Chapter 2 - Roman Admitted He Had Lied to Harper—but the Lie Had Been Designed to Keep Her Alive
The ballroom doors locked with a heavy metallic click.
Harper heard it.
Everyone did.
For the first time since she had slapped Roman, she realized something important.
She was not the most dangerous person in the room.
She might not even be the safest.
Roman stood beneath the enormous crystal chandelier, one hand resting against the edge of the table.
His cheek was still red from her slap.
He didn't seem to care.
His attention was fixed entirely on his uncle.
Victor Moretti.
Sixty-one years old.
Silver hair.
Impeccable tuxedo.
Chairman of Moretti Holdings.
The man who had spent decades presenting himself as the respectable architect of the Moretti empire.
Victor slowly stood.
“Roman.”
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
“You are making a serious accusation.”
Roman smiled without humor.
“So were you.”
Victor glanced around.
“Against family?”
“Against everyone.”
Harper's heart pounded.
She had never seen Roman like this.
The controlled businessman was gone.
In his place was something colder.
Older.
More dangerous.
Victor lifted his glass.
“Perhaps everyone should sit.”
“No.”
Roman's answer was immediate.
“You don't get to control the room anymore.”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
“Careful.”
Roman laughed.
“That's what you told my father.”
Harper felt the room shift.
She looked at Elena.
Roman's sister had gone pale.
“What does Dad have to do with this?”
Roman didn't answer.
Harper stepped closer.
“Roman.”
He looked at her.
“You said the truth was on that drive.”
“Yes.”
“Then play it.”
Roman's gaze held hers.
“Once you hear it, you can't unknow it.”
“I already know enough to hate you.”
Something flickered in his expression.
Pain.
It vanished immediately.
“I can live with that.”
He connected the drive to the ballroom's presentation screen.
The first document appeared.
A bank transfer.
Six months earlier.
Two million dollars.
Recipient: Silver Crest Security, Las Vegas.
Authorized by Roman Moretti.
Harper crossed her arms.
“There.”
“Yes.”
“You arranged Leo's kidnapping.”
“Yes.”
“You knew exactly where he was.”
“Yes.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me panic.”
Roman's jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
Harper's eyes burned.
“How could you?”
Roman didn't answer immediately.
Then he said, “Because the alternative was your funeral.”
She laughed bitterly.
“You expect that to make me feel better?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Roman changed the screen.
Another document appeared.
A surveillance photograph.
Leo entering a casino.
Then another.
A man following him.
Then another.
The same man meeting Victor Moretti.
Harper stopped breathing.
Roman pointed at the screen.
“That man was Victor's security chief.”
Victor stepped forward.
“This is fabricated.”
Roman changed the image.
A bank transfer.
Victor's account.
Another.
A company registered in Panama.
Another.
A Nevada holding company.
Harper stared.
She knew these structures.
She had spent six months tracing them.
“Oh my God.”
Roman looked at her.
“You see it now.”
Harper zoomed into the records.
The shell companies connected to the money she had found at her accounting firm weren't merely connected to Moretti Development.
They were connected to Victor.
Victor had been siphoning money from Roman's legitimate businesses.
Billions.
Not millions.
Billions.
Harper looked at him.
“Why?”
Victor smiled.
“Because Roman is a boy playing king.”
Roman's expression hardened.
“You're the reason my father died.”
The ballroom went silent.
Victor didn't deny it.
Harper looked at Roman.
“What happened to your father?”
“Car accident.”
Victor laughed.
“That's what the newspapers said.”
Roman stared at him.
Victor's smile faded.
“Your father wanted out.”
Roman nodded.
“He wanted to make the company legitimate.”
“And he threatened everything we built.”
“So you killed him.”
Victor shrugged.
“Your father chose his side.”
Roman's fists tightened.
Harper realized how much self-control the man possessed.
She had seen him angry.
This was different.
This was hatred.
Victor continued.
“He wasn't strong enough.”
“And my mother?”
Roman's voice was barely audible.
Victor looked at him.
“Your mother knew too much.”
Harper felt sick.
Roman's parents had not died in separate accidents.
They had been murdered.
And Victor had been responsible.
But then Victor smiled.
“You want to know why your precious brother became involved?”
He looked at Harper.
“Because I chose him.”
Harper stepped forward.
“What?”
Victor laughed.
“Leo was easy.”
Roman moved.
Two guards immediately blocked him.
Victor continued.
“Your brother had debts.”
“I made sure they grew.”
“I sent him money.”
“I introduced him to people.”
“I made him believe he was unlucky.”
Harper's eyes filled with tears.
“You destroyed him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Victor looked at Roman.
“Because I needed leverage.”
Roman's voice became deadly.
“Against me.”
“Against you.”
Victor smiled.
“And against her.”
He pointed at Harper.
“She was the real prize.”
Harper froze.
Victor explained.
“Harper was investigating the wrong company.”
“She didn't know it.”
“She thought she was exposing Roman.”
“But she was actually getting close to me.”
Harper's mind raced.
The irregular payments.
The shell companies.
The strange acquisitions.
She had always assumed Roman was the center.
But Roman had been investigating Victor too.
They had both been circling the same conspiracy from opposite directions.
Victor had realized Harper could expose him.
So he created the perfect trap.
Use Leo.
Create debt.
Kidnap him.
Make Roman appear to save him.
Then force Harper into Roman's organization.
Victor knew Harper would eventually investigate.
He expected her to find Roman.
Not him.
It was elegant.
Cruel.
And almost successful.
Harper turned toward Roman.
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
Roman looked at her.
“Because I didn't know who inside my organization was reporting to Victor.”
“So you used me.”
“Yes.”
“You put my brother in danger.”
“Yes.”
“You made me believe you saved him.”
“Yes.”
She stared at him.
“I hate you.”
Roman nodded.
“I know.”
Something in his eyes broke.
Just slightly.
Then he recovered.
Harper noticed.
Before she could speak, a gunshot exploded.
Victor's bodyguard dropped.
Everyone screamed.
Roman moved instantly.
He grabbed Harper and pulled her behind a marble column.
Another shot shattered a chandelier.
Glass rained across the ballroom.
Security returned fire.
Guests dropped to the floor.
Harper pressed herself against Roman.
“Who is shooting?”
Roman looked over the column.
“Someone who doesn't want Victor alive.”
“What?”
“Or me.”
He glanced toward Victor.
Victor was gone.
Harper's eyes widened.
“He escaped.”
Roman cursed.
Then he looked at her.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Harper.”
“I've been manipulated for six months.”
She grabbed his sleeve.
“I'm done hiding.”
Roman stared at her.
Then something almost like admiration appeared.
“Fine.”
They moved together.
Through the service corridor.
Past terrified staff.
Down a narrow staircase.
They found Victor's private exit.
Empty.
But on the floor was a bloodstained envelope.
Roman picked it up.
Inside was a photograph.
Harper.
Taken that morning.
Outside her apartment.
On the back was one sentence.
SHE KNOWS TOO MUCH NOW.
Roman's face changed.
Harper saw it.
“What?”
He handed her the photograph.
She stared.
Then she realized something worse.
The photograph had been taken from across the street.
There was another picture underneath.
Her mother.
Twenty-five years earlier.
Standing beside Roman's father.
And Victor.
Harper looked at Roman.
“Why do they have a picture of my mother?”
Roman went completely still.
“I don't know.”
A voice came from behind them.
“Yes, you do.”
Elena stood in the corridor.
She was holding a gun.
Harper turned.
Roman slowly raised his hands.
“Elena.”
His sister was crying.
“I didn't want this.”
Roman's face softened.
“What did you do?”
Elena looked at Harper.
“I was the one who gave Victor the first file.”
Harper felt betrayed all over again.
“Why?”
Elena lowered the gun.
“Because he told me Roman killed our father.”
Roman stared at her.
“And you believed him?”
“I was twenty.”
“You're thirty now.”
“I know.”
Elena wiped her eyes.
“I've spent ten years regretting it.”
Roman stepped closer.
“Where is Victor?”
Elena looked toward the exit.
“He went to the old Moretti estate.”
Roman's expression changed.
“That house has been abandoned for twenty years.”
Elena shook her head.
“Not anymore.”
May you like
Then she whispered something that made Harper's blood run cold.
“Your mother is there.”
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