Chapter 3 - The Secret In The Red Book
The news of Bianca release sent Dominic into a terrifying, cold rage. He immediately ordered his private security firm to triple the guards around my hospital floor. No one was allowed on the ward without passing through two metal detectors and a background check.
Over the next two days, I grew stronger. The swelling on my cheek went down, leaving a thin, angry red scar where the diamond had split my skin. Dominic refused to go to his office. He set up a temporary command center in the hospital suite next to mine, conducting aggressive corporate warfare against the Moretti family from a laptop.
On the third afternoon, I was sitting up in bed eating a bowl of soup when a sudden memory hit me with the force of a freight train.
"Dominic," I called out loudly.
He appeared in the doorway instantly, dropping his phone into his pocket. "What is it? Are you in pain?"
"No," I said, pushing the tray table away. "I just remembered something your mother said a few weeks ago. It was during one of her confused episodes in the middle of the night. I found her in the main library, tearing the bookshelves apart. She kept repeating that she needed to find the red book before the venomous snake found it."
Dominic frowned, walking over to the bed. "The red book? My father kept hundreds of rare first edition books in that library. Half of them have red covers."
"Yes, but she was not looking at the literature section," I explained, my heart beating faster as the pieces started clicking together. "She was looking behind the mahogany desk in the private study. She said the snake was stealing from the family. I thought she was just hallucinating about a real snake, so I made her some tea and took her back to bed."
Dominic eyes widened. "My father had a hidden wall safe behind the mahogany desk. Only my mother and I know the combination. Inside that safe is a red leather ledger. It is a master record of every offshore account and private investment the Rossi family has made for the last fifty years."
We stared at each other in absolute shock.
"Bianca was not just trying to kill your mother to secure the marriage," I realized, the horrifying truth dawning on me. "She was trying to silence her. What if your mother found something in that red ledger during one of her lucid moments? What if she discovered the Moretti family was stealing from your company?"
"If Marcus Moretti had access to our offshore routing numbers, he could have been siphoning hundreds of millions of dollars to prop up his failing shipping empire," Dominic growled, pacing the floor like a caged panther. "And if my mother found the proof, Bianca had to eliminate her before she could show me the ledger."
Dominic immediately grabbed his coat. "I am going to the estate right now to open that safe. I will leave four guards outside your door. Do not let anyone inside unless you recognize their face."
"Wait," I said, throwing the blankets off my legs and standing up. My legs felt a little shaky, but I was determined. "I am coming with you."
"Skylar, you belong in a hospital bed," Dominic argued, though his eyes showed a flicker of deep admiration for my stubbornness.
"I was the one who saw where she was digging," I insisted, grabbing my clothes from the small closet. "I know exactly which panel she was trying to pry open. Let me help you finish this."
Dominic looked at me for a long moment, a slow, incredibly proud smile spreading across his face. "Alright. We go together."
We drove to the Rossi estate in a heavily armored SUV. The massive mansion was eerily quiet, completely locked down by armed security. We walked straight into the grand library. The room smelled of old paper, leather, and expensive wax.
I walked over to the mahogany desk and pointed to a decorative wooden panel near the floorboards. "She was clawing at this exact spot."
Dominic knelt down, pressing a hidden mechanism under the desk edge. The panel popped open, revealing a steel digital keypad. He punched in a six digit code. The safe clicked open heavily.
Inside, resting on a velvet shelf, was the thick red leather ledger.
Dominic pulled it out and flipped through the pages. Toward the very back, three pages had been folded over. Tucked inside the fold were printed bank statements highlighting massive wire transfers from the Rossi corporate accounts directly into shell companies owned by Marcus Moretti.
"Over two hundred million dollars," Dominic whispered, his voice shaking with absolute fury. "They have been robbing us blind for three years. My mother figured it out. She printed the proof."
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Just as Dominic closed the book, the heavy library doors slammed shut with a deafening crash.
Standing in the doorway, holding a silenced pistol pointed directly at my chest, was Marcus Moretti.
