Chapter 4 - Whispers Behind Closed Doors
Julian Valenti. The younger brother of Dominic Valenti, the head of the Valenti crime syndicate.
Julian had died four years ago in a high-speed car crash—a sudden, mysterious accident that almost sparked a full-scale war between our families. At the time, rumor had it that Julian’s pregnant wife had vanished shortly after his funeral, fleeing the city to escape the dangerous politics of the Valenti empire.
I looked down at the birth certificate again.
Lily wasn't just any child. She was a Valenti heiress.
"Does Anna know you have this?" I asked, keeping my voice dead even.
"No, sir," Norah said, trembling slightly. "Evelyn had a whole background file on Anna. I don't think Anna knows that Evelyn knew who she really was."
"Leave the folder here," I commanded softly. "And Norah... not a word of this to anyone. Not Marco, not the staff, nobody."
"I understand, Mr. Moretti."
Once Norah left, I leaned back in my chair, staring at the ceiling. The puzzle pieces were rapidly crashing into place, revealing a far more sinister picture than a simple case of embezzlement.
Anna hadn't come to my estate by accident. She had come here to hide in plain sight. What safer place for a fleeing Valenti widow to hide than inside the residence of her family's greatest rival? I never bothered checking the lower-level staff backgrounds personally; I had trusted Evelyn to do that.
And Evelyn had found out.
Instead of turning Anna over to the Valentis right away, Evelyn had used the information as leverage. She was milking the Valenti family for information and cash, keeping Anna trapped in a state of poverty and fear under my roof, using Lily's presence as a bargaining chip.
I stood up and walked down to the kitchen level. It was 4:30 AM.
The house was silent, save for the low hum of the industrial refrigerators. I walked over to the staff entrance.
Two workers were already there under Marco’s supervision. The heavy marble threshold had been removed. They were measuring the space, preparing to fit a perfectly smooth, polished oak ramp designed to blend seamlessly into the floor.
Marco looked up as I approached. "It'll be finished before 6:00 AM, boss."
"Good," I said. "Where is Anna's file from the main office archive?"
"I have it right here," Marco said, handing me a thin paper folder. "Standard employment record. She applied eighteen months ago under the name Anna Miller. References checked out—fake, but clean enough to pass basic screening."
"She's Julian Valenti's widow," I said quietly.
Marco froze, his eyes widening. "What?"
"Keep your voice down," I warned. "Evelyn discovered her real identity months ago. She's been double-dipping—stealing from my accounts and selling intelligence to Dominic Valenti, likely holding Anna over Dominic's head."
Marco swore under his breath. "Dominic has been searching for Julian's child for years to secure his family's trust fund assets. If he knows she's here—"
"He doesn't know she's here yet," I said, thinking fast. "Evelyn was playing both sides. She was feeding Dominic minor scraps of information to keep the money flowing, but keeping Anna right here under her thumb. If Dominic knew Lily was in my house, he would have brought an army to my gates."
"What do we do with Anna?" Marco asked, reaching for his weapon. "Is she a plant?"
"Look at her, Marco," I said sharply. "Look at how she lives. Look at her child. Does she look like an operative to you? She's a mother running from a family of monsters."
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"So what's the play?"
"We protect them," I said. "In this house, under my name. Dominic Valenti thinks he can use my estate as his personal chessboard? I'm going to take every piece he has."
