Chapter 10 - THE LAWYER IN THE HALL
A man in a sharp gray suit rushed into the dining room, holding a leather briefcase.
He looked out of breath and slightly terrified, clutching a stack of legal documents to his chest.
Answer one: The drama wasn't entirely over. The transition to a legitimate empire came with immediate legal complications.
“Mr. Moretti,” the man panted, stopping a few feet away from us. “I apologize for the intrusion, but security said it was an emergency.”
“It’s fine, Arthur,” Luca said, stepping back from me but keeping a protective hand on the small of my back. “Rachel, this is Arthur Vance, my lead corporate attorney. Arthur, this is Rachel Morgan.”
Arthur nodded quickly to me before turning his frantic gaze back to Luca.
“Boss, I just received the transfer documents for the legitimate businesses,” Arthur said rapidly. “You can't do this. If you officially dissolve the syndicate structure and transfer the assets into a clean holding company tonight, you trigger a massive federal audit. The IRS will freeze every account you have by sunrise.”
“Let them freeze the accounts,” Luca said calmly, walking over to the dining table and pouring a glass of water. “The money is clean. We have nothing to hide.”
“That’s the problem,” Arthur stressed, opening his briefcase and pulling out a specific folder. “You do have something to hide. I was reviewing the older shell companies Michael set up before he died. One of them wasn't clean.”
Luca stopped pouring. He frowned. “Michael didn't run dirty money.”
“He didn't run this company, sir,” Arthur corrected softly. “It was opened in his name, but the signatory was someone else.”
Arthur slid the file across the mahogany table.
Luca picked it up, reading the top page. His dark eyes widened slightly.
He looked up at me.
“What is it?” I asked, my heart skipping a beat at his expression.
“Rachel,” Luca said quietly, handing me the file. “Did Daniel ever mention a company called Apex Logistics?”
I stared at the name on the paper.
“Yes,” I breathed, the memory surfacing instantly. “That was the warehouse company he worked for. The one where he died.”
Open two: If Daniel worked for a company secretly owned by the Moretti family, was his death truly an accident of circumstance, or was he deliberately placed there?
“Look at the signatory line,” Luca said gently.
I looked down. At the bottom of the incorporation document, signed in bold black ink, was a name I recognized instantly.
Vanessa Bellini.
“Vanessa owned the warehouse where Daniel worked,” I realized, a fresh wave of nausea washing over me.
“She wasn't just stealing from the import business,” Luca said, his jaw tightening. “She was using a shell company in Michael’s name to launder the stolen money. Daniel didn't just stumble upon an invoice, Rachel. She hired him specifically for that warehouse because she needed a fall guy.”
My hands shook violently as I dropped the file.
“She hired him to frame him?” I choked out.
“If the feds ever audited Apex Logistics, all the dirty money would trace back to the lead HVAC technician—the only civilian with unrestricted access to the building’s hidden server rooms,” Luca explained darkly. “Daniel.”
Vanessa hadn't just watched my husband die. She had actively orchestrated his employment to ruin his life, and then had him murdered when he found out the truth.
“Where is she?” I asked, my voice dropping into a register of cold, absolute fury I didn't know I possessed.
“She’s welded in the holding cell with Dominic,” Luca reminded me.
“Unweld it,” I said, looking up at him.
Luca stared at me. He saw the iron in my eyes. He didn't argue.
We walked down to the basement. Daniel, the security chief, had just finished using a blowtorch to seal the heavy steel door shut.
“Cut it open,” Luca ordered.
Daniel looked surprised but immediately fired up the torch, slicing through the fresh welds.
The heavy door swung open.
Vanessa and Dominic were sitting on opposite sides of the concrete cell, glaring at each other in the dark.
When the light hit Vanessa’s face, she looked up, expecting to see Luca.
Instead, she saw me.
I didn't yell. I didn't scream.
I walked calmly into the cell and stood directly in front of her.
“You hired Daniel to frame him for your money laundering,” I stated, my voice echoing in the small room.
Vanessa’s eyes widened in panic. She looked to Luca for help, but he stood silhouetted in the doorway, an immovable wall of silent support for me.
“It was just business, Rachel,” Vanessa stammered, scrambling backward. “I needed a civilian cover! I didn't mean for him to die!”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my simple gold wedding band. The ring Vanessa had humiliated me over just hours ago.
I didn't put it on my finger.
May you like
I held it tightly in my fist, and with a swift, brutal motion, I drove my fist directly into Vanessa’s perfect jaw.
TITLE: THE RING'S MARK
