Chapter 11 - PAUL’S STORY
Paul held his phone in one hand. His other hand shook.
“I called the police,” he said. “I’m done covering for them.”
Luca didn’t move toward him. “Covering for who?”
“Daniel started taking money from the docks five years ago. Small amounts. He said he’d pay it back.”
“You knew?”
“I found it after the first year. Daniel said if I reported it, people would think I helped him. I let him replace some of it. Then Vanessa came in, and the numbers got bigger.”
“Why didn’t you come to me?”
Paul gave him a miserable look. “You and Daniel were brothers in everything but blood.”
That landed. Luca looked away.
Paul’s phone buzzed. He held it out. It showed a message from Daniel: DON’T TELL HIM ABOUT OCTOBER 18.
“What happens on October 18?” Luca asked.
“The wedding isn’t the deadline,” Paul said. “Your company’s new loan closes that morning. The West Dock property is the collateral. If the transfer gets recorded first, the loan fails. Your lenders demand repayment on the older debt. Daniel plans to buy what’s left for almost nothing.”
Noah pulled out his phone and began recording Paul’s account with Brooks’s knowledge over a call.
“Why write ‘before he says I do’?” I asked.
Paul looked at me. “Vanessa’s idea. She wanted Daniel to act before the wedding. She thought Luca would forgive almost anything once they were married.”
Luca’s jaw tightened. “Did she know he planned to take the company?”
“She knew about the money. Daniel told her the transfer would pressure you into selling the docks. I don’t know what else he promised.”
Sirens sounded outside.
Paul’s face lost color. “I told the police to use the side entrance. I didn’t tell anyone else I was here.”
A heavy metal door slammed at the end of the aisle.
Daniel stepped into view. He had heard enough.
“You had one job, Paul,” he said.
Paul moved closer to us. Daniel glanced toward the side entrance, where officers were arriving, then backed away.
Luca called his name.
For the first time in twenty-five years, Daniel looked at him like a stranger.
“You would have survived without the docks,” Daniel said. “I wouldn’t.”
He turned and ran through the loading door. A truck engine started outside.
Ruth looked toward the yard. “That truck’s carrying a full load.”
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Noah checked the shipping sheet clipped by the door.
“It’s scheduled for the river terminal,” he said. “And the driver’s name is Vanessa Bellini.”
