Chapter 4 - the secret meeting
Dominic held the paper under the fluorescent lights of the bank vault. His face remained stone cold, but his grip on the document tightened until the edges creaked.
He turned slowly toward Leo, who was standing near the steel doorway watching the hallway.
"Leo," Dominic said, his voice smooth and lethally quiet.
Leo turned around. "Did you find Marcus's offshore logs?"
Dominic held up the Zurich wire transfer document, pointing his finger directly at the signature at the bottom. "Explain this."
Leo looked at the paper, his eyes widening slightly before he forced his expression to remain calm. "Dominic... I can explain that."
"You told me twenty minutes ago that you saved money to live in London," Dominic said, stepping out of the vault until he was inches from his brother's face. "You've been draining two hundred thousand dollars a week from my master account for the last three years."
"I had to buy weapons and intelligence!" Leo insisted, his voice rising in defense. "I was building an army to take down Marcus and Moretti! If I asked you for the money, Marcus would have seen the transfer on your main books!"
"You stole from the family, Leo," Dominic said coldly.
"I didn't steal it!" Leo snapped back. "Our father gave me secondary authorization on account 7704 before he died! I used my legal right as a Bellacorte!"
Dominic stared into his brother's eyes for a long, heavy moment. The explanation was logically plausible, but the secret financial trail proved one undeniable fact: Leo had not been a helpless victim hiding in Europe. He had been operating as an independent power player for years.
Dominic folded the paper and slid it into his inner suit jacket. "We're going back to the estate. We're going to talk to Vivienne."
Thirty minutes later, the convoy returned to the subterranean holding levels beneath the Bellacorte estate.
Dominic walked down the stone corridor, stopping outside the iron cell where Vivienne Vale sat on a simple wooden bench. Her crimson dress was rumpled, but her posture remained proud and arrogant.
Dominic unlocked the cell door and stepped inside alone.
Vivienne looked up, a cold smirk touching her lips. "Did you enjoy your late-night trip to the bank, Dominic?"
Dominic stood over her, his shadow covering her frame. "You knew about account 7704."
"Of course I knew," Vivienne chuckled softly, adjusting her diamond bracelet. "Marcus and I have been watching those Swiss transfers for two years. Did you really think Marcus was the one trying to overthrow you?"
"What are you saying, Vivienne?" Dominic asked.
"Marcus took your seat at dinner tonight because Leo told him to," Vivienne revealed, leaning forward, her eyes glinting with malice. "Leo promised Marcus half your shipping terminals if Marcus staged a fake coup to draw you out into the open!"
Dominic’s brow furrowed. "Why would Leo do that?"
"Because Leo needed a reason to return to New York without you suspecting his true motives," Vivienne sneered. "Check your brother's personal vehicle in the garage, Dominic. Look under the spare tire in the trunk."
Dominic turned on his heel and walked out of the cell without another word.
He marched straight into the estate's private six-car garage. He approached Leo's black tactical SUV, pulled a tire iron from the wall rack, and smashed the rear lock open. He lifted the heavy trunk floor, pulling out the spare tire.
Resting in the recessed steel compartment beneath the tire was a sleek leather satellite phone and a velvet-lined wooden box.
May you like
Dominic opened the wooden box.
Inside lay a custom gold signet ring stamped with the crest of the Moretti syndicate—the very ring worn exclusively by Don Victor Moretti, the Bellacorte family's deadliest rival.
