“I knew you had been paid.”
“You knew enough to continue the warnings.”
“I continued nothing.”
Dominic leaned over the table.
“Who photographed me asleep?”
Victor’s smile vanished.
“Be careful what you accuse me of.”
“Was it Gavin?”
“You are upset.
You have just learned that a woman concealed your children and returned on the night of your engagement.”
Elena’s eyes filled.
“Don’t turn him against me again.”
Victor pressed a button on his phone.
Elena’s voice filled the room.
“I’ll take the money.
I’ll disappear.
Dominic will never see me again.”
Dominic looked at her.
“That isn’t the full conversation,” Elena said.
“Your father demanded I repeat those words before he let me leave the building.”
“You expect him to believe that?” Sloane asked.
Elena faced Dominic.
“I expect him to decide for himself.”
A knock sounded at the conservatory doors.
Two detectives entered with a uniformed officer.
“Ms.
Elena Rossi?” the taller detective asked.
Elena placed one hand behind her, shielding the boys.
“Yes?”
“We received a complaint that you demanded two million dollars from the Moretti family tonight.”
“That is a lie,” Dominic said.
The detective opened a folder.
“The complaint includes emails sent from Ms.
Rossi’s account.”
Elena read the printed address and went pale.
“That account was closed six years ago.”
May you like
Sloane folded her arms.
“Then how did it send me a message forty minutes ago?”
