Chapter 6 - The Moretti Name
Daniel ran.
Marco caught him before he reached the kitchen.
Leo's men restrained him.
Chloe stayed beside Danny.
The blood looked worse than the wound.
A bullet had grazed his side.
Twenty minutes later, a doctor from Leo's security team stabilized him.
Danny refused sedation until he had spoken.
“Dad isn't working for Salerno.”
Chloe stared.
“You just told me to get away from him.”
“Because Salerno put a tracker on him.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I didn't know.”
Marco found it sewn into Daniel's coat.
The house was no longer safe.
They moved.
Leo owned a secluded property forty miles away.
By dawn, Chloe sat beside Danny's bed.
“Tell me everything.”
Danny did.
He had learned Amelia might be alive after finding old letters in their father's belongings.
He hired Evelyn Ross.
The eighty thousand had paid for months of investigation.
But one payment had been routed through an account connected to Salerno.
That was how Victor found him.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you were already carrying Leo's child.”
“That happened later.”
Danny looked away.
Chloe understood.
“You knew about the arrangement.”
“I knew Leo had offered it.”
“How?”
“Dad.”
She turned toward Daniel.
Daniel sat across the room.
“Antonio told me years ago what would happen if Leo ever needed an heir.”
Leo's expression hardened.
“My father planned this?”
“No. He prepared for possibilities.”
Daniel looked at Chloe.
“He knew the trust would activate if a Moretti child and a Bennett child shared blood.”
Chloe froze.
“A Bennett child?”
Daniel nodded.
“Your mother's evidence wasn't only financial records. It proved something about the founding families.”
Leo stepped closer.
“What?”
Daniel looked directly at him.
“That half of what Salerno claims to own legally belongs to Chloe.”
Silence.
Chloe laughed in disbelief.
“I own what?”
“Property. Shipping interests. Development rights. The old harbor leases.”
Leo understood the scale immediately.
“Worth?”
Daniel answered.
“Today? Nearly nine hundred million.”
Chloe stared at him.
Bradley had mocked her five-dollar pastry.
Meanwhile a forgotten legal structure potentially made her wealthier than he was.
But money barely registered.
“What does the baby change?”
Daniel looked at Leo.
“The Moretti and Bennett holdings were separated after a partnership collapsed in 1998. Antonio created a clause allowing them to reunify through direct descendants.”
Leo's expression darkened.
“My father knew.”
“Yes.”
“So Salerno doesn't want the baby because it's my heir.”
“No.”
Daniel looked at Chloe's stomach.
“He wants the baby because its existence destroys his claim to the waterfront empire.”
Chloe covered her belly.
The child kicked.
Leo felt the movement beneath her hand.
Without thinking, Chloe took his hand and placed it there.
Leo froze.
Another kick.
His face softened.
Danny smiled weakly.
Then alarms sounded.
Marco entered.
“Vehicles approaching.”
“How many?”
“Six.”
Leo's expression changed instantly.
“Move Chloe.”
“No,” she said.
He looked at her.
“I'm done being moved without knowing where.”
“Then know where. There's a reinforced safe room downstairs.”
“And everyone else?”
“Coming.”
Leo led her through the hallway.
Before descending, Chloe stopped him.
“Leo.”
He turned.
“If something happens—”
“Nothing will.”
“Don't do that.”
“What?”
“Promise impossible things.”
He stared at her.
She touched his face.
“Just come back.”
Leo's hand covered hers.
“I will do everything I can.”
It was better than a promise.
He kissed her forehead.
Then Marco pulled him away.
Chloe descended with Danny and Daniel.
Outside came engines.
Shouts.
Then silence.
Too much silence.
Inside the safe room, a monitor showed security cameras.
Six SUVs surrounded the property.
Men emerged.
But no one attacked.
One man walked toward the front entrance holding a white envelope.
Marco retrieved it.
Minutes later, Leo entered the safe room.
“What?”
He handed Chloe the envelope.
Inside was an invitation.
Tomorrow night.
Moretti Grand Hotel.
Annual Children's Foundation Gala.
Chloe frowned.
“What is this?”
Leo turned the card.
A handwritten message covered the back.
BRING CHLOE. BRING THE CONTRACT. COME PUBLICLY.
IF YOU DON'T, AMELIA DIES.
Below it was a photograph.
Amelia sat tied to a chair.
Today's newspaper rested in her lap.
Chloe looked at Leo.
“We're going.”
“No.”
“My mother—”
“That's exactly why he knows you'll walk into whatever he built.”
“Then build something better.”
Leo stared.
Chloe stepped closer.
“He expects a frightened pregnant woman.”
“He'll get one.”
“No.”
She took the invitation.
“He's going to get Chloe Bennett.”
The next evening, Chloe stepped from Leo's car wearing an ivory maternity gown.
Cameras exploded with flashes.
Leo emerged beside her in black.
The world had never seen them together.
His hand settled protectively over her belly.
Then Bradley Hayes walked down the hotel steps.
He looked at Chloe.
Smirked.
And said loudly enough for the cameras to hear:
“You really let yourself go.”
Leo's hand remained on their child.
He turned toward Bradley.
But before he could speak, a woman's voice came from behind them.
“Don't touch him, Leo.”
Chloe knew that voice.
May you like
She turned.
Her mother stood at the top of the stairs.
