Chapter 14 - The Last Name on the Page
Dominic said nothing for several seconds.
Vincent did.
“I’ll kill him.”
“No.”
“Dom—”
“No.”
Clara studied the document on the screen.
“Tommy wants us to come.”
“How do you know?”
“Because if he wanted the document filed, he wouldn’t show it to us.”
Dominic called him.
Tommy answered.
“Come home.”
“Why?”
“Because there’s one thing your father never told you.”
“What?”
“Come home.”
The call ended.
Dominic’s mansion was surrounded by men he recognized.
His own security.
Nobody stopped him.
Inside, Tommy waited alone.
No weapon.
The final document lay on the desk.
Dominic approached.
“You betrayed me?”
Tommy shook his head.
“I betrayed the plan.”
“What plan?”
“Our fathers’.”
Thomas Moretti and Enzo Castellano had designed the final contingency.
If Vale fell, control would pass to Michael.
If Michael dissolved the network, it would pass through the trust.
If Clara signed it away, one final emergency beneficiary remained.
Tommy.
“I discovered it yesterday.”
“Why hide it?”
“Because I needed to know whether I could destroy it without transferring it again.”
Clara examined the document.
There was another page.
One final beneficiary.
Dominic Castellano.
Dominic laughed once.
Bitterly.
“They built a trap.”
Tommy nodded.
“Every time a good person tried to destroy the system, it transferred to another good person.”
“Making them responsible,” Clara said.
“Exactly.”
The only solution was for all remaining beneficiaries to renounce simultaneously.
Clara.
Michael.
Tommy.
Dominic.
And Vincent.
Five signatures.
Vincent frowned.
“Why me?”
Tommy turned the final page.
VINCENT CASTELLANO.
Dominic looked at his brother.
Not Vale’s son.
Not an outsider.
A Castellano.
Their father had included both sons.
They signed.
Together.
At 2:17 a.m., the Kingmaker network legally ceased to exist.
Records were transmitted to federal authorities.
Assets were frozen.
Secret trusts dissolved.
The Crown Club was finished.
For the first time in decades, nobody inherited the throne.
Tommy looked at Dominic.
“You thought I betrayed you.”
“I considered shooting you.”
“Fair.”
Vincent hugged Tommy.
Tommy looked horrified.
“Why is everyone doing this now?”
Clara laughed.
Then Dominic’s phone rang.
Federal prosecutor.
Salvatore had agreed to cooperate.
Vale had done the same.
Both wanted reduced sentences.
Their testimony would expose dozens more people.
It was over.
Almost.
Clara walked onto the balcony.
Dominic followed.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Good.”
She looked at him.
He shrugged.
“I’d worry if you were.”
Clara smiled.
“My mother is alive.”
“Yes.”
“I inherited eight hundred million dollars for eleven minutes.”
“Twelve.”
“You timed it?”
“I was curious.”
She laughed.
Dominic watched her.
Then became serious.
“Clara.”
“Finish the sentence.”
“When this ends, I don’t want you disappearing from my life.”
Her smile faded.
“You barely know what normal life looks like.”
“Then teach me.”
“I charge hourly.”
“I can afford it.”
“Less than you could yesterday.”
He stepped closer.
“So?”
Clara touched his lapel.
“So ask me again when there aren’t armed men downstairs.”
Dominic looked through the windows.
Tommy was sending everyone home.
He looked back at her.
“They’re leaving.”
“Dominic.”
“What?”
She kissed him.
Slowly.
No gunfire.
No alarms.
No blood.
When they separated, Dominic almost looked surprised.
Clara smiled.
“That was your answer.”
Then Vincent opened the balcony door.
“You need to see this.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
“Of course I do.”
Vincent handed Clara an envelope recovered from Enzo’s original safe.
It was addressed to her.
Clara opened it.
Inside was one final letter from Isabella.
And one photograph.
Clara stared at it.
Dominic looked over her shoulder.
The photograph showed five-year-old Clara holding Dominic’s hand at the Aster Hotel.
Neither of them remembered meeting.
On the back, Isabella had written a single sentence.
Clara read it aloud.
Then her voice stopped.
Because beneath Isabella’s sentence was another message.
May you like
Written recently.
In fresh ink.
