Chapter 5 - The Woman He Was Never Supposed To Love
The harbor was chaos.
Containers stacked like buildings.
Rain falling sideways.
Men shouting.
Cars burning.
Roman moved through the darkness with the precision of someone who had survived too many nights like this.
Serena stayed beside Luca.
Then she saw him.
Salvatore.
Older.
Silver hair.
Gray coat.
Walking calmly between the chaos.
Roman saw him too.
"Uncle."
Salvatore smiled.
"Hello, Roman."
"You've been dead for twelve years."
"I found death inconvenient."
Serena moved closer to Roman.
Salvatore looked at her.
"So this is her."
Roman's body shifted subtly.
"You don't get near her."
Salvatore smiled.
"Your father made the same mistake."
Roman's eyes narrowed.
"You killed him."
"No."
"Then who?"
Salvatore looked at Serena.
"Ask her."
Serena froze.
"What?"
"He told you everything, didn't he?"
"No."
"He should have."
Roman looked at her.
"What does he mean?"
Salvatore laughed.
"The marriage."
He pointed at Serena.
"She was never just your wife."
The world went silent.
Salvatore continued.
"She was the key."
Roman looked at Serena.
"What key?"
"The Harrington Trust was created by her father. It was transferred into her name before the wedding."
Serena stared.
"I don't understand."
"You were always the beneficiary."
Roman looked devastated.
"You knew?"
Serena shook her head.
"No."
Salvatore smiled.
"Exactly."
He stepped back.
"Neither of you understood why your father brought you together."
Roman's face hardened.
"You manipulated us."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because the trust could only be unlocked by the combined authorization of the Duca heir and Serena Hale."
Roman looked at Serena.
"That's why you married me."
"No."
Her voice broke.
"I didn't know."
He looked at her.
He wanted to believe.
He did.
But the doubt was there.
Salvatore saw it.
"Ask her about the envelope."
Serena froze.
"What envelope?"
"The one she keeps hidden."
Roman turned.
She knew immediately.
The $4,600.
Her contingency money.
Salvatore smiled.
"She was always prepared to run."
Roman's face changed.
"Is that true?"
Serena looked at him.
"Yes."
"You were leaving me."
She swallowed.
"I was."
"When?"
"After the gala."
He looked away.
The revelation hurt more than any bullet.
Salvatore laughed.
"See? She was never yours."
Roman turned toward him with such controlled fury that even Salvatore stepped back.
"Don't speak about her."
He moved forward.
"This is between me and you."
Salvatore raised a gun.
Then everything exploded.
Luca pulled Serena behind a container.
Roman tackled Salvatore.
The gun went off.
A sharp cry.
Roman fell.
Serena screamed.
"Roman!"
She ran toward him.
He was holding his side.
Blood seeped through his shirt.
"Stay back."
"You're bleeding."
"I'm fine."
"You are not fine!"
He grabbed her hand.
"Listen to me."
She knelt beside him.
"I thought you were going to leave me."
Her eyes filled.
"I was."
"Why?"
"Because you told me never to touch you."
He closed his eyes.
"I'm sorry."
"You made me feel like I was ashamed to be your wife."
"I wasn't ashamed of you."
"Then what?"
"Terrified."
She stared.
"Of me?"
"Of losing you."
The honesty broke something inside her.
She touched his face.
"Then you should have told me."
"I know."
She leaned her forehead against his.
"I'm still angry."
"You should be."
"I don't forgive you yet."
"I'll wait."
He smiled faintly.
"Just don't leave."
She looked into his eyes.
"I don't know."
He nodded.
Then Salvatore escaped.
Roman was taken to a private hospital.
The bullet had missed his heart by inches.
He survived.
Serena stayed.
Three days.
Four.
Five.
She slept in a chair beside his bed.
When Roman finally woke, she was there.
He blinked.
"You're still here."
She opened her eyes.
"Unfortunately."
He smiled.
"That's okay."
She looked at him.
"How do you feel?"
"Like someone shot me."
"You deserve worse."
"Probably."
He tried to sit.
She pushed him back.
"Don't."
He obeyed.
Another first.
That evening, he asked her about the money.
She told him everything.
The duffel.
The savings.
The plan.
He listened.
When she finished, he said:
"You were never planning to take anything."
"No."
"You were going to disappear with four thousand six hundred dollars."
"I would have figured it out."
He almost laughed.
"You were going to leave the most powerful man in the city with less than five thousand dollars to remember you by."
She smiled.
"I figured you'd survive."
He reached for her hand.
This time he did it without hesitation.
She let him.
"You don't have to touch me because you're afraid I'll leave."
"I'm touching you because I want to."
She looked down at their hands.
That small gesture meant more than every expensive gift he had ever bought her.
Then Luca entered.
"Boss."
Roman looked up.
"What?"
"We found the transfer records."
"Where?"
"The foundation."
Serena stiffened.
"What?"
"The Harrington Trust documents are hidden in your office."
Roman looked at her.
"They're coming."
May you like
She nodded.
"Then let's finish this."
