Chapter 11 - The Vote That Could Destroy Him|
The Romano trust meeting took place in a private conference room on the forty-second floor of a downtown office tower. Every trustee arrived carrying a folder, a legal adviser, or a personal grudge.
Massimo entered with Rafael and Dominic Shaw. Sophie remained outside with a lawyer who had agreed to represent her as a witness.
Vittorio stood at the head of the table.
“Thank you for coming,” he began. “We're here because the trust's leadership has become unstable.”
Massimo took his seat.
“Then let's discuss the accounts.”
Vittorio smiled.
“Certainly. But first, we should address your recent behavior. You've brought an outsider into a sensitive family matter, ignored established agreements, and jeopardized a partnership worth hundreds of millions.”
“An outsider who found evidence your lawyers failed to uncover.”
A murmur moved around the room.
Dominic stood.
“The evidence is incomplete and may have been obtained unlawfully.”
“Then explain why your office accessed Elena Marchetti's dormant account,” Massimo replied.
Dominic's expression barely shifted.
“I have no knowledge of such access.”
Rafael placed a printed access log on the table.
“Your terminal was used.”
“Someone could have used my credentials.”
“Someone did,” Massimo said. “We're determining who.”
Vittorio tapped his fingers against the table.
“This is precisely the problem. Massimo has become obsessed with old tragedies and a woman he barely knows.”
Outside, Sophie heard raised voices through the door.
Her lawyer advised her to remain calm.
She wasn't sure calm was possible.
Then a man in a gray suit approached her. It was the same man she had seen near the flower room.
Dominic Shaw.
“You should leave,” he said quietly.
“Why?”
“Because this meeting won't end the way you expect.”
“Is that a threat?”
“It's advice.”
Sophie studied him.
“Did you know my mother?”
His eyes flickered.
“Everyone connected to the foundation knew Margaret Miller.”
“Did you help my uncle steal the money?”
Dominic leaned closer.
“Your mother was a good woman. Good women sometimes mistake danger for a moral obligation.”
“And men like you mistake cowardice for wisdom.”
His face hardened.
Before he could respond, the conference-room doors opened.
A trustee announced a recess.
Massimo came out, his expression controlled but grim.
“Vittorio has enough votes to suspend my authority unless we produce conclusive evidence today.”
“Then let's give them evidence.”
“We don't have the original ledger.”
Sophie looked at Dominic.
“Maybe we have someone who knows where it is.”
Dominic's face changed.
Massimo noticed.
“Rafael,” he said. “Take Mr. Shaw to a separate room.”
Dominic protested, but two security officers approached.
“You can't detain me!”
“No one is detaining you,” Massimo replied. “We're asking you to explain a few discrepancies.”
Dominic looked directly at Sophie.
“You have no idea what you're doing.”
“Then explain it to me.”
He said nothing.
Inside the conference room, Vittorio demanded a vote.
Massimo refused to surrender his position.
The trustees argued until the chair called for a temporary suspension pending further review. It was a defeat, but not a final one.
As Massimo left the building, he received a message from an unknown number.
YOUR SISTER IS IN CHICAGO. COME ALONE IF YOU WANT TO SEE HER.
A location followed.
Massimo showed Sophie.
“No,” she said immediately. “We're not going alone.”
“The message says—”
“I don't care what it says. Whoever arranged the ambush wants to control how we move.”
He studied her.
“You've become very difficult to protect.”
“Good. I intend to stay that way.”
They sent Rafael to the location with a separate team while Massimo and Sophie watched from a nearby building.
The location was an empty parking garage.
No sister.
No witness.
Only a phone lying on the concrete.
It rang when they approached.
Massimo answered.
Vittorio's voice filled the silence.
“Your problem, nephew, is that you've always believed evidence matters more than power.”
Massimo's eyes narrowed.
“Where is Clara?”
“Safe. For now.”
Sophie stepped closer.
Vittorio continued.
“If you want her alive, withdraw your challenge to the trust.”
Then the call ended.
Sophie felt the world narrow around her.
May you like
Massimo looked at her.
For once, he had no answer.
