Chapter 12 - THE ENVELOPE
We left for Ohio before sunrise.
Private plane.
No press.
Two security teams.
I spent the flight trying not to think about Daniel.
His house had been empty for days.
Neighbors hadn’t seen him.
His phone was off.
Police had found nothing.
Dominic sat across from me.
“You should have told me about the envelope.”
“I forgot.”
“You forgot Elena Moretti handed you a mysterious sealed envelope?”
“At the time she was a woman giving her housekeeper paperwork.”
“What did she say?”
I closed my eyes.
“Keep this somewhere outside my home.”
“And?”
“If I ever disappear…”
I stopped.
Dominic leaned forward.
“What?”
“She said, ‘Give it to the person who loves Ethan more than the Moretti name.’”
Dominic stared at me.
“You never opened it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because she came home.”
“Then died two weeks later.”
“I thought it was an accident.”
So did he.
That silence told me enough.
“You don’t anymore.”
“No.”
We reached Daniel’s small rental house near Columbus.
The front door was unlocked.
My heart sank.
“Daniel?”
Nothing.
We searched.
Bedroom.
Kitchen.
Garage.
Empty.
Then I found blood near the basement door.
“Dominic.”
He came running.
Marco went first.
Gun drawn.
The basement smelled damp.
“Daniel?”
A sound.
Small.
A groan.
We found him tied to a chair behind a stack of boxes.
Alive.
Barely.
“Oh my God.”
I dropped beside him.
“Daniel.”
His eyes opened.
“Anna?”
I started crying.
Stupid.
Messy.
Relieved.
I cut the tape from his mouth.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“For what?”
“I owed money.”
“I know.”
“No.”
He swallowed.
“To Cole.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Robert Cole?”
He nodded.
“He ran games.”
Illegal betting.
Of course.
“How much?”
“Seventy thousand.”
I almost hit him.
Instead, I hugged him.
“You idiot.”
“I know.”
“Did you help them?”
His eyes filled with tears.
“I gave Cole information.”
My stomach dropped.
“What information?”
“Your schedule.”
I pulled away.
“You what?”
“He said he needed to know when you worked because he wanted to surprise you.”
“Daniel.”
“I didn’t know!”
“You sold my work schedule?”
“I was desperate.”
Anger burned through me.
Not clean anger.
Family anger.
The kind mixed with love and disappointment.
Dominic stepped forward.
“Where’s the envelope?”
Daniel looked confused.
“What envelope?”
“My storage trunk.”
He pointed toward the back wall.
We opened it.
Inside were my mother’s photographs.
Old clothes.
Documents.
And the envelope.
Still sealed.
Dominic handed it to me.
My name was written across the front.
Anna.
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
A letter.
And one legal document.
I read the letter first.
Anna,
If you are reading this, I was right to be afraid.
Dominic thinks danger comes from enemies.
His greatest weakness is that he still believes loyalty can be inherited.
It cannot.
It must be earned.
If anything happens to me, protect Ethan from Peter Sloan.
My breath stopped.
Dominic closed his eyes.
Elena knew.
I kept reading.
Peter controls accounts Dominic does not know exist.
He helped Carlo Moretti move money through charities, judges, police unions, and construction firms.
I discovered he arranged Gabriel’s return because he intends to create a war between the brothers, then inherit control through the trusts.
If I die, it was not an accident.
Dominic sat down.
His face emptied.
His wife had known she was going to be killed.
And she had been right.
At the bottom of the letter was one final sentence.
The legal document proves Peter had motive.
Ask Dominic who becomes trustee if both he and Ethan die.
I looked at Dominic.
“Who?”
His face went pale.
“Peter.”
The room fell silent.
Then Marco’s phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
His eyes moved to Dominic.
“What?”
Marco lowered the phone.
“Peter’s been spotted.”
“Where?”
“Westchester.”
My stomach turned.
The mansion.
Dominic stood despite the pain in his side.
“Why would he go back there?”
Daniel whispered from behind us.
“Because there’s something you don’t know.”
We turned.
He swallowed.
“Cole told me Peter hid everything there.”
“Where?”
May you like
Daniel looked directly at Dominic.
“Inside Elena’s grave.”
