Chapter 2 - THE HOUSE THAT WASN'T MINENobody at my baby shower understood why Dante's four words frightened me more than the divorce petition.
They heard a husband giving an order.
I heard a man warning his wife.
There was a difference.
"Dante," I said, "answer me."
His attorney moved again.
Dante turned on him.
"Victor. Leave."
The man froze.
"You hired me to—"
"I said leave."
Victor Kane looked around at thirty-seven witnesses, gathered his composure, and walked through the garden gate without another word.
That alone told me something was badly wrong.
Dante didn't humiliate professionals.
He certainly didn't dismiss attorneys in public.
Lucia marched toward her son.
"You serve your pregnant wife divorce papers at her baby shower, then order everyone around like she's the problem?"
"Mom."
"No. You listen to me."
Dante's eyes remained on the mansion.
"Take everyone home."
Lucia stared at him.
"Why?"
"Because this property may not be safe."
That got everyone's attention.
Emma grabbed my arm.
"What does that mean?"
I looked at Dante.
"Is someone coming here?"
"I don't know."
"Then what do you know?"
He finally faced me.
"There are things I need to explain."
I laughed once, without humor.
"You think?"
"Not here."
"You picked here."
Pain flashed across his face.
Good.
I wanted him to feel at least a fraction of what I felt.
But another contraction-like tightening rolled through my abdomen.
My hand went instinctively to my belly.
Dante noticed.
His entire expression changed.
"Elena?"
"I'm fine."
"You're pale."
"I'm seven months pregnant and my husband just served me divorce papers containing a forged deed to my childhood home. Forgive me for not glowing."
Emma stepped between us.
"She's coming with me."
"No," Dante said.
"Excuse me?"
"She needs to stay where I can—"
He stopped.
"Where you can what?" I asked.
No answer.
That was enough.
I turned toward the house.
"Everyone needs to leave."
My mother protested.
I kissed her cheek and promised to call.
Guests began collecting purses, gifts, jackets, and confused children.
Whispers spread across the lawn.
Some people avoided looking at me.
Others stared openly.
I didn't care.
Twenty minutes later, the garden that had been filled with laughter was almost empty.
Only Emma, my mother, Lucia, Dante, and I remained.
Then two black SUVs rolled up outside the gate.
My heart jumped.
Dante relaxed.
That terrified me.
Four men stepped out.
I recognized two as security personnel who worked for one of Dante's companies.
"Dante," I said quietly, "what exactly is happening?"
He answered while scanning the grounds.
"Someone has been moving assets using your identity."
My throat tightened.
"What assets?"
"I don't know all of them."
"Try."
"Bellavista. Two investment accounts. Possibly your grandmother's commercial properties in Brooklyn."
My mother went white.
"Those properties belong to the Bennett trust."
"I know."
I stared at him.
"You knew somebody was stealing from my family?"
"I discovered it three days ago."
"And your solution was divorce?"
"No."
I lifted the papers.
"This looks very much like divorce."
"The petition created a legal freeze on certain contested assets."
Emma stared at him.
"So you publicly destroyed your marriage to trigger asset preservation?"
Dante said nothing.
My anger surged.
"You could have told me."
"I couldn't."
"Why?"
"Because every time I tried, somebody knew."
The words landed heavily.
He looked toward the house.
"I found evidence someone has access to our communications. Emails. Calendar entries. Possibly phones."
Lucia whispered, "Inside the family?"
Dante nodded.
My mother sank into a chair.
I stared at the forged deed again.
"Who notarized this?"
Dante gave me a name.
"Samuel Price."
My stomach dropped.
Samuel Price had been my father's attorney.
More than that, he'd administered portions of my grandmother's trust after my father died.
I'd known him since childhood.
"That's impossible."
"I thought so too."
I pulled out my phone.
Dante grabbed my wrist.
"Don't."
I yanked away.
"Don't touch me."
"Your phone may be compromised."
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I turned it off.
Emma did the same.
My mother followed.
Lucia looked between us and powered hers down.
Then I asked the question I'd been avoiding.
"Is there another woman?"
Dante's eyes narrowed.
"What?"
"The divorce. Is there someone else?"
"No."
"Don't lie to me now."
"There has never been anyone else."
I searched his face.
For years I had believed I could read Dante.
That afternoon I realized there were whole rooms inside him whose doors I'd never even seen.
"If this was about protecting assets," I asked, "why serve me publicly?"
"Because whoever did this needed to believe we were fighting."
My laugh was bitter.
"Congratulations. Very convincing."
His voice dropped.
"I needed them to move."
"Who?"
"The person behind the fraud."
"You wanted to flush them out."
"Yes."
"So I was bait."
He flinched.
"Elena—"
"I was bait."
"I planned to tell you before—"
"But you didn't."
There was no defense for that.
Even if every frightening thing he was saying was true, he had still made the decision for me.
My marriage.
My reputation.
My safety.
My unborn child's safety.
All of it.
Then one of Dante's security men came quickly across the lawn.
"Mr. Moretti."
Dante turned.
"What?"
"We checked the east service entrance."
The man's face was grim.
"Someone disabled the camera system at 1:14 this morning."
Dante's jaw tightened.
"Anything else?"
"Yes."
The security man handed him a small plastic evidence bag.
Inside was a key.
Not just any key.
My grandmother's brass library key.
The one I kept in a locked drawer beside my bed.
I stared at it.
"Where did you find that?"
"Outside the service gate."
My skin prickled.
I looked toward the second-floor windows.
Someone had been inside my bedroom.
Maybe while I slept.
Dante moved closer.
"You're not staying here tonight."
For once, I didn't argue.
Because at that moment, the landline inside the mansion rang.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Nobody moved.
The housekeeper had already left.
It kept ringing.
Finally Dante walked inside and pressed the speaker button without lifting the receiver.
"Hello?"
For several seconds there was only static.
Then a man's voice.
Distorted.
Artificial.
"Mr. Moretti."
Dante's face hardened.
"Who is this?"
"You should have signed what you were told to sign."
I felt my baby move beneath my palm.
Dante stepped in front of me.
"What do you want?"
A pause.
Then:
"The Bennett trust."
My mother's hand flew to her mouth.
Dante's voice went cold.
"You can't have it."
The caller laughed.
"We already do."
Click.
The line died.
Nobody spoke.
Then my mother whispered something I had not heard in twenty years.
"The blue ledger."
I turned.
"What?"
Her eyes filled with fear.
"Your grandmother said if anyone ever came after Bellavista, we were supposed to find the blue ledger."
"Where is it?"
My mother looked toward the library.
"She never told me."
That was when I realized the forged deed might be only the beginning.
May you like
Because my grandmother, who had died believing someone would someday try to steal our family property, had apparently left behind evidence.
And whoever had entered my bedroom the night before was probably looking for exactly the same thing.
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