Chapter 6 - The Fire That Was Never an Accident|
Dominic had spent most of his adult life believing that the Salvatore family controlled its own destiny.
Money could purchase influence.
Influence could create power.
And power, he had always believed, could prevent betrayal.
But standing in the abandoned printing basement, he realized how thoroughly he had been deceived.
His younger brother had left behind evidence that threatened everything Dominic thought he understood about his family.
Emma watched him reading Nicholas's warning.
"Did you know about Hawthorne Court?"
Dominic didn't look up.
"I knew my father had business interests in that neighborhood."
"That wasn't my question."
He met her eyes.
"I knew the property was being redeveloped."
"And the fire?"
"I was told it was an accident."
Emma glanced toward the photographs the investigators had recovered.
Four people had died.
One was a retired schoolteacher.
Another was a night-shift hospital orderly.
The others were an elderly couple who had lived in the building for thirty-six years.
They were ordinary people.
People who had worked, paid rent, raised families, and expected to wake up the next morning.
Instead, they had become names in a newspaper article.
"Someone made money from their deaths," Emma said.
Dominic nodded.
"Yes."
"And your family was involved."
His silence answered before his words did.
"Apparently."
Emma's eyes flashed.
"You don't get to say apparently as though this is happening to someone else."
Dominic looked away.
"You're right."
She had expected a powerful man to become defensive.
Instead, he seemed to be absorbing each accusation.
It didn't make her trust him.
But it made her willing to continue listening.
Over the following days, investigators began examining the records from locker B-17.
The financial documents suggested that charitable housing funds had been diverted through several construction companies.
Some of those companies had connections to Enzo Salvatore.
Others appeared to exist only on paper.
Investigators also discovered unusual insurance transactions and correspondence about clearing the Hawthorne Court property.
None of it proved who had started the fire.
But it gave federal investigators strong reasons to reopen the financial investigation.
Agent Ruiz warned Emma that building a criminal case would take time.
"Names on documents aren't enough," she explained.
"We need original records, reliable witnesses, and evidence showing what each person actually knew."
Emma listened carefully.
"Then find them."
"We're working on it."
"What about the people who died?"
"Their families deserve answers."
Emma nodded.
That was the first thing anyone had said about the case that felt important.
Not revenge.
Not power.
Answers.
Meanwhile, Lily was recovering.
Her fever had disappeared, and she had resumed drawing animals at Mrs. Peterson's friend's apartment.
She seemed delighted by the attention Dominic paid her artwork.
He brought a box of colored pencils during a supervised visit, then stopped himself at the doorway.
"Can I give her these?" he asked Emma.
Emma studied the package.
It was inexpensive.
Ordinary.
Nothing like the extravagant gifts she had expected from a billionaire.
"Yes."
Lily opened the box and gasped.
"Forty-eight colors!"
Dominic smiled.
"Is that enough?"
Lily looked offended.
"That's more than enough."
She immediately handed him a sheet of paper.
"Draw something."
Dominic stared at the blank page.
"I don't know how."
"Everybody knows how."
"I'm afraid I'm very bad at it."
Lily pushed a brown pencil toward him.
"Then draw badly."
Emma laughed from the kitchen.
Dominic spent the next twenty minutes attempting to draw a horse.
Lily declared that it looked like a confused potato.
For the first time in years, Dominic laughed until his eyes watered.
But when Lily left to wash her hands, the laughter disappeared.
He looked at Emma.
"She has Nico's smile."
Emma sat opposite him.
"She has his kindness too."
Dominic nodded.
Then he asked the question he had been afraid to ask.
"Would you consider a DNA test?"
Emma became still.
"Why?"
"Because I think Lily is my niece."
"You already know who her father was."
"I know what the photographs suggest."
"Then why do you need proof?"
Dominic folded his hands.
"Because someday she'll ask questions that deserve more than guesses."
Emma thought about that.
Nicholas's identity had been hidden from her for seven years.
She wouldn't allow another person's assumptions to determine her daughter's future.
But a properly conducted test could establish whether the Salvatore family connection was real.
"Only through an accredited laboratory," she said.
"And my attorney reviews everything."
"Of course."
"No photographs of her sample."
"Agreed."
"And the results belong to us too."
"Absolutely."
Dominic leaned back.
"Emma, I don't want to take her away from you."
She looked directly into his eyes.
"You couldn't."
He nodded.
"I know."
Three days later, Lydia arranged the necessary appointments.
The testing process began under Emma's consent.
That evening, Emma returned to her temporary apartment and discovered a bouquet of white lilies outside the door.
For a moment, she thought Dominic had sent them.
Then she noticed the attached card.
It contained no signature.
Only a short message.
Families should keep their secrets.
Emma's stomach tightened.
She immediately called Ruiz.
The flowers were collected for examination.
Dominic arrived after the investigators left.
When he read the photograph of the card, his face turned cold.
"Enzo."
"You recognize the message?"
"My uncle used to say that whenever someone asked questions."
Emma looked at him.
"Then he knows we're investigating."
"Probably."
"Does he know about Lily?"
Dominic hesitated.
"I think he's suspected for years that Nico had someone outside the family."
Emma stared at him.
"Then why hasn't he come after us before?"
"Because he didn't know where you were."
"Until now."
Dominic looked ashamed.
"Yes."
Emma moved toward the window.
She was tired of hiding.
Tired of being frightened.
Tired of men who believed women and children could be treated like loose ends.
"Your uncle made a mistake," she said quietly.
Dominic looked at her.
"What mistake?"
"He thinks I'm going to disappear because he's rich and dangerous."
She turned around.
"But I've already survived seven years without anyone protecting me."
Her voice steadied.
"I'm not going to let him erase Nicholas's story."
Dominic studied her.
For the first time, he understood why his brother had loved this woman.
Emma wasn't fearless.
She was frightened every day.
But her fear had never stopped her from doing what was necessary.
Before Dominic could answer, his phone rang.
It was Agent Ruiz.
She had uncovered a transaction connected to the Hawthorne Court redevelopment.
The payment had been made three years after Nicholas disappeared.
And the authorization bore a signature neither Emma nor Dominic had expected.
Dominic Salvatore.
Emma watched his expression change.
May you like
Then she asked the question he had dreaded hearing.
"Dominic, what exactly have you been signing?"
