Chapter 2 - The Mafia Boss Put Me in His Mansion, Then Told Me My Husband Had Lied About Why He Wanted Me Gone
The ride to Dominic Moretti's estate was silent.
Alina sat in the rear of the black Lincoln, still clutching the folder Dominic had given her.
She had expected fear.
Instead, she felt something stranger.
Relief.
She hated that.
Relief meant she trusted a dangerous man she had known for less than an hour.
Dominic sat across from her.
He wasn't looking at her.
He was watching the city through the tinted glass.
“What exactly are you involved in?” Alina asked.
“Enough.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“You ask too many questions.”
“You brought me into a car at midnight.”
“You came willingly.”
“After you told me people were following me.”
“They were.”
She stared at him.
“You really are impossible.”
A faint smile touched his mouth.
“That's the first useful thing anyone has said to me tonight.”
The estate appeared beyond iron gates.
It was enormous.
Stone walls.
Private security.
Floodlights.
Trees lining a long driveway.
Alina stared.
“This isn't a house.”
“No.”
“What is it?”
“Home.”
She laughed quietly.
“For who?”
Dominic glanced at her.
“Me.”
The gates opened.
Inside were no flashy signs of criminal wealth.
No gold statues.
No ridiculous fountains.
Instead, the place looked like a fortress disguised as a traditional mansion.
Warm lights.
Dark wood.
Old family photographs.
A library large enough to be mistaken for a university.
Dominic led her inside.
A woman in her fifties approached.
“Guest room?”
“Yes.”
“Prepared.”
The woman looked at Alina.
“I'm Sofia.”
“Alina.”
“I know.”
Alina looked at Dominic.
He said nothing.
Sofia smiled.
“Mr. Moretti told me to prepare anything she needs.”
“I don't need anything.”
“You do.”
Dominic removed his gloves.
“You've been outside for 5 hours.”
Alina looked down.
Her shoes were soaked.
Her coat was damp.
She suddenly realized how exhausted she was.
Sofia took her suitcase.
“Come.”
Alina followed.
The guest room was larger than her old bedroom.
A fireplace was already burning.
There was a bathroom with heated floors.
Fresh clothes had been placed on the bed.
Alina stared.
“This is absurd.”
Sofia smiled.
“Mr. Moretti likes people comfortable.”
“Does he?”
“Only the ones he intends to keep.”
Alina looked toward the doorway.
Dominic had heard her.
“She's not a prisoner.”
Sofia shrugged.
“Never said she was.”
She left.
Dominic stood by the door.
“Sleep.”
“I need answers.”
“You're exhausted.”
“I've been exhausted for years.”
He looked at her.
That statement seemed to affect him.
“Tomorrow.”
“Promise?”
“Yes.”
She studied his face.
“You don't strike me as someone who makes promises.”
“I don't.”
“Then why make one now?”
“Because I intend to keep it.”
He left.
Alina closed the door.
She stood there for a long time.
Then she cried.
Quietly.
Without the desperation of the last 3 years.
It was simply the body releasing what it had been holding.
The next morning, she woke to sunlight.
For a few seconds, she didn't remember where she was.
Then everything returned.
Gregory.
Bethany.
The papers.
The empty bank account.
Dominic.
She dressed in simple clothes and went downstairs.
Dominic sat at the dining table, reading a newspaper.
He looked up.
“Coffee?”
She stopped.
“Yes.”
He poured it himself.
She sat.
“There are no guards outside the room.”
“I told you.”
“I know.”
She looked around.
“Why me?”
Dominic folded the newspaper.
“Your husband transferred 18 million dollars through an account that passed through one of my companies.”
Alina frowned.
“What?”
“He used one of my legitimate businesses without authorization.”
“I knew he was moving money, but I didn't know where.”
“I did.”
Dominic slid a file across the table.
“Last month, I confronted him.”
“And?”
“He denied everything.”
“What happened?”
“He lied.”
“That sounds like him.”
Dominic watched her carefully.
“Gregory asked me to destroy evidence.”
Alina stared.
“Evidence of what?”
“Payments made to people in city government.”
Her stomach tightened.
“That could ruin him.”
“Yes.”
“So why not turn it over?”
“Because some of the money involved came from accounts connected to someone higher.”
“Who?”
Dominic said nothing.
Alina understood.
“Someone dangerous.”
“Yes.”
“Rival?”
“Not exactly.”
He pushed another photograph toward her.
A man in his sixties.
Elegant.
Silver hair.
A scar through his left eyebrow.
Alina recognized him.
She had seen him once in Gregory's private office.
“Who is that?”
“Arthur Vescari.”
“Gregory met him?”
“More than once.”
Her memories shifted.
The private dinners.
The secret calls.
Gregory leaving at strange hours.
His insistence that Alina never ask questions about certain accounts.
“I knew.”
Dominic raised an eyebrow.
“About?”
“That he was involved in something.”
“Why didn't you leave?”
“Because I loved him.”
Dominic looked away.
Something about his expression suggested he understood that answer too well.
“You built the company with him.”
“Yes.”
“You made the systems.”
“Yes.”
“Then you may have built something he doesn't know how to destroy.”
She frowned.
“What?”
“You.”
Alina looked at him.
Dominic continued.
“Your husband thinks you're broken because you're standing in a diner with 30 dollars.”
“He might be right.”
“No.”
His voice was firm.
“He made the mistake of confusing poverty with weakness.”
She looked at him.
For the first time, she smiled.
“Maybe you aren't as terrible as people say.”
“Don't spread that around.”
A knock interrupted them.
Matteo entered.
Dominic's right hand.
“Boss.”
Dominic nodded.
Matteo placed a phone on the table.
“Something happened overnight.”
A video played.
Gregory.
Standing outside a warehouse.
Talking to Bethany.
Alina leaned closer.
Gregory said:
“She'll come back.”
Bethany asked:
“What if she doesn't?”
“She will.”
“And the accounts?”
“I need her access.”
Alina froze.
Dominic watched her.
The video continued.
Gregory smiled.
“She doesn't understand what she signed.”
Alina's stomach dropped.
“Prenup.”
Dominic nodded.
“Keep watching.”
Gregory turned toward Damian.
“When she realizes she has nothing, she'll call.”
Damian laughed.
“And if she doesn't?”
Gregory's smile disappeared.
“Then we make sure she has nowhere else to go.”
The video ended.
Alina stared at the blank screen.
For years, she had wondered whether she had imagined the cruelty.
She hadn't.
Dominic reached across the table.
He didn't touch her.
He simply rested his hand near hers.
“You are not going back.”
She swallowed.
“No.”
“What will you do?”
She looked at the folder.
“Take everything back.”
May you like
Dominic smiled slowly.
“That is the answer I was hoping for.”
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