Chapter 5 - The Bride's Secret
Arthur reached the address before sunrise.
It was an abandoned church on Chicago's west side.
Daniel stayed beside him.
Police waited two blocks away.
Arthur entered alone.
"Victor?"
A man stepped from behind the old altar.
Arthur stopped.
Eleven years disappeared.
Victor Romano had aged, but the face was unmistakable.
"You got big," Victor said.
Arthur stared.
"I buried you."
"No. You buried somebody."
Arthur's hands curled.
"Why?"
"Because your father tried to kill me."
Arthur said nothing.
Victor touched the scar along his jaw.
"The wine didn't finish the job. The man Dominic paid to dispose of me decided money was more useful than loyalty."
"Why not go to police?"
"Dominic owned witnesses. Documents. Half the people around us."
"You let your family believe you were dead."
Victor's expression broke.
"I believed staying dead kept them alive."
Arthur laughed bitterly.
"Apparently that's a Romano tradition."
Victor understood.
"Chloe."
Arthur's eyes hardened.
"You know about her."
"I've been watching."
"That doesn't comfort me."
"It shouldn't."
"Did you photograph her sleeping?"
"No."
"Did you send the messages?"
"One."
"Which?"
"My name."
Arthur stared.
"Why?"
"Because I needed you to start questioning the past."
Arthur stepped closer.
"You could have walked into my office."
"And Dominic would have known before I reached the elevator."
"Then tell me now."
Victor took out a folder.
"Your father isn't the only one."
Inside were bank transfers, shell-company records and photographs.
Richard Croft.
Dominic Romano.
Judges.
Executives.
Officials.
Arthur's stomach turned.
"What is this?"
"Twenty years of leverage."
"Why the wedding?"
"Your inheritance."
Arthur nodded.
"Pike told me."
"Pike knows half."
"Give me the other half."
Victor looked at him.
"The trust doesn't simply give you Romano voting control at thirty-eight."
"What else?"
"It gives you access to the original corporate archive."
"So?"
"So that's where Dominic's real records are."
Arthur understood.
"He needed me dead before I opened them."
"Yes."
"And Richard?"
"Richard discovered the plan."
"Why didn't he warn me?"
"Because Richard has spent twenty years helping Dominic."
Arthur looked down.
"He wanted out only when he realized Vivian would become collateral damage."
Arthur thought about Richard's disappearance.
"Is he alive?"
Victor hesitated.
"Probably."
"Probably isn't good enough."
"It's all I have."
Arthur took the folder.
"Why now?"
Victor looked toward the broken stained-glass window.
"Because Chloe changed the timetable."
"How?"
"Dominic learned she was pregnant."
Arthur went still.
"He knew?"
"Before you did."
Arthur's jaw tightened.
"How?"
"Someone at her clinic sold information."
Arthur felt sick.
Victor continued.
"Once Dominic realized you had an heir outside his control, Chloe became a threat."
Arthur stepped closer.
"If he touches her—"
"He already tried."
Arthur froze.
"What?"
"The wedding wasn't the first plan."
Victor handed him another document.
Chloe's car.
A repair invoice.
Brake lines.
Arthur remembered.
Three months earlier Chloe's old sedan had suddenly lost braking pressure.
She had complained about it casually.
She'd stopped driving it afterward.
Arthur's voice became dangerously quiet.
"That wasn't an accident."
"No."
Arthur turned toward the door.
"Where is Dominic?"
"I don't know."
"You've watched him for eleven years."
"And he knows someone has been watching."
Arthur stopped.
Victor said, "There's something else."
Arthur turned.
"The marriage contract."
"What about it?"
"Vivian altered it."
Arthur frowned.
"How?"
"Ask her."
Back at the hospital, Vivian was waiting.
Arthur put the contract on the table.
"What did you change?"
Her face fell.
"So you found out."
"Tell me."
Vivian glanced at Chloe.
"I added a dissolution clause."
Chloe sat straighter.
"Meaning?"
"If Arthur died within five years, neither Croft nor Romano holdings would transfer through the marriage."
Arthur stared.
"You sabotaged the agreement."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I didn't trust our fathers."
"When?"
"Six weeks ago."
That aligned perfectly with Richard wanting the wedding canceled.
Arthur understood.
"Your father discovered it."
"Yes."
"And realized Dominic's plan wouldn't work."
Vivian nodded.
"That's why my father wanted out."
Chloe studied her.
"You were trying to protect Arthur."
Vivian gave a sad smile.
"And myself."
Arthur's expression softened.
"You could have told me."
Vivian raised an eyebrow.
"You mean the man who didn't tell Chloe anything because he was protecting her?"
Chloe actually laughed.
Arthur looked offended.
"That's different."
Both women stared at him.
Arthur sighed.
"Fine."
For one brief moment, tension loosened.
Then Vivian's phone rang.
Her brother.
She answered immediately.
"Ethan?"
His voice came through in panic.
"Vivian, Dad's here."
She stood.
"Where?"
"At the house."
"Is he hurt?"
"I don't know. He's bleeding."
Arthur was already moving.
Vivian said, "Ethan, lock your door."
"It's too late."
A sound came through the phone.
A door opening.
Then Richard's voice.
"Vivian?"
She froze.
"Dad?"
"Listen carefully."
"What happened?"
Richard breathed heavily.
"Dominic knows about the archive."
Arthur stopped.
Richard continued.
"He knows Arthur found Victor."
Arthur's eyes snapped toward the room.
How?
Only a handful of people knew.
Richard whispered:
"There's someone with you feeding him everything."
The line went dead.
Nobody moved.
Chloe looked around the hospital room.
Arthur.
Vivian.
Daniel.
Pike.
And herself.
Then the bathroom door behind Chloe slowly opened.
May you like
A shadow appeared on the floor.
Someone had been inside the room the entire time.
