Chapter 3 - The Sealed Archives
Vincent stood up slowly. Standing at six-foot-three, his presence swallowed the grand salon.
“Geno,” Vincent called out.
The double oak doors at the back of the salon opened instantly. Two heavy security detail officers stepped inside.
“Take Charles Bellamy, Isabella Romano, and Dominic Moretti into the library,” Vincent commanded. “Confiscate their phones, their smartwatches, and their car keys. No one leaves this estate until I say so.”
Dominic slammed his wine glass down, splashing red wine across the white linen tablecloth. “Are you out of your mind, Vincent?! You’re detaining your own blood and your legal counsel over a child’s story?!”
“I am detaining you because my wife named my lawyer on a phone that shouldn't exist,” Vincent growled, stepping around the table. “Geno, if any of them attempt to make a call, put them in the basement cells.”
Isabella gasped as a guard stepped beside her, firmly taking her pearl-encrusted handbag. “Vincent! You can’t do this to me! My family’s syndicate backing is the only reason your stock held firm after Sophia vanished!”
“Then your family can watch your stock burn,” Vincent replied coldly.
Within five minutes, the salon was cleared of the council. Only Vincent, Emily, and I remained standing among the scent of lemon polish, dying white roses, and cold wine.
Vincent turned to me. He looked down at Emily, his face softening by a fraction of a degree. He knelt on one knee in front of my daughter, bringing his towering frame down to her eye level.
“Emily,” Vincent said softly. “Did you listen to the rest of the message before you brought it out here?”
Emily looked at me for permission. I gave her a small, tight nod.
“There were three messages, Mr. Moretti,” Emily said. “The first one was from the lawyer. He said the papers were ready. The second one was from your cousin Dominic. He told her to meet him near the boathouse at midnight.”
Vincent’s breath hitched in his throat. “And the third?”
“The third was the one I played,” Emily whispered. “She was breathing really fast. She said... she said Bellamy was changing the trust to put Dominic in charge if anything happened to you. And then she said... 'He’s outside the door with the key.'”
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Vincent closed his eyes for three long seconds. When he opened them, the cold, lethal killer that had made the Moretti empire untouchable across the Eastern Seaboard was fully awake.
He stood up and looked at me. “Hannah, bring your daughter to my private study. We are going to open my father’s vault.”
