Chapter 4 - THE LETTER
The envelope had already been opened once.
Mara knew because her mother had taught her to notice things like that.
“Never trust a sealed envelope that looks too perfect,” Eleanor used to say.
Dominic handed it to her.
“You should read it.”
Her fingers trembled.
Inside were four pages.
The first line destroyed the room around her.
Richard,
If anything happens to me, Mara must never learn what you did.
Mara stopped.
“What did he do?”
Dominic said nothing.
“Did you know about this?”
“No.”
She read faster.
The letter described money.
A trust.
A property in Wisconsin.
Shares in a manufacturing company Eleanor had inherited from her father.
Millions, potentially.
All of it had been transferred fifteen years earlier.
Mara’s signature appeared on documents she had never seen.
At age twelve.
“That’s impossible.”
Dominic took the page.
“You couldn’t legally authorize this.”
“I didn’t.”
Near the bottom, Eleanor had written:
You told me it was temporary. You said you needed my shares to hide campaign debt and that you would return everything. Instead, you threatened Mara. I kept quiet because I was afraid.
Mara’s vision blurred.
Bianca’s father had stolen from her mother.
Not hundreds.
Not thousands.
A fortune.
Dominic’s voice went hard.
“When did your mother die?”
“Car accident.”
“Police report?”
“They said she lost control in the rain.”
Dominic looked at Marco.
Marco understood immediately.
“I’ll pull it.”
Mara slammed the letter onto the counter.
“No.”
Both men looked at her.
“No secret investigators. No men breaking into offices. No bodies.”
Dominic’s face tightened.
“I wasn’t planning bodies.”
“You’re Dominic Vale.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning people cross you and disappear.”
Marco quietly stepped out of the room.
Dominic waited until the door closed.
“Most stories about me are exaggerated.”
“How many?”
He considered that.
“Some.”
“Not comforting.”
“I’m not trying to be comforting.”
“At least that’s honest.”
He walked closer.
“I will not hurt anyone without telling you.”
Her eyes widened.
“That is not the promise you think it is.”
His mouth twitched.
For one ridiculous second, Mara laughed.
The sound surprised them both.
Then she covered her mouth.
Her lip hurt.
Dominic stared at the bruise forming on her cheek.
His humor vanished.
“She won’t touch you again.”
“You don’t control Bianca.”
“No.”
His voice turned cold.
“But I can control how close she gets.”
Mara shook her head.
“This is what I mean. Everything with you sounds like a threat.”
“That’s because threats work.”
“Not with me.”
“I’m learning.”
A knock sounded.
Marco entered again.
“Visitor downstairs.”
“Who?”
“Preston Reed.”
Mara’s stomach dropped.
Dominic looked at her.
“You want him sent away?”
Every instinct said yes.
But the letter lay open on the counter.
And Preston had once lived inside Senator Thorne’s political machine.
“No.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“Mara.”
“You said you’d stop deciding for me.”
A long pause.
Then he nodded.
“Bring him up.”
Preston entered five minutes later looking like a man who had not slept in a week.
Expensive suit.
Unshaven face.
Fear in his eyes.
He saw Mara.
“Mara.”
Dominic moved between them.
Preston stopped.
“I’m not here to fight.”
“That would be a short fight,” Dominic said.
“Dominic.”
Mara’s warning worked.
Barely.
Preston looked at the bruise on her face.
“Bianca did that?”
“Yes.”
He closed his eyes.
“I told her not to confront you.”
Mara stared.
“You knew she found the test?”
“Yes.”
“You knew?”
“I was trying to handle it.”
A laugh broke out of Mara before she could stop it.
“Handle it? That’s what you said when you divorced me.”
Preston flinched.
Dominic slowly turned his head.
“Divorced?”
Mara wished the floor would open.
Preston looked at Dominic.
“She didn’t tell you?”
“No.”
Dominic’s voice was almost pleasant now.
That was worse.
Preston swallowed.
“Mara was my wife.”
Dominic stared at him.
“For how long?”
“Four years.”
“And you married Bianca afterward?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Preston looked ashamed.
“Because Senator Thorne gave me a choice.”
Mara’s hands curled into fists.
“You told me you chose her because you loved her.”
“I lied.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought it would make you hate me enough to leave.”
“I did hate you.”
“I know.”
He reached into his jacket.
Dominic’s hand moved instantly.
Preston froze.
“Easy. It’s paper.”
He pulled out a flash drive and placed it on the table.
“I copied this from Senator Thorne’s private server.”
“What is it?” Mara asked.
May you like
Preston met her eyes.
“Proof your mother didn’t die in an accident.”
