Part 6: The Truth Finally Comes Out
Part 6: The Truth Finally Comes Out
Damiano did not answer immediately.
He simply reached into the inside pocket of his black suit and removed a worn leather wallet.
Inside was an old photograph.
The edges were faded.
A little girl, no older than Sofia, sat on his shoulders, laughing with both hands wrapped around his head.
Her name had been Isabella.
She had died three years earlier.
Not from violence.
Not from enemies.
From an illness doctors discovered too late while Damiano was busy fighting wars that suddenly meant nothing.
Only Rafael knew the truth.
Only Rafael had watched the most feared man in New York collapse beside a hospital bed and whisper apologies to a child who could no longer hear them.
Damiano looked from the photograph...
...back to Sofia.
Then he carefully folded the picture away.
"I know exactly what happens," he said quietly, "when a child waits too long for someone to come."
The ballroom had become so silent that the crystal glasses no longer clinked.
Lena stood frozen beside the staircase.
Her hands trembled so violently she could barely breathe.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"I'm so sorry, sir."
"I never taught her to do this."
"I swear I didn't."
Damiano slowly stood.
"No."
"You taught her to be brave."
He turned toward Rafael.
"Bring me every personnel file."
"Every contract."
"Every payroll record connected to the domestic staff."
Rafael understood instantly.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Within minutes, thick folders covered the long oak table inside Damiano's private study.
Damiano opened Lena's employment file.
Housekeeper.
Five years.
Perfect evaluations.
No disciplinary actions.
No complaints.
Salary...
His eyes stopped.
He looked again.
Then a third time.
The number was impossible.
"This can't be correct."
Rafael leaned over.
"It isn't."
"It says she's been receiving sixty-two thousand dollars a year."
Damiano looked toward Lena.
"You've been paid less than half that."
Lena slowly nodded.
"I receive twenty-eight."
"The rest..."
She couldn't finish.
Rafael was already opening the financial records.
Every monthly transfer.
Every authorization.
Every signature.
All approved by the estate manager...
Victor Romano.
The same man responsible for supervising the household for nearly eight years.
Damiano's expression became colder with every page.
Victor had reported full salaries.
But the employees had received only portions.
The missing money...
Nearly one point four million dollars over six years.
Stolen.
Piece by piece.
From people who trusted the Verrone name.
The guests outside still had no idea what was happening.
But inside that study...
A completely different investigation had just begun.
Rafael looked up.
"We need Victor."
A security guard hurried in.
"Sir..."
"We've searched the estate."
"Mr. Romano's office is empty."
"What about the cameras?"
"They show him leaving twenty-three minutes ago."
Damiano checked his watch.
Twenty-three minutes.
Exactly when Sofia had asked...
"Can I borrow you as my daddy?"
Victor had heard everything.
He had realized the little girl's words had drawn Damiano's attention toward the servants.
And he had run.
Damiano slowly closed the folder.
For years...
He believed he had been protecting every family working inside his estate.
Instead...
Someone had been stealing from widows...
Single mothers...
And children...
While using his own signature as protection.
His jaw tightened.
Nobody spoke.
Finally he looked at Rafael.
"Lock every gate."
"No one leaves Manhattan."
"And find Victor Romano."
His voice became dangerously calm.
"Before sunrise."
Because tonight...
May you like
This had stopped being about a little girl's birthday.
It had become personal.
