Chapter 2 - THE BROTHER DANTE NEVER MENTIONED
“Your brother was involved in Michael's murder?”
I asked the question so quietly that I barely recognized my own voice.
Dante stared at the gold ring lying on the floor.
Its polished black stone carried the Moretti family crest.
A wolf beneath a silver crown.
I'd seen a similar symbol carved above the mansion's front doors, but I'd never understood its significance.
Dante bent down and picked up the ring.
“This belongs to Luca.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“Or someone wants you to believe it does.”
“Then explain why he's back.”
Gabriel looked toward the tunnel.
“Because Victor Cross finally found out what Michael left behind.”
The footsteps had stopped.
Whoever had been approaching us was gone.
Dante pressed the concealed button, sealing the wooden panel with a heavy click.
For a moment, none of us spoke.
Then Sophie began trembling.
I immediately crouched beside her.
“Sweetheart, look at me.”
She tried, but her eyes kept returning to the hidden wall.
“Is the bad man coming for me?”
I held her face gently.
“You're staying with me.”
“Promise?”
I swallowed.
“I promise I'll do everything I can to keep you safe.”
Bruno lowered his massive head against her shoulder.
Sophie wrapped one little arm around his neck.
That enormous, intimidating dog stood perfectly still while my daughter buried her face in his fur.
It was the first time I'd seen her relax all night.
Dante watched them.
Something softened in his expression.
Then he turned toward Gabriel.
“We're going upstairs.”
Gabriel hesitated.
“Your guards—”
“The ones I trust are waiting outside my mother's rooms.”
“That's what you said three years ago.”
Dante didn't answer.
We climbed the servants' staircase and entered Teresa Moretti's private sitting room.
The elderly woman was awake.
She sat beside a fireplace, wearing a dark green robe. Her silver hair was pinned neatly behind her head.
When she saw Gabriel, her teacup slipped from her hand.
It shattered on the polished floor.
“Gabriel?”
He gave her a weary nod.
“Hello, Teresa.”
She pressed both hands against her mouth.
“Oh, my God.”
I stepped forward.
“Mrs. Moretti, what happened to my husband?”
She looked at Dante.
He said nothing.
Then she looked at Sophie.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Take the child into the adjoining room.”
“No,” I said firmly.
“Please, Elena.”
“She's already frightened because everyone around her has been keeping secrets. I'm not sending her away without an explanation.”
Teresa lowered her gaze.
After a long silence, she nodded.
“You're right.”
Dante pulled a chair toward Sophie. Bruno settled beside her while she hugged her pillow.
Then Teresa began speaking.
“Three years ago, Harbor House Community Trust was supposed to open two hundred affordable apartments for families who had nowhere else to go.”
I remembered Michael talking about the project.
He'd come home excited after receiving the job.
He said the apartments would offer parents a chance to rebuild their lives.
“Michael believed those homes could change people's lives,” Teresa continued. “But the money wasn't reaching the families.”
Gabriel leaned against the mantel.
“Twenty-eight million dollars disappeared through construction invoices, consulting contracts, and companies that existed only on paper.”
I stared at him.
“Twenty-eight million?”
He nodded.
“Public grants. Private donations. Money intended for children, seniors, and families escaping dangerous homes.”
Teresa wiped her eyes.
“Victor Cross controlled the finances.”
I recognized the name.
Victor was Dante's chief financial adviser.
He attended family dinners, handled contracts, and spoke with the calm confidence of a man who never expected anyone to question him.
He'd once given Sophie a box of expensive chocolates.
I'd thanked him.
The memory now made me sick.
“Michael discovered the transfers,” Gabriel explained. “At first, he thought they were accounting mistakes. Then he realized someone was deliberately stealing the money.”
“And Dante?” I asked.
Silence.
I turned toward him.
“Where were you while this was happening?”
Dante's face hardened.
“I financed businesses connected to Harbor House. Some were legitimate. Some weren't.”
“Did you know about the stolen money?”
“Not all of it.”
“That isn't an answer.”
He looked directly at me.
“I knew Victor was moving money through companies I controlled. I didn't ask enough questions because those arrangements benefited me.”
It wasn't the confession I'd expected.
He wasn't claiming innocence.
He was admitting he'd chosen not to look.
“Michael brought evidence to my mother,” Dante continued. “She wanted the money returned and the people responsible exposed.”
Teresa nodded.
“I told him I would help.”
Gabriel looked down.
“And that's when everything went wrong.”
I turned toward him.
“What happened to you?”
His hand moved toward the scar on his cheek.
“Victor learned I was helping Michael. Someone tried to kill me near the marina. I survived, but they believed I'd drowned.”
“Why didn't you go to the police?”
“I should have. I spent too long believing every officer in town answered to the Morettis. By the time I trusted anyone, I was already hiding.”
His voice carried genuine shame.
“I convinced myself staying alive meant I could fix things later.”
“Meanwhile, Michael was buried,” I said.
Gabriel accepted the words without argument.
“Yes.”
Teresa began crying quietly.
“I brought you here because I thought the estate was the safest place for you and Sophie.”
I stared at her.
“You offered me a job because you felt guilty?”
“Because I was afraid the same people would come after you.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
She closed her eyes.
“Because I was a coward.”
Her honesty hurt more than another excuse would have.
I looked around the expensive room.
The silk curtains.
The marble fireplace.
The priceless paintings.
I'd spent three years dusting and polishing a home built partly on money that should have helped families like mine.
Then Sophie spoke.
“Grandma Teresa?”
Teresa looked up.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Did Daddy do something bad?”
The room went silent.
Teresa approached her slowly.
“Your daddy found something wrong, honey. And he tried to make it right.”
Sophie looked at me.
“Then why didn't he come home?”
I had no answer.
Neither did anyone else.
Gabriel finally reached into his coat and removed a folded document.
“I came back because Victor is preparing to close the Harbor House accounts. Once the old records disappear, proving where the money went becomes much harder.”
Dante unfolded the paper.
His expression darkened.
“The final transfer is scheduled for Friday.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Victor believes the last evidence is somewhere on this estate.”
Dante looked toward Sophie's pillow.
For the first time, I noticed Teresa staring at it too.
“Why are you looking at my daughter's pillow?” I demanded.
Teresa's face crumpled.
“Because Michael told me he had hidden something where nobody would think to search.”
I stepped closer.
“What did he hide?”
She didn't answer.
“Teresa!”
Her voice broke.
“Elena, there's something else I've never told you.”
Dante turned toward her.
“Mother, don't.”
She ignored him.
“I know why Michael was standing outside that bakery the night he died.”
My heart pounded.
“Why?”
May you like
Teresa looked straight into my eyes.
“Because I was the one who asked him to meet me there.”
