Chapter 6 - Blood in the Family Ledger
Alessandro ended the call without another word.
Marco stared at him.
“Boss?”
“Get Rosa and Lily back to the estate.”
“And you?”
Alessandro looked toward the burning building.
“I'm coming with them.”
Marco nodded.
That answer surprised him.
The Alessandro Moretti of five years earlier would have ordered every available man into the streets.
He would have demanded retaliation before the smoke cleared.
But the man standing before him had a terrified child in the back seat.
And that changed everything.
The convoy moved away as fire engines turned onto the street.
Rosa sat beside Lily, whispering reassurance into her hair.
The child had stopped crying.
That frightened Rosa more than the tears.
Lily was staring straight ahead.
Her tiny fingers clutched Bun so tightly that the stuffed rabbit's fabric stretched.
Alessandro watched her.
“Sweetheart?”
She did not answer.
“Lily?”
The girl turned slowly.
“House broken.”
His chest tightened.
“Yes.”
“Bun's blanket?”
Rosa began crying.
Alessandro leaned closer.
“We'll get you another blanket.”
Lily shook her head.
“Grandma's blanket.”
Rosa covered her mouth.
It had belonged to Rosa's mother.
The last thing she had left from the woman who had helped raise Lily.
Alessandro looked away.
There were losses no amount of money could replace.
By the time they returned to the estate, Daniel was waiting in the study with two attorneys and a stack of documents.
Alessandro instructed Marco to keep the mansion secure.
Then he turned to Rosa.
“Would you stay?”
She hesitated.
“Here?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“As long as you want.”
She looked toward Lily.
Alessandro followed her gaze.
“I've had the east guest suite prepared.”
“That's too much.”
“It's a room.”
“It's the size of my apartment.”
“Then Lily will have more space to play.”
Rosa looked at him.
Something softened in her expression.
But the fear remained.
“You can't buy your way through this.”
“I know.”
“And you can't decide you're her father and expect everything to change overnight.”
“I know that too.”
She searched his face.
“Do you?”
He nodded.
“I don't expect her to call me Daddy tomorrow.”
A pause.
“I'd just like the chance to deserve it someday.”
Rosa's eyes filled.
She looked away before he could see the tears fall.
Margaret led her and Lily toward the east wing.
Alessandro remained in the hallway until they disappeared around the corner.
Then he walked into his study.
Daniel had spread the documents across the desk.
“What have you found?”
Daniel adjusted his glasses.
“Something I think your father intended you to discover.”
“Explain.”
“Three years before he died, Vittorio created a private holding structure.”
“Meridian Crown.”
Daniel looked up.
“You know the name?”
“Enzo Bellini was involved.”
Daniel nodded.
“Very involved.”
Alessandro sat.
“Continue.”
“Meridian Crown originally controlled several shipping terminals, two commercial developments, and minority interests in a logistics company.”
“How much?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Approximately four hundred million dollars at the time.”
Alessandro showed no reaction.
“What happened?”
“Ownership was moved through a series of trusts.”
“Beneficiaries?”
“That's where it gets interesting.”
Daniel slid a document across the desk.
“The final beneficiary wasn't you.”
Alessandro looked down.
The name appeared in a line of carefully drafted legal language.
Elena Lily Mendes.
He stared at it.
His daughter's legal name.
Rosa had given Lily his mother's first name as her middle name.
For years, the child had lived within walking distance of his empire without ever possessing his surname.
Yet Vittorio had placed her name inside a trust worth hundreds of millions.
Alessandro raised his eyes.
“Is this authentic?”
“Our attorneys believe it is.”
“Why?”
“The trust was prepared by Arthur Bellini and witnessed by two independent lawyers.”
“Where's the original?”
“Missing.”
“Of course.”
Daniel continued.
“But the financial transactions are real.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means someone has been using assets that may legally belong to Lily.”
“Vincent Romano.”
“Among others.”
Alessandro leaned back.
“What else?”
Daniel hesitated.
“There's a condition.”
“What condition?”
“The trust transfers control to the beneficiary when certain events occur.”
“Such as?”
Daniel looked toward the door.
Then back at Alessandro.
“Recognition by the child's biological father.”
Alessandro frowned.
“Recognition?”
“Formal acknowledgment of paternity.”
“And?”
“Acceptance of the trust by a court-appointed guardian.”
Alessandro's expression hardened.
“Who is the guardian?”
Daniel turned another page.
“Originally, Rosa Mendes.”
“That makes sense.”
“But a later amendment attempted to replace her.”
“With whom?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Isabella Romano.”
Alessandro stared at him.
For a moment, neither man spoke.
Then Alessandro stood.
“Show me.”
Daniel passed him the document.
A signature appeared at the bottom.
Vittorio Moretti.
Alessandro examined it.
Then he shook his head.
“That's not my father's signature.”
Daniel blinked.
“Sir?”
“My father crossed his sevens.”
He pointed.
“And he never signed his name without the middle initial.”
Daniel leaned forward.
The signature contained neither detail.
Alessandro looked up.
“This amendment is forged.”
Daniel's expression changed.
“Then someone has been trying to make Isabella the legal controller of Lily's trust.”
“Exactly.”
“Why?”
Alessandro looked at the name on the page.
“Because they intended Rosa to disappear.”
Daniel went pale.
“And Lily?”
Alessandro said nothing.
A knock sounded at the door.
Marco entered.
“Boss, there's someone at the gate.”
“Who?”
“A woman.”
“Name?”
“She says she's Arthur Bellini's wife.”
Alessandro stood.
“What does she want?”
Marco's face tightened.
“She says her husband is dead.”
A terrible silence followed.
May you like
Then Marco added one more sentence.
“She says Enzo killed him, and she has the original trust documents.”
