Chapter 3 - THE FORTY PERCENT HE NEVER KNEW I OWNED
I opened the door.
Luca stepped inside and locked it behind him.
He looked toward the window, then the connecting door, then the bathroom.
"Do you have another exit?"
I shook my head.
"Only the hallway."
He swore quietly.
Then reached for his phone.
I caught his wrist.
"Tell me what's happening."
He looked at me.
"You're in danger."
"That's not an explanation."
He hesitated.
Then nodded.
"Fair."
He pulled a chair toward the door and sat facing me.
"Your grandfather owned a shipping company before you married Dante."
I nodded.
Bennett Atlantic Holdings.
My grandfather had built it from a single fishing vessel into a profitable regional freight business.
When he died, most of his estate passed to me.
Dante had always claimed he wasn't interested in my inheritance.
He said Moretti money was enough for both of us.
I had believed him.
Luca continued.
"Six years ago, Salvatore arranged a merger between Bennett Atlantic and Moretti Maritime."
"I know."
"What you don't know is that your grandfather's trust retained a forty-percent beneficial ownership interest."
I stared.
"That's impossible."
"Your grandfather insisted on it. He wanted to make sure you couldn't be financially trapped by the Morettis."
My throat tightened.
That sounded exactly like him.
"He never trusted Salvatore," Luca said.
I looked down.
"Neither did I."
Luca leaned forward.
"Salvatore hid the ownership documents. He expected the trust provisions to expire before you discovered them."
"But Miriam found them."
"Yes."
I stared at him.
"How?"
Luca hesitated.
"Because I sent her the first copy."
My mouth fell open.
"You?"
He nodded.
"Four months ago."
I remembered the day Miriam called to say she'd uncovered irregularities in the merger.
It was the same week I'd found messages between Dante and Vivian.
The same week I'd begun preparing to leave.
"Why would you help me?"
Luca looked away.
"Because I owe you."
"For what?"
He swallowed.
"Eleven months ago, I discovered Salvatore was using Moretti Maritime to move money through shell companies. When I confronted him, he ordered me killed."
I stared.
"He ordered his own son killed?"
Luca nodded.
"I survived because someone warned me."
"Who?"
Luca looked at me.
"Dante."
The room went silent.
My husband had known his brother was alive.
For eleven months.
And he'd never told me.
I felt something inside me break.
Again.
"Why?"
Luca's voice softened.
"Because Salvatore threatened you."
I pressed my hand against my stomach.
"What?"
"He said if Dante exposed him, he'd destroy everything Dante loved."
I laughed bitterly.
"Apparently that didn't include our marriage."
Luca looked down.
"I can't defend what Dante did tonight."
"Good."
"But I need you to understand something."
He leaned closer.
"Salvatore doesn't just want your shares."
May you like
My pulse quickened.
"He wants your baby."
