Chapter 9 - The Contract I Refused to Sign|
We didn't open the memory card that night.
Dante wanted it examined without damaging the files or compromising its evidentiary value.
Gabriel arranged for an independent digital forensic specialist to preserve a copy and document how it had been recovered.
I agreed, although every instinct in my body wanted to know what Elena had hidden.
Nico slept in the apartment's guest bedroom, his treasure box tucked beneath his pillow.
I sat on the living room couch, watching Chicago glitter through the enormous windows.
Dante approached with two mugs of tea.
"Rosa says you prefer peppermint."
"Rosa knows everything."
"Apparently, except how to teach me to be a decent father."
I accepted the mug.
"That's not her job."
He sat beside me, leaving a respectful distance.
"I know."
For several minutes, we watched the city in silence.
Then he said, "I reviewed the marriage agreement again."
I looked at him.
"Should I be worried?"
"No."
He paused.
"Your attorney insisted that you could decline the civil ceremony after meeting me."
"She did."
"And you required independent access to your finances."
"Correct."
He looked almost amused.
"You negotiated more carefully than some of my executives."
"I've spent my life being treated like a burden."
My voice softened.
"I wasn't going to become somebody's property just because the furniture was nicer."
Dante stared into his tea.
"You were right."
That admission surprised me.
Before I could respond, my phone buzzed.
A message from my father.
Come to the Moretti house tomorrow.
Alone.
We need to discuss your future.
I showed Dante.
He shook his head.
"Don't go."
"I need to know what he wants."
"He wants the necklace."
"Then he'll be disappointed."
Dante turned toward me.
"Alessia, this is dangerous."
"I know."
He looked frustrated.
"I'm trying to protect you."
"And I'm trying to make my own decisions."
Our eyes met.
Then he slowly nodded.
"Fair enough."
The following afternoon, I visited my father's house with Mara waiting nearby and Gabriel providing security outside.
I had told both exactly where I would be.
Vittorio Moretti greeted me in his study.
His second wife, Celeste, sat beside him.
Bianca stood near the fireplace, scrolling through her phone.
None of them asked about Nico.
My father gestured toward a chair.
"Sit down."
"I'll stand."
His jaw tightened.
He slid a folder across the desk.
"Your situation has become complicated."
I opened it.
Inside was a proposed settlement agreement.
Five million dollars.
An apartment in Manhattan.
A lifetime monthly allowance.
In exchange, I would terminate the marriage arrangement, surrender my mother's necklace, and sign a confidentiality agreement covering everything I had learned about Harbor Renewal.
I stared at the pages.
"You're offering to pay me to disappear."
"I'm offering you freedom."
"No."
His smile vanished.
"You haven't read the full amount."
"I read enough."
Bianca finally looked up.
"Are you seriously turning down five million dollars?"
"Yes."
She laughed.
"You're insane."
I turned toward her.
"You broke Mom's necklace because you knew Dad wanted it."
Her expression changed.
"I didn't know what was inside."
The room went silent.
I looked at my father.
"What was inside?"
He stood abruptly.
"Bianca, leave."
She hesitated.
"Now."
Celeste followed her daughter out.
My father approached the desk.
"Your mother had an obsession with exposing things that didn't concern her."
"She was an auditor."
"She was reckless."
"Did you kill her?"
The question came out before I could stop it.
His face hardened.
"Watch your mouth."
"Then answer me."
He looked away.
"I didn't start the fire."
My blood turned cold.
I hadn't asked whether he had started it.
I had asked whether he had killed her.
"Who did?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he said, "You should think carefully about that boy you're becoming attached to."
I froze.
"What about Nico?"
"Salvatore has legal options concerning his care if Dante is deemed incapable of protecting him."
I stared at him.
"You wouldn't."
My father smiled without warmth.
"This isn't about what I would do."
He leaned closer.
"It's about what happens when a stubborn girl mistakes herself for a hero."
I picked up the folder.
For one terrible moment, he looked satisfied.
Then I tore the agreement in half.
The sound echoed through his study.
"I'd rather leave with nothing than sell a child's safety."
I dropped the pieces onto his desk.
"Your money has never made anyone in this family happy."
I walked out before he could answer.
That evening, I told Dante everything.
He was furious about the threat involving Nico.
But I could tell he was also angry that I had placed myself within reach of my father.
"You shouldn't have gone," he said.
"I wasn't alone."
"You could have been hurt."
"Then say you were worried."
He stopped.
His expression shifted.
"I was worried."
The honesty caught me off guard.
Before I could respond, a tiny voice came from the hallway.
"Are you leaving?"
Nico stood barefoot near the doorway.
He had apparently heard enough to misunderstand.
I approached him.
"Sweetheart—"
He stepped backward.
"You said you could leave with nothing."
"Nico, I was talking about my father."
His eyes filled.
"People always say they're coming back."
Then he turned and ran.
We searched the apartment, calling his name.
When Gabriel confirmed Nico hadn't left through any exit, I remembered how he hid when frightened.
I found him in the small indoor garden, curled behind a row of potted trees.
His metal box sat beside him.
He looked up at me through tears.
"I don't want you to go."
I knelt beside him.
"Oh, sweetheart."
He pushed the box toward me again.
"You can have it."
My heart broke for the second time.
I pushed it gently back.
"Nico, listen carefully."
He watched me.
"You never have to pay me to care about you."
"Then why do people leave?"
I pulled him into my arms.
"Sometimes adults make terrible choices."
I kissed his hair.
"But those choices are never your fault."
He clung to me for a long time.
Later, when he had fallen asleep, Mara called.
Her voice sounded breathless.
"Alessia, I found something in your mother's old probate records."
"What?"
"A sealed letter attached to a filing that was never completed."
I sat up.
"Who was it addressed to?"
Mara hesitated.
"To you."
My heart began pounding.
"From my mother?"
"Yes."
May you like
Then Mara said something that made the room go silent.
"Alessia, the letter was dated the day before the fire, and it says your father was planning to make you disappear."
