Chapter 11
Samuel placed the document on Dante’s desk.
His signature was real.
Vanessa had buried the agreement inside a stack of wedding vendor forms after a fourteen-hour workday.
It did not give her half his fortune, but it created enough marital property claims to drag the fight through court for years.
“You always read before signing,” Samuel said.
“I used to.”
“What changed?”
Dante knew.
He had become certain no one close to him would dare deceive him.
Power had made him lazy.
“Fight it.”
“We will.”
“No quiet settlement.”
Samuel nodded.
Vanessa eventually agreed to surrender the claim in exchange for consideration on separate charges.
Not because she found a conscience.
Because federal agents recovered forged trust papers, the stolen seal, and messages tying her to the attempt to seize Marco’s shares.
Dante visited her once.
She sat behind glass.
“Did Sophia really know what she saw?” Vanessa asked.
“No.”
Vanessa frowned.
“She saw you take something that wasn’t yours. Adults made the rest complicated.”
“I was going to give the seal back.”
“After the wedding?”
“Yes.”
“After taking control of Marco’s shares?”
She looked away.
Dante stood.
Vanessa touched the glass.
“Did you ever love me?”
He thought before answering.
“Yes.”
Her eyes filled.
“That makes it worse.”
“For both of us.”
He left.
Outside, Rocco waited with another update.
Vincent Bellini had been captured near a private airfield.
Peter Salvi had agreed to testify.
Carlo remained silent.
And federal prosecutors had found a second shooter tied to Marco’s murder.
“Alive?” Dante asked.
Rocco shook his head.
“Dead four years.”
Dante looked at the city beyond the courthouse steps.
For seven years, he had imagined vengeance would feel like heat.
Instead, truth felt cold.
Rocco handed him another file.
“There’s more.”
The second shooter had once worked directly for Lorenzo Moretti.
May you like
Dante’s father.
And the payment had come from an account Lorenzo controlled.
