Chapter 5 - THE MISTRESS’S CONFESSIONVictor did not call Selena.
He went to her apartment.
Luca wanted four men with them.
Victor took one.
The black SUV stopped outside Selena’s building at 6:40 p.m.
Rain had begun falling across Manhattan, turning the sidewalks silver beneath streetlights.
Selena opened the door before Victor knocked.
She looked exhausted.
No makeup.
Hair tied back.
Eyes swollen from crying.
“Thank God.”
Victor entered without touching her.
“Who is Dominic Romano?”
Selena froze.
That was enough.
Victor’s voice became dangerously quiet.
“How long have you known him?”
Selena backed away.
“Victor, listen.”
“How long?”
“Two years.”
Victor stared.
Their affair had lasted seven months.
“Two years.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He introduced us.”
Silence.
Victor felt something inside him shift.
“Dominic introduced us?”
Selena nodded.
“At the museum fundraiser.”
Victor remembered.
Selena had been standing near a sculpture when Dominic brought her over.
Victor, you have to meet Selena Vale. She handles private acquisitions.
Victor had barely noticed Dominic’s involvement afterward.
Now every memory felt contaminated.
“What did Dominic want?”
“Nothing at first.”
“Wrong answer.”
Selena’s tears returned.
“He wanted me to get close to you.”
Luca swore quietly.
Victor didn’t move.
“And you did.”
“Yes.”
“For money?”
“At first.”
Victor laughed once.
It contained no humor.
Selena lowered her eyes.
“My father left debts. Dominic knew. He offered to clear them.”
“So you became my mistress.”
“I wasn’t supposed to.”
Victor’s face hardened.
“Oh?”
“I was supposed to meet you. Learn your schedule. Find out who you trusted. Listen.”
“And sleeping with me?”
“That happened later.”
Victor walked toward the window.
For months he had believed Selena made him feel young, wanted, uncomplicated.
Now he understood why she had always asked effortless questions.
Where would he be tomorrow?
Which warehouse was being sold?
Why did Luca call at midnight?
Which charity boards did Elena oversee?
Victor had mistaken surveillance for interest.
And betrayed Elena for a lie.
“What information did you give Dominic?”
Selena shook her head rapidly.
“Not much.”
Victor turned.
“What information?”
“Travel schedules. Dinner meetings. When Elena would be alone sometimes.”
His expression changed.
Selena immediately understood the implication.
“No. Victor, I swear, I never told him to hurt her.”
“You told him when my wife would be alone.”
“I didn’t know!”
“Did you tell him she was pregnant?”
“No.”
“Did you know?”
“No!”
Victor stepped closer.
“What happened last night?”
Selena wiped tears from her face.
“Dominic texted me around seven.”
“What did he say?”
She retrieved her phone.
The message had been deleted.
Victor stared.
“I didn’t delete it,” she insisted.
“Then who did?”
“I don’t know.”
His security technician took the phone.
While he worked, Victor asked another question.
“Why did you answer Elena’s call?”
Selena went silent.
Victor waited.
Finally she whispered, “Jealousy.”
“Of my wife?”
“Yes.”
“You were paid to enter my life.”
“At first.”
“And then?”
“I fell in love with you.”
Victor’s face didn’t move.
“I know you won’t believe that.”
“I don’t care.”
Selena flinched.
“I hated going back to an empty apartment after being with you. I hated watching you leave whenever Elena called. I hated knowing no matter what you said about your marriage, she was still Mrs. Romano.”
Victor looked at her.
“So when she called—”
“I wanted to hurt her.”
Selena began sobbing.
“For one stupid moment, I wanted her to know you were with me.”
Victor’s voice remained calm.
“And when she begged?”
“I realized something was wrong.”
“But you still told her I didn’t want to speak to her.”
Selena covered her face.
“Yes.”
Victor looked away.
He should have hated Selena.
Part of him did.
But every accusation he could make eventually returned to himself.
He had created the circumstances.
He had lied to Elena.
He had made Selena believe his marriage was already dead.
He had chosen cowardice every day for seven months.
The technician finally looked up.
“Recovered partial message.”
Victor took the phone.
Make sure V doesn’t answer E tonight. Need twenty minutes.
Victor’s pulse slowed.
Dominic had planned it.
“Timestamp?”
“8:31 p.m.”
Elena crashed at 8:57.
Victor stared at Selena.
“You knew.”
“No.”
“He told you to keep me from answering Elena.”
“I thought…”
“What?”
“He said Elena had discovered the affair and was going to create a scene during a meeting you were supposed to have.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“What meeting?”
“He said you were negotiating something important.”
“There was no meeting.”
Selena looked sick.
“I didn’t know.”
Victor handed the phone to Luca.
“Send this to Sloan.”
Luca blinked.
“The federal prosecutor?”
“Yes.”
It was the first time in his life Victor Romano voluntarily handed evidence to federal law enforcement.
Luca understood what that meant.
Victor no longer cared what happened to his empire if saving Elena required burning it.
Selena sat on the sofa.
“There’s more.”
Victor looked at her.
“Dominic said Elena had something that could destroy both of you.”
“The financial records.”
“I guess.”
“What else?”
“He asked whether you had updated your will.”
Victor went still.
Luca looked over.
“My will?”
Selena nodded.
“And he asked whether Elena had signed the new family trust documents.”
Victor stared at her.
“What documents?”
“I don’t know.”
Victor called his attorney immediately.
Nathan Brooks answered on the second ring.
“Victor?”
“When did Elena last update our trust?”
A pause.
“Three weeks ago.”
Victor’s stomach dropped.
“What changed?”
“Victor, this is privileged—”
“She’s my wife.”
“And she instructed me not to discuss it with you until she was ready.”
“Why?”
Nathan hesitated.
“Because she discovered she was pregnant.”
Victor closed his eyes.
“What did she change?”
“If either of you died, ownership of your controlling interest in Romano Holdings would transfer through a trust for your child.”
“And if both of us died?”
“Until the child reached adulthood, the temporary trustee would control voting power.”
Victor’s skin went cold.
“Who is trustee?”
Another pause.
“Dominic.”
Luca cursed.
Selena stared.
Victor suddenly understood.
This was never only revenge.
It was succession.
Dominic knew Elena was pregnant.
Somehow.
He knew about the trust.
If Victor and Elena died while their unborn child survived long enough to inherit—or if documents could be manipulated—Dominic might gain control.
But Elena had miscarried.
The plan had gone wrong.
Or changed.
Victor grabbed his coat.
“Where are you going?” Selena asked.
“To find Dominic.”
“Victor, don’t.”
He looked back.
Selena stood.
“He’s afraid of you.”
“Good.”
“No. You don’t understand.”
She shook her head.
“He’s not doing this alone.”
Victor paused.
“Who?”
Selena swallowed.
“I never saw his face.”
“Whose face?”
“Dominic met someone at my apartment twice.”
“When?”
“About four months ago.”
Victor stepped closer.
“Describe him.”
“Older. Maybe sixty-five. Gray hair. Walked with a cane.”
Luca’s face changed.
Victor saw it.
“What?”
Luca said nothing.
Victor grabbed his shoulder.
“What?”
Luca stared at him.
“Carlo Valenti walked with a cane after the shooting.”
Victor’s blood chilled.
“That’s impossible.”
“So everyone thought.”
Selena looked between them.
“Who is Carlo Valenti?”
Victor released Luca.
“A dead man.”
Then his phone rang.
Dominic.
Victor answered.
Neither man spoke for several seconds.
Finally Dominic laughed.
“Cousin.”
Victor’s voice became flat.
“Where are you?”
“Still giving orders. Even now.”
“You tried to kill Elena.”
“I did no such thing.”
“You paid Selena.”
A pause.
Then Dominic chuckled.
“So she finally told you.”
Victor looked at Selena.
“What do you want?”
“What should have been mine.”
“Nothing was ever yours.”
“That’s what Uncle Matteo taught you, wasn’t it?”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“My father raised you.”
“Your father used me.”
“You were a child.”
“And I grew up watching you inherit everything.”
Dominic’s bitterness sharpened.
“The house. The companies. The loyalty. The name.”
Victor lowered his voice.
“You targeted Elena because you couldn’t beat me.”
“Oh, Victor.”
Dominic sighed.
“Elena was never the target.”
Victor’s face changed.
“Then who was?”
“You.”
A noise sounded behind Dominic.
A door closing.
Then Dominic continued.
“But hurting Elena was the only way to make you destroy yourself.”
Victor’s stomach tightened.
“What does that mean?”
“It means while you’re running around hospitals and chasing ghosts, your captains are voting.”
Victor looked at Luca.
“Voting on what?”
“Whether a man distracted by his wife, his mistress and federal prosecutors is still fit to lead.”
Victor’s expression hardened.
Dominic laughed again.
“You always said emotion makes men weak.”
The call ended.
Luca reached for his own phone.
Victor stopped him.
“No.”
“Boss, if he’s moving against you—”
“Let him.”
Luca stared.
Victor looked toward the rain-streaked window.
For thirteen years, Victor had told himself he needed power to keep Elena safe.
Now that same power had nearly killed her.
“Let him have every captain who chooses him.”
Luca frowned.
“You’ll lose the organization.”
Victor looked at him.
“I already lost something more important.”
For the first time, Luca saw that Victor meant it.
Then Selena spoke quietly.
“There’s one place Dominic used to go after meeting the older man.”
Victor turned.
“A church in Brooklyn.”
“What church?”
“Saint Raphael’s.”
Luca went pale again.
Victor knew why.
Saint Raphael’s had been closed for eleven years.
After a fire.
The same fire in which Carlo Valenti was supposedly killed.
Victor looked at Selena.
“Give Luca everything.”
Then he walked toward the door.
“Where are you going?”
Victor paused.
“To the hospital.”
Selena looked confused.
“Not the church?”
“No.”
“But Dominic—”
“Can wait.”
Victor opened the door.
May you like
“My wife can’t.”
And for the first time in his adult life, Victor Romano chose Elena before revenge.
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