Chapter 6 - The Night Damian Chose Her
The plan was elegant.
That was what made Damian hate it.
Lucian and his allies had not intended to seize Marchetti Holdings through one dramatic act.
They were suffocating it.
Debt was being called in simultaneously.
Insurance coverage was being challenged.
Shipping permits were under regulatory review.
Suppliers were suddenly demanding cash.
Banks that had worked with Vittorio for decades were freezing credit.
Separately, every problem could be explained.
Together, they formed a coordinated collapse.
"How long?" Damian asked.
Serena studied the projections.
"At the current rate?"
"Yes."
"Three weeks before liquidity becomes critical."
Damian laughed once.
Cold.
"Thirty days to marry."
Serena looked up.
"Twenty-one days to destroy the company."
"Vittorio knew the timeline."
"Probably."
"And Lucian knew the condition."
"Maybe before we did."
Damian walked toward the window.
"If Lucian bought the distressed debt, he can force asset sales."
"Yes."
"And acquire them cheaply."
"Yes."
"Then inherit what's left if the marriage fails."
Serena nodded.
"Or pressure the board into removing you before that."
Damian turned.
"Can they?"
"If they can prove misconduct."
"Forged misconduct."
"Proof doesn't have to be true to cause panic."
He thought of the fake authorizations.
The manipulated audits.
The attack at the bank.
Everything was designed to create a story.
Damian Vescari inherited the empire.
Damian Vescari stole from it.
Violence followed.
The board panicked.
Lucian stepped in as the reasonable alternative.
"He's building legitimacy," Damian said.
Serena looked almost pleased.
"Exactly."
"I hate when you're right."
"You should be getting used to it."
He stared.
She lowered her eyes to the spreadsheet, but he saw the faint smile.
The emergency board meeting began at four.
Lucian arrived early.
So did Conrad Hale and Arturo Bellini.
Damian entered with Serena.
That caused immediate whispers.
Women had rarely attended formal Marchetti council sessions.
Accountants never sat at the primary table.
Lucian raised a brow.
"This is a board meeting."
Damian pulled out a chair for Serena.
"Correct."
"She isn't on the board."
Damian sat.
"She owns twenty-eight percent of the company."
Silence.
Lucian's face changed.
Only for a second.
But Serena saw it.
So did Damian.
Hale went pale.
Bellini stopped writing.
Lucian recovered.
"What?"
Serena placed copies of the trust documents on the table.
"Apparently Vittorio enjoyed surprises."
Lucian did not touch the papers.
"These could be fabricated."
"They're registered."
"Where?"
"Three jurisdictions."
Lucian looked toward Hale.
That was mistake number one.
Hale looked back.
Mistake number two.
Damian leaned in his chair.
"Problem?"
"No."
Lucian smiled.
"Only surprise."
"You're having many of those lately."
The board meeting continued.
Lucian argued Damian's leadership had created instability.
Damian allowed him to speak.
That surprised everyone.
Normally Damian would have cut him off.
Serena had advised otherwise.
"Let him talk," she had said.
"Why?"
"Because liars become careless when they think people believe them."
So Damian listened.
Lucian discussed creditors.
Regulators.
The bank attack.
Alleged financial irregularities.
Then he made his move.
"For the stability of the company, I propose temporary executive oversight."
"By whom?" one director asked.
Lucian folded his hands.
"A neutral committee."
Serena spoke.
"Selected by you?"
Lucian looked at her.
"This is business, Serena."
"So is my question."
Several men looked down to hide smiles.
Lucian's jaw tightened.
"Selected by the board."
"From candidates you already contacted?"
Silence.
Lucian stared at her.
Serena slid a document across the table.
Three restructuring consultants had been contacted before Vittorio's death.
All three had financial relationships with Lucian's debt consortium.
Damian watched the room turn.
Not completely.
But enough.
Lucian's smile disappeared.
"Where did you get this?"
"Public records."
"No."
"Yes."
"That information isn't public."
Serena adjusted her glasses.
"The individual records are."
She leaned forward.
"You simply assumed no one would connect them."
For the first time, Damian understood why Vittorio had trusted her.
Serena did not dominate rooms.
She dismantled them quietly.
Lucian stood.
"You have no idea what you're interfering with."
Damian rose instantly.
"Sit down."
Lucian looked toward him.
The cousins held each other's stare.
Then Lucian smiled again.
"Of course."
He sat.
The vote on temporary oversight failed.
Seven to five.
Too close.
But a victory.
For the moment.
After the meeting, Damian and Serena entered the private elevator.
The doors closed.
Damian looked at her.
"What?"
"You enjoyed that."
"A little."
"You destroyed his argument in under three minutes."
"It was a poor argument."
"You prepared those records."
"Yes."
"Knowing he'd make that proposal."
"I suspected."
Damian shook his head.
"You are terrifying."
Serena laughed softly.
"You carry a gun."
"I stand by my assessment."
The elevator stopped.
The doors opened onto darkness.
Damian immediately reached for Serena.
The estate power had failed again.
"Not this time," Serena murmured.
Emergency lights came on.
Marco ran toward them.
"Sir."
"What?"
"We found something."
In the security room, footage from the wedding night played across six screens.
Marco froze one frame.
A figure wearing maintenance clothing entered the east corridor.
Another camera showed him leaving.
But the third showed something different.
He handed the stolen key to someone near the service entrance.
Conrad Hale.
Damian stared.
"Where is Hale now?"
"His house."
"Bring him."
Serena touched Damian's arm.
"Wait."
He looked down.
"What?"
"If Hale took the key, why didn't he go to the bank?"
"Because he knew about biometric verification."
"Then why steal it?"
Damian understood.
"To scare you."
"Or to make us reveal the box."
They had.
The bank attack followed.
Someone now knew the contents had been retrieved.
"We moved exactly where they wanted us," Damian said.
"Maybe."
"That's not reassuring."
"It isn't supposed to be."
Damian ordered Hale brought in anyway.
He arrived at nine.
No lawyer.
Too confident.
Damian questioned him in Vittorio's study.
Serena sat quietly nearby.
Hale denied everything.
Then Damian showed him the footage.
His face collapsed.
"Lucian made me."
Damian leaned forward.
"Made you do what?"
Hale swallowed.
"The audits."
"How?"
"He had information."
"What information?"
"About my son."
"What about Vittorio?"
Hale shook his head quickly.
"I don't know."
"Did Lucian kill him?"
"I don't know."
Damian struck the table.
Hale flinched.
Serena watched his hands.
Not his face.
One thumb kept rubbing the side of his index finger.
"He's lying," she said.
Hale looked at her.
Serena's voice remained quiet.
"You know something about Vittorio's death."
"I don't."
"Then why did Lucian pay your son's company two hundred thousand dollars the day after he died?"
Hale went white.
Damian slowly turned toward Serena.
She had not told him that.
Good.
Hale had not prepared for it.
"Talk," Damian said.
Hale's shoulders collapsed.
"The doctor changed Vittorio's medication."
"On whose instruction?"
"Lucian arranged it."
Damian's hand curled into a fist.
"Did Lucian order him killed?"
"I don't know."
"Did the doctor know the dosage would kill him?"
"I don't know."
"Where is the doctor?"
Hale looked down.
"Missing."
Serena inhaled softly.
Then every phone in the room rang at once.
Marco answered first.
His expression changed.
"Sir."
Damian turned.
"What?"
"Bellini's cargo terminal is on fire."
Another man entered.
"Two company accounts have just been frozen."
A third voice came through the radio.
"Police are at the south gate with warrants."
Lucian had stopped playing defense.
May you like
The war had begun.
And this time, he intended to bury Damian beneath the collapse.
