Chapter 8 - THE SIGNATURE THAT COULD DESTROY HIM
Dominic did not sleep.
By sunrise, he had reviewed the disputed transaction twelve times.
The authorization bore his digital signature.
The date was seven years earlier.
The payment had gone to a company that later became part of Antonio's network.
"I approved this," Dominic admitted.
Clara sat across from him at the kitchen table.
"Did you know what it was for?"
"No."
"Then we need to establish what you were told."
Dominic rubbed his forehead.
"I signed hundreds of contracts during that expansion."
"That's not an excuse."
"I know."
Clara's answer surprised him.
She was not trying to protect his reputation.
She was trying to separate his responsibility from Antonio's deception.
"Then don't make excuses," she said. "Find out what happened."
Dominic contacted Naomi.
Together, they reconstructed the transaction.
Seven years earlier, Antonio had presented the payment as part of a port modernization project.
The paperwork appeared legitimate.
But the receiving company had been created only weeks earlier.
Its ownership records were concealed.
Dominic had signed without demanding independent verification.
He had not knowingly authorized theft.
But his negligence had helped make it possible.
The distinction mattered legally.
It mattered even more to Clara.
"I built my life around being in control," Dominic said that evening.
Clara looked at him.
"Maybe that's why you never noticed when other people were controlling what you saw."
He absorbed the words.
Then nodded.
"You're right."
She had expected resistance.
Instead, she found honesty.
It frightened her almost as much as his anger once had.
The following day, Naomi arranged a meeting with federal investigators.
Dominic agreed to provide the financial records and cooperate through legal counsel.
He understood the consequences.
His businesses would be scrutinized.
His reputation could collapse.
Past decisions might expose him to liability.
But he could no longer claim loyalty to his father while protecting the people who had betrayed his father's intentions.
Before the meeting, Clara found him standing beside the waterfront.
"Are you afraid?" she asked.
"Yes."
She joined him.
"Of prison?"
"Partly."
"Of losing your companies?"
"Partly."
"What else?"
Dominic looked at her.
"That when this is over, you'll realize you were happier before you met me."
Clara was silent.
He continued.
"I can't ask you to forgive me because I'm finally doing what I should have done years ago."
"No," she said. "You can't."
He nodded.
Then Clara added, "But you can keep doing it."
They stood together until the sun disappeared.
That night, an emergency news bulletin interrupted the local broadcast.
A federal investigation had begun into financial irregularities involving several Miami charitable foundations.
Three executives had been questioned.
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Commander Patrick Rourke had been placed on administrative leave.
And Vincent Falcone had disappeared.
