Chapter 8 - The Wife Everyone Hated
Cara expected Dante to hesitate.
He didn't.
“We bring Vanessa home.”
Cara studied him.
“You still care about her.”
“She’s Noah’s mother.”
That answer told Cara everything she needed to know about the man beneath the reputation.
Vanessa had lied.
Manipulated.
Hidden his son.
But Dante would not abandon her.
They discovered Victor wanted something larger than revenge.
He wanted Moretti Development.
Vanessa possessed legal authority over several trusts.
Under coercion, she could transfer assets worth billions.
Dante contacted federal authorities.
For the first time in his career, he gave them everything.
Accounts.
Names.
Old Moretti records.
Marcus stared at him.
“This could destroy the company.”
“Then rebuild it.”
“Your father’s legacy—”
“Isn't worth Vanessa’s life.”
Cara heard him.
And loved him a little for it.
The word frightened her.
Love.
She had known Dante less than two weeks.
Yet danger compressed time.
You learned people quickly when death kept entering the room.
Vanessa was being held at a private airstrip.
Victor intended to force signatures, then fly overseas.
The rescue operation began at midnight.
Dante remained with federal agents.
Cara stayed behind with Noah.
This time she obeyed.
Mostly.
Vanessa was recovered alive.
Victor escaped again.
When Vanessa returned, she looked nothing like the polished woman from Bellini’s.
She was exhausted.
Bruised.
Terrified.
Noah ran to her.
She hugged him.
Dante watched from across the room.
Later, Vanessa approached Cara.
“You hate me.”
“I don't know you well enough.”
“I hated you.”
Cara nodded.
“That I noticed.”
Vanessa almost smiled.
“Dante looks at you differently.”
Cara said nothing.
“I spent eleven years wanting him to look at me that way.”
“Vanessa—”
“No. I need to say this.”
She looked toward Dante.
“I loved the power around him more than I loved the man inside it.”
Tears entered her eyes.
“And when I lost Noah, I blamed Dante because blaming myself hurt too much.”
Cara softened.
“You were scared.”
“I was cruel.”
Both could be true.
Vanessa handed Cara an envelope.
Divorce papers.
Signed.
“I’m leaving when this is finished.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“What about Noah?”
“He deserves both parents.”
Cara stared at her.
“You don't have to disappear.”
Vanessa’s expression broke.
“That may be the first kind thing you've said to me.”
Cara smiled faintly.
“Don't get used to it.”
Across the room, Dante watched them.
For the first time, the fractured pieces of his life seemed capable of existing without destroying one another.
Then Marcus entered.
He looked grim.
Victor Romano had made one final move.
He had released documents to the press linking Moretti Development to decades of organized crime.
By morning, Dante’s empire was collapsing.
Stock prices plunged.
Banks froze accounts.
Federal investigators arrived.
Dante stood before the television watching his family name burn.
Cara approached.
“What now?”
May you like
Dante removed his tie.
“Now I find out who I am without the empire.”
