Chapter 7 - The Night Marco Could Not Explain
Marco knew exactly where he had been.
That was why he didn’t answer.
Mara stepped backward.
Emma was asleep against her shoulder.
“Where were you?”
Marco looked toward the security officers nearby.
“Not here.”
“I’m done accepting that answer.”
“Mara.”
“My husband is dead.”
“Your sister is dead.”
“Someone tried to hurt Leo.”
“And the woman everyone thought was dead just told me the order that killed Jonah came from your private office.”
Marco’s face changed at Rebecca’s name.
“She was here?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“While you were chasing the other intruder.”
Marco turned toward the stairwell.
“She’ll be gone.”
Mara’s voice cracked.
“Answer me.”
Marco looked at her.
“I was at the river.”
Mara went still.
“What river?”
“The same district where Jonah’s warehouse burned.”
Her face lost color.
“Why?”
Marco closed his eyes briefly.
“Because Vittorio called me.”
“What did he say?”
“That someone had stolen financial records from one of our companies.”
“Jonah?”
“He didn’t give me a name.”
Mara stared.
“What did you do?”
“I authorized Vittorio to recover the records.”
Mara’s voice became almost inaudible.
“How?”
Marco did not answer quickly enough.
“How, Marco?”
“By whatever means were necessary.”
Mara stepped away as if he had struck her.
Marco’s jaw tightened.
“I did not know Jonah was there.”
“But you gave the order.”
“I gave an order to retrieve stolen company files.”
“You said whatever means were necessary.”
“Yes.”
“Then your hands are on that fire.”
The words hit.
Marco did not defend himself.
Maybe because he knew she was right.
Mara’s eyes filled.
“Jonah died because men like you speak in careful sentences so you don’t have to picture what happens afterward.”
Marco looked away.
“You’re right.”
She hadn’t expected agreement.
Her anger stumbled.
Marco continued.
“I spent years telling myself there was a difference between giving an order and seeing what happened because of it.”
“There isn’t.”
Mara stared at him.
“Did Elena know?”
“I don’t know.”
“If she found out you authorized the recovery, maybe that’s why she didn’t trust you.”
“Maybe.”
Mara tightened her hold on Emma.
“I can’t stay near you.”
Marco nodded once.
“Fine.”
The answer surprised her.
He called a female security officer.
“Take Mrs. Ellison anywhere she wants.”
Mara stared at him.
“You’re not going to stop me?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because protecting you doesn’t mean owning your decisions.”
For the first time, Marco sounded tired rather than powerful.
Mara looked toward Leo.
“What about him?”
“I’ll find another donor.”
She knew it would not be easy.
The milk bank shortage still existed.
Leo had tolerated her milk unusually well.
But she also knew she could not remain trapped inside Marco’s world simply because the baby needed her.
Then Leo’s monitor alarmed.
Not dangerously.
A minor fluctuation.
Still, Mara’s body reacted instantly.
She moved toward the glass.
Marco remained behind her.
Leo’s tiny fingers curled.
Mara thought about Elena.
A woman she had never met who trusted her enough to name her co-trustee.
A woman who had called hours before dying.
A woman who apparently knew Mara would care about a hungry child simply because he was hungry.
Mara hated what that knowledge did to her decision.
“I’m not staying for you.”
Marco’s voice was quiet.
“I know.”
“I’m staying until Leo no longer needs me.”
“I understand.”
“And you don’t get to hide anything else.”
Marco looked at her.
“I’ll tell you whatever I know.”
“No.”
Mara turned.
“Tell me what you don’t want me to know.”
That silenced him.
Then Marco nodded.
So he told her.
He told her that Castellano businesses included legal shipping companies and illegal gambling rooms.
He told her that money had been laundered through construction projects.
He admitted he had ordered intimidation.
He admitted he had known bribes were being paid to union officials.
He admitted there were men in prison because they had refused to cooperate with his organization.
Mara listened without interrupting.
When he finished, she looked sick.
“You expect me to believe you’re different from Vittorio?”
“No.”
“Then why should I help you?”
“Because I want Leo alive.”
“That isn’t enough.”
Marco stared at her.
Mara stepped closer.
“If you uncover the people who killed Jonah and Elena, then go back to running the same machine that made those murders possible, nothing changes.”
Marco’s face hardened.
“You want me to dismantle my family?”
“I want you to decide what family means.”
Mara turned toward Leo.
“Is it buildings?”
“Accounts?”
“Men who obey you because they’re afraid?”
“Or is it that baby behind the glass?”
Marco said nothing.
Mara picked up her diaper bag.
“I can’t decide that for you.”
Late that night, Marco sat alone in Elena’s hospital room.
Her personal belongings rested on the table.
A bracelet.
Her phone.
A small overnight bag.
A paperback novel with a folded page.
He opened the book.
A photograph slipped out.
Elena stood beside Marco on his twenty-first birthday.
They were laughing.
Vittorio stood behind them.
Marco stared at his uncle’s face.
Then his phone rang.
Adrian Bell.
“Marco, we have a legal emergency.”
“What?”
“Vittorio filed a petition.”
“For what?”
“Temporary control of Elena’s trust.”
Marco stood.
“On what grounds?”
“That you are implicated in Jonah Ellison’s death.”
Marco’s blood chilled.
“How would he know Mara accused me?”
“He attached evidence.”
“What evidence?”
“A recording.”
Marco went still.
“Of?”
“You giving Vittorio the recovery order the night before the warehouse fire.”
Marco closed his eyes.
Someone had recorded the call.
And saved it for four months.
Adrian continued.
“Vittorio is arguing that allowing you influence over Leo’s assets places the child in danger.”
“Can he win?”
“Possibly.”
“What happens to Leo?”
“That’s the worse part.”
Marco’s voice became quiet.
“Tell me.”
“He filed an emergency guardianship petition too.”
Marco’s hand tightened.
“Over my nephew?”
“He claims Elena’s will should be invalidated.”
“Because?”
“Because she named Mara Ellison as trustee.”
“And?”
“He’s alleging Mara and Jonah conspired to steal Castellano assets.”
Marco’s face went cold.
“He’s going after her.”
“Yes.”
“When is the hearing?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
Marco hung up.
He found Mara asleep in a chair beside Emma.
For several seconds he simply watched them.
Then Mara opened her eyes.
“What?”
“Vittorio filed for control of Leo.”
She sat up.
“What?”
“And he’s accusing you of conspiracy.”
Mara stood.
“Conspiracy to do what?”
“Steal from my family.”
Her expression turned furious.
“My husband died.”
“I know.”
“And now your uncle is calling him a thief.”
“I know.”
Mara picked up Emma.
“What happens if he wins?”
Marco looked through the glass toward Leo.
“He may become Leo’s guardian.”
Mara went pale.
“The same man Elena told me not to trust?”
“Yes.”
“Then stop him.”
Marco’s face hardened.
“I intend to.”
At that moment, Nico entered.
He held a tablet.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We finally traced the phone Elena used to leave Mara the voicemail.”
Marco waited.
“It wasn’t Elena’s phone.”
Mara’s brow furrowed.
“Then whose?”
Nico turned the screen around.
The number belonged to Rebecca Ellison.
Mara stared.
“So Rebecca recorded Elena?”
“Or sent the message for her.”
Nico nodded.
“There is more.”
“What?”
“We recovered one deleted text from that phone.”
“Sent three hours before Elena died.”
Marco read it.
His face changed.
Mara stepped closer.
“What does it say?”
Marco handed her the tablet.
The message was from Elena.
HE KNOWS ABOUT LEO’S FATHER. IF MARCO FINDS OUT, EVERYTHING CHANGES.
Mara looked up.
“Who is Leo’s father?”
Marco stared through the glass at his nephew.
“I don’t know.”
Nico swallowed.
“I think I do.”
Both turned toward him.
Nico placed a photograph on the table.
It showed Elena entering a restaurant six months earlier.
Beside her stood Jonah Ellison.
Mara’s face drained.
Nico spoke carefully.
“Jonah met Elena more often than we thought.”
Mara stared at the photograph.
“No.”
Marco looked at Nico.
“Say what you’re implying.”
Nico hesitated.
“The dates match.”
May you like
Mara’s eyes filled with horror.
And suddenly the question of who fathered Leo became more dangerous than the Blue Ledger itself.
