Chapter 6 - The Secret Contract
Margaret was alive.
They found her twenty minutes later inside an abandoned linen room.
The bullet had grazed her upper arm.
She was shaken, but conscious.
Roman moved her to a secure medical suite.
Emily refused to leave her side.
Margaret finally told them everything.
Eight years earlier, the Bellini Grand had been bleeding money.
Not because business was poor.
Because someone inside the company was building a second empire.
The Bellini organization owned legitimate businesses through holding companies.
The conspirators had quietly redirected assets.
Hotels.
Warehouses.
Restaurants.
Properties.
They intended to make Roman's inheritance nearly worthless.
Then they planned to force him out.
But there was something more dangerous.
Roman's father had discovered that the people responsible had created a secret agreement.
The agreement gave control of the hotel's most valuable properties to a company called Northstar Meridian.
The final beneficiary was hidden behind multiple layers.
Margaret knew the name.
She whispered it.
“Victor Bellini.”
Roman closed his eyes.
But Margaret shook her head.
“There's more.”
“What?”
“Victor wasn't the ultimate owner.”
She pulled a folded contract from her bag.
Emily recognized it immediately.
“My mother had this.”
Margaret nodded.
“Rebecca found it.”
Roman read the final page.
The beneficiary was not Victor.
It was a private trust.
The beneficiary was listed as:
BELLA BELLINI.
Roman stared.
His younger sister.
“Bella?”
Margaret nodded.
“She didn't know.”
“Then why put her name there?”
“Because whoever controlled Bella’s trust controlled the company.”
Roman's mind raced.
His sister had been away at school during the period when the fraud began.
She had no idea.
Margaret handed him another document.
“This is the signature authorization.”
Roman examined it.
His sister’s signature had been forged.
He looked at Emily.
“This entire thing was designed to make Bella the legal owner.”
“Exactly.”
“And then someone else would control her.”
Margaret nodded.
Emily understood before Roman.
“Victor wanted Roman removed because Roman would never let him control Bella.”
Margaret said, “Yes.”
Roman sat down.
For the first time in years, he felt the true weight of the family name.
Everything he had protected might have been built on lies.
Margaret took Emily's hand.
“Your mother died because she found the account.”
Emily looked down.
“Why didn't you save her?”
Margaret began to cry.
“I tried.”
Emily closed her eyes.
“I hated you.”
“I know.”
“I thought you abandoned us.”
“I was being hunted.”
“But you could have called.”
“I did.”
Emily looked up.
Margaret pulled out an old photograph.
A phone number was written on the back.
“I called every week for two years.”
“Why didn't I get the calls?”
“Because they intercepted them.”
Roman's expression hardened.
“Who?”
Margaret looked at him.
“The man who ran security.”
Roman stood.
The former head of security had retired years earlier.
But his records showed he had consulted for the hotel until six months ago.
And his consulting firm was controlled by Northstar Meridian.
Roman immediately called Marcus.
“Find him.”
Marcus answered.
“We're already looking.”
Roman hung up.
Emily looked exhausted.
Roman came to her.
“You should sleep.”
She shook her head.
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because every time I close my eyes, I hear my mother.”
Roman crouched beside her.
“What does she say?”
“She says, 'Don't let good people become collateral damage.'”
He understood.
That was why Emily had spent 18 months taking care of everyone.
She wasn't merely kind.
She was continuing her mother's work.
Roman reached for her hand.
This time Emily held his.
“I used to think protecting people made me weak,” Roman said.
Emily looked at him.
“My father taught me that power meant control.”
“And now?”
“Now I think power might mean choosing who doesn't have to be afraid.”
Emily smiled sadly.
“You're changing.”
“Maybe.”
She squeezed his hand.
“Then don't stop.”
Roman looked at her.
He had faced gunmen without blinking.
Negotiated hostile takeovers.
Watched enemies disappear from his life.
Yet sitting beside Emily in a quiet hospital suite felt more dangerous than any of it.
He wanted her.
Not as an employee.
Not as someone he needed to protect.
As the woman whose presence had forced him to question everything he believed.
He leaned closer.
Emily did too.
Their lips were inches apart.
The door opened.
Bella Bellini stood there.
“Am I interrupting something?”
Emily pulled back.
Roman sighed.
“Unfortunately.”
Bella smiled.
“Good. You're both finally behaving like normal people.”
Then her expression changed.
“I know who is behind Northstar.”
Roman stood.
“Who?”
Bella handed him her phone.
An old photograph filled the screen.
Victor stood beside a man Roman had never suspected.
Thomas Keller.
Roman's blood ran cold.
The director of operations.
The man who first demanded Emily be fired.
The man who brought him the security footage.
The man who had known exactly which employees were being targeted.
Emily stared at the photograph.
“He wasn't trying to expose me.”
“No,” Roman said.
“He was testing what I knew.”
May you like
Roman nodded.
“And he has been watching both of us.”
