Chapter 17 - Anthony’s Inheritance
Anthony did not deny anything.
He leaned back in his chair like a man who had been waiting years for the right stage.
“You should have stayed in New York, Dominic.”
Marco moved.
Anthony lifted one hand.
“Relax.”
“I’m not armed.”
Nobody believed him.
Dominic stared at his cousin.
“You ordered Daniel to move the money.”
“Yes.”
“You sent the car to Samuel’s house.”
“Yes.”
“You threatened Claire.”
Anthony glanced at me.
“That was a mistake.”
I folded my arms.
“Finally, something we agree on.”
His smile vanished.
Dominic stepped closer.
“Where is Daniel?”
“Alive.”
“For now?”
“For as long as he remains useful.”
Vittorio struck the floor with his cane.
“You idiot.”
Anthony turned toward his father.
“No.”
“I’m the son who learned from watching you.”
Vittorio’s face hardened.
“You know nothing.”
“I know you spent thirty years afraid of a dead woman.”
“She wasn’t dead.”
That silenced Anthony.
Vittorio looked at Dominic.
“I knew Maria survived the crash.”
Dominic’s eyes turned deadly.
“You knew.”
“I searched.”
“For my mother?”
“For the evidence.”
Rosa made a sound of disgust.
Vittorio ignored her.
“I never found Maria.”
“I never found Elena.”
“Eventually I stopped.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“But you never told me.”
Vittorio lowered his eyes.
“No.”
Anthony laughed.
“Touching.”
Then he looked at Dominic.
“You want to know the best part?”
“Everything Father built in secret passed to me years ago.”
“The accounts.”
“The companies.”
“The people.”
“Daniel.”
Dominic looked almost bored.
“You think stealing from me makes you powerful?”
“I think half your empire already answers to me.”
Dominic’s voice became quiet.
“Then you misunderstand what makes people answer.”
Anthony’s smile faded.
Marco received a message.
The portrait tracker had stopped.
Old Caruso packing plant.
Anthony saw his face.
“You’re too late.”
He moved suddenly.
Not toward Dominic.
Toward the dining-room window.
The glass shattered outward as someone outside hit it.
Chaos erupted.
Security moved.
Guests dropped.
Anthony disappeared through a side door during the confusion.
By the time Marco reached the service corridor, Anthony was gone.
A motorcycle had been waiting beyond the east gate.
Dominic stood in the foyer while alarms sounded.
Then he looked at me.
“You stay here.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“The portrait led us there because Maria wanted it followed.”
“That doesn’t make an abandoned industrial building safe.”
“I’m aware.”
“You threatened me with a fireplace poker.”
“And survived.”
“This is different.”
I stepped closer.
“I found the magnetic strip.”
“I found the room.”
“I noticed Anthony react.”
“If something inside that plant is connected to the house, I may see what your people don’t.”
Dominic looked furious.
Then Marco appeared.
“She’s right.”
Dominic turned.
“You are definitely fired.”
Marco shrugged.
“You keep saying that.”
Twenty minutes later, we were driving toward the old packing plant.
Dominic sat beside me.
Rain began falling again.
Almost exactly like the night he came home early.
He looked out the window.
“If this goes badly, I’m blaming Rosa.”
“Fair.”
Then he turned toward me.
“And if I tell you to run?”
“I run.”
He studied my face.
“You’re lying.”
May you like
“Yes.”
For the second time that week, Dominic Caruso laughed when he absolutely should not have.
