Chapter 5 - The War Inside the Family
The estate went into lockdown before three in the morning.
No vehicle left.
No employee moved between wings without security clearance.
Every guest room, service corridor, and exterior camera was reviewed.
They found nothing.
That was impossible.
Damian made certain everyone understood it.
"People don't disappear."
His security chief, Marco, stood across from him in the operations room.
"No, sir."
"Then find the person who took the key."
"We're checking every camera."
"Check them again."
Marco nodded.
Damian turned.
Serena stood at the doorway wearing a dark robe over her wedding dress.
Her neck showed a thin red mark where the chain had been cut.
Seeing it made something hot and violent move beneath Damian's ribs.
"Why are you here?"
"I need the bank records."
"No."
Her brows rose.
"Excuse me?"
"You were attacked."
"My necklace was attacked."
"Someone came within inches of your throat."
"And now they have the key."
"Exactly."
"So I need the bank records."
Damian stared at her.
She stared back.
Marco looked wisely at the floor.
"Five minutes," Damian said.
Serena entered.
"Bellamere Private Bank uses dual authorization on high-security boxes."
Damian frowned.
"Meaning?"
"The key isn't enough."
"How do you know?"
"Vittorio explained the account structure when he gave it to me."
"What is the second authorization?"
"Biometric verification."
"Whose?"
Serena hesitated.
"Mine."
Damian's anger cooled into understanding.
"So they need you."
"Yes."
Marco looked up.
"That changes the security plan."
"It changes everything," Damian said.
Serena walked toward the computer terminal.
"Unless we get there first."
Damian shook his head.
"No."
"You want to know what's inside."
"I want you alive."
The words came too quickly.
Serena froze.
So did Damian.
Neither acknowledged it.
She recovered first.
"If they need me alive, that gives us leverage."
"Absolutely not."
"Damian."
"No."
"We can't hide forever."
"You've been my wife for twelve hours. I'd prefer not to become a widower before breakfast."
A faint color rose in Serena's cheeks.
Marco abruptly became interested in another screen.
Serena folded her arms.
"We go to the bank with security."
Damian considered it.
The attacker already knew the key existed.
Waiting gave them time to prepare another move.
"Six cars," he said.
"Ridiculous."
"Eight."
"Six is fine."
They arrived before the bank opened.
The director personally escorted them underground.
The missing key was not required.
Serena's biometric authorization allowed the bank to issue an override after Damian established his authority as Vittorio's heir.
The vault door opened.
Inside the deposit box were three items.
A flash drive.
A sealed envelope addressed to Damian.
And a second envelope addressed to Serena.
Damian looked at her.
She looked at him.
"Together?" he asked.
Serena nodded.
He opened his.
Damian,
If you are reading this, you married Serena.
That means either you have learned humility or circumstances have forced it upon you.
Probably the second.
Damian almost smiled.
Then he continued.
The empire is compromised.
Do not trust the audit reports.
Do not trust the shipping council.
Most importantly, do not mistake inheritance for ownership.
What I built was never intended to belong to one man.
Serena has the rest.
Damian looked up.
"What does yours say?"
Serena opened her envelope.
Her face changed as she read.
"Serena."
She handed him the letter.
My dear girl,
You always saw what everyone else ignored.
That is why they ignored you.
Use it.
The flash drive contains the true ownership structure of Marchetti Holdings, including the trust established by your father and me twenty years ago.
Damian will not like what he learns.
Do not let him destroy himself trying to preserve something already stolen from him.
And if he proves himself worthy, save him.
If he does not, save yourself.
Damian read the paragraph twice.
"Your father had a trust?"
Serena looked stunned.
"I didn't know."
They connected the flash drive in a secure bank office.
The first document opened.
Damian felt the world shift.
Vittorio did not own all of Marchetti Holdings.
Neither would Damian.
Twenty-eight percent had been held in trust for Serena since childhood.
Another seventeen percent belonged to employee pension structures that Conrad Hale's audits had concealed.
The controlling shares Damian thought he was inheriting were only controlling if combined with Serena's voting trust.
The marriage condition had not given Damian an empire.
It had forced two owners into the same room.
"Forty-five percent," Serena whispered.
Damian leaned closer to the screen.
"Your father owned twenty-eight."
"No. The trust owns it."
"For you."
She shook her head.
"I didn't know."
The next files were worse.
Lucian had been buying hidden debt associated with several Marchetti subsidiaries.
Bellini's companies were involved.
Hale had approved manipulated audits.
But Lucian's signature never appeared.
"He's insulated," Damian said.
"Deliberately."
"Can we prove control?"
"Not yet."
Damian looked at her.
"Vittorio knew he couldn't remove them without destabilizing the company."
"So he died before finishing."
"Or someone made sure he did."
Serena went pale.
Damian closed the laptop.
"No."
"What?"
"We are not assuming murder."
"You already considered it."
"I consider everything."
"Then consider this."
She opened Vittorio's medical records contained on the drive.
His condition had been serious.
But stable.
Then forty-eight hours before his death, medication dosages changed.
The authorization belonged to a private physician.
A physician recommended by Lucian.
Damian stood so abruptly the chair struck the wall.
"Damian."
"I'm going to kill him."
"No."
He turned.
"You don't get to tell me—"
"That is exactly what Vittorio warned me about."
Damian stared.
"Lucian wants you angry."
"You don't know that."
"If you kill him without proof, you lose everything."
"I don't care."
"I do."
The words stopped him.
Serena stood.
"You think protecting the empire means destroying anyone who threatens it."
Her voice remained soft.
"But that is exactly how men like Lucian manipulate men like you."
Damian stepped closer.
"And what would you suggest?"
"We prove it."
"And if he killed Vittorio?"
"Then we prove that too."
His jaw flexed.
Serena did not move.
For thirty seconds, they stood less than two feet apart.
Then Damian looked away.
"You're infuriating."
"So I've heard."
"From whom?"
"You, mostly."
Against his will, Damian smiled.
That was when the first gunshot hit the bank window upstairs.
Security moved instantly.
Marco burst into the room.
"We have to go."
Damian grabbed Serena's hand.
They moved through the rear vault corridor while shots echoed above.
This was not an assassination attempt.
It was pressure.
Someone wanted the drive.
In the armored vehicle, Serena held it against her chest.
Damian watched her.
"You saved me from doing something stupid."
"I delayed it."
"Optimistic."
She looked toward him.
"I don't think you're stupid."
"Generous."
"I think you're accustomed to solving problems with force."
"Usually works."
"Until the problem is smarter than the force."
Damian's eyes narrowed.
"Are you calling Lucian smarter than me?"
"No."
She adjusted her glasses.
"I'm calling him more patient."
That answer stayed with Damian.
By the time they reached the estate, the attack had already become public news.
Headlines called it a mafia dispute.
Investors panicked.
Three subsidiary executives resigned.
Two banks froze credit lines.
And before noon, Lucian requested an emergency board meeting.
The empire was beginning to fracture.
Exactly as someone had planned.
At twelve forty-seven, Serena entered Damian's office with a spreadsheet.
"I know how they're doing it."
Damian looked up.
"Doing what?"
"Destroying the company."
She placed the document in front of him.
"They aren't stealing the empire anymore."
May you like
Her finger moved down the page.
"They're forcing you to sell it."
