Chapter 5 - THE SECRET CARLO TOOK TO HIS GRAVE
“No.”
Camila said it before anyone else could react.
“No.”
Walter lay against the basement wall while Dominic’s men pressed gauze against his shoulder.
He looked pale but conscious.
“Camila—”
“No.”
Dominic stood several feet away.
His face gave her nothing.
That frightened her more than anger would have.
Camila looked at Walter.
“My father was Michael Bennett.”
“Yes.”
“My mother was married to him.”
“Yes.”
“Then don’t say something like that unless you can prove it.”
Walter nodded.
“That’s fair.”
Sirens approached outside.
Dominic had called a private medical team rather than city emergency services, but one of his men had also reported the gunfire anonymously.
They had minutes.
Walter gripped Camila’s hand.
“In the ledger. Page sixty-two.”
Dominic retrieved it.
Page sixty-two listed payments between Carlo Moretti and a medical clinic.
Not St. Vincent.
Lakeshore Women’s Center.
Twenty-nine years ago.
Camila’s birth year.
She felt sick.
“What am I looking at?”
Walter pointed.
“Carlo paid the clinic.”
“For what?”
“I never knew.”
Dominic studied the notation.
“E.B.”
Elena Bennett.
Camila closed her eyes.
Dominic quietly dismissed everyone except Walter, Camila and himself.
Then he shut the basement door.
“No more fragments,” he said. “Tell us everything.”
Walter did.
Before Elena married Michael, she had briefly worked events for a Moretti-owned property.
That was where she met Carlo.
Carlo was already married.
Dominic’s mother, Sofia, was alive then.
Elena and Carlo became close.
Walter didn’t know how close.
But Anthony did.
“He used it against Carlo,” Walter said.
Dominic’s face hardened.
“My father cheated on my mother?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s exactly what you’re implying.”
“I’m telling you what I know.”
Camila felt strangely detached.
Her husband might be her half-brother.
The thought was so grotesque that her mind rejected it.
Walter seemed to realize.
“The clinic payment doesn’t prove paternity.”
“Then why did you say Carlo believed I was his daughter?”
“Because he told Michael.”
Camila stared.
“Why would my father tolerate that?”
“Michael didn’t.”
Walter described a confrontation in a parking garage.
Michael accused Carlo of interfering with his family.
Carlo insisted he had reason to believe Camila was biologically his.
Elena denied it.
Carlo offered a DNA test.
She refused.
“And then?” Dominic asked.
“Carlo dropped it.”
“Why?”
“Michael threatened to take Elena and Camila out of Illinois permanently.”
Camila laughed bitterly.
“That sounds like my father.”
Walter nodded.
“But before Carlo died, he gave Elena something.”
“The bracelet.”
“Yes.”
Carlo told her that if he was wrong, she should throw it away.
If he was right, Camila should one day have the protection of the Moretti trust.
Dominic looked at Camila.
She could barely meet his eyes.
“We need a test,” she whispered.
“Yes.”
“Now.”
“Yes.”
Walter shook his head.
“You don’t need one.”
Both looked at him.
He reached into the torn lining of his jacket.
A small envelope.
“I brought this because I knew the question might come back.”
Inside was a laboratory report.
Twenty-eight years old.
PATERNITY EXCLUSION.
Carlo Moretti could not be Camila Bennett’s biological father.
Camila nearly collapsed with relief.
Dominic crossed the space between them instantly.
He held her face in both hands.
“You’re not his daughter.”
She laughed through tears.
“You sound relieved.”
“I’m extremely relieved.”
Despite everything, she almost smiled.
Walter looked away politely.
Then Dominic turned back.
“If Carlo knew he wasn’t her father, why leave the key?”
Walter looked at the report.
“He never saw this.”
“Why not?”
“Elena hid it.”
Camila pulled away from Dominic.
“What?”
Walter continued.
Elena received the result after Carlo’s death.
She never told Michael that she had secretly agreed to the test.
By then Anthony was already searching for Carlo’s trust instrument.
Elena realized everyone believed the bracelet might prove Camila was Carlo’s child.
That belief protected the true purpose.
The bracelet did not establish blood.
It hid power.
“Carlo gave it to Elena before the test came back,” Walter said. “She kept it because Anthony would never imagine Carlo’s trust key had been given to a child who wasn’t even his.”
Dominic almost smiled.
“My father used Anthony’s obsession against him.”
“Yes.”
Camila looked at the paternity report.
Relief gave way to another emotion.
Anger.
“My mother knew all of this.”
Walter said nothing.
“She watched me marry Dominic knowing someone had engineered our meeting.”
“Yes.”
“And she stayed hidden.”
“She believed appearing would make you a target.”
“I was already a target.”
Walter had no answer.
The medical team arrived.
Walter was taken through a private service exit.
Before leaving, he caught Dominic’s sleeve.
“Anthony has Michael’s half now.”
“Not all of it.”
“No. But he knows Camila has Carlo’s.”
Dominic nodded.
“He’ll come for her.”
Walter stared at him.
“He already has.”
Back upstairs, Dominic ordered the Grand Meridian closed to new arrivals.
Existing guests were moved to a sister property with generous compensation.
Rebecca Sloan was taken to a secure private office.
Camila demanded to speak with her.
Dominic disagreed.
“She helped Anthony lure you here.”
“That’s why I need her.”
“She could still be working for him.”
“Then watch through the glass.”
Dominic considered.
“Five minutes.”
“Ten.”
“Seven.”
“Fine.”
Rebecca sat alone.
Without the hotel manager’s authority around her, she looked smaller.
Camila entered.
Rebecca smiled faintly.
“Mrs. Moretti.”
“Camila.”
“Now?”
“I’m not here for manners.”
Rebecca looked toward the mirrored wall.
“Dominic listening?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Camila sat opposite her.
“Why were you waiting for me?”
Rebecca looked exhausted.
“Anthony said you were coming.”
“How?”
“He didn’t explain.”
“Why did you delete my reservation?”
“He told me to.”
“And false-decline my card?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To make you angry.”
Camila frowned.
“What?”
“He needed you to insist.”
“Insist on what?”
“Going upstairs.”
Camila stared.
Rebecca rubbed her wrists.
“If you identified yourself as Dominic’s wife and security backed off, the plan failed.”
“Why?”
“Because Anthony wanted Dominic involved.”
Camila felt cold.
“The lobby humiliation was staged for him?”
“Yes.”
“To make him investigate?”
“Yes.”
Camila sat back.
Every step had been predicted.
Anthony wanted Dominic to pull records.
Wanted them to discover Walter’s complaint.
Wanted them to find Room 814.
“But why?”
Rebecca’s eyes filled.
“Because Anthony couldn’t find the trust key.”
“So he used us.”
“He knew you could.”
Camila understood.
The disappearing complaints.
The false card decline.
The photograph.
The reservation.
Every clue had been breadcrumbs.
Anthony had built a mystery Camila and Dominic were uniquely capable of solving.
“He wanted us to open the wall.”
Rebecca nodded.
Camila’s anger sharpened.
“And the shooter took Michael’s half.”
“Yes.”
“Who was it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who does Anthony use?”
Rebecca hesitated.
Camila leaned forward.
“Rebecca.”
“I never saw his face.”
“Then tell me what you saw.”
“A ring.”
“What kind?”
“Silver. Black stone.”
Camila froze.
Dominic wore no rings except his wedding band.
But she had seen a silver ring with a black onyx stone recently.
At dinner.
On the hand of Dominic’s cousin.
Vincent Moretti.
Dominic’s chief financial officer.
His closest friend since childhood.
The man who had signed as witness at their wedding.
Camila stood.
Behind the glass, Dominic was already moving.
He entered.
“Vincent?”
Rebecca looked at him.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Dominic pulled out his phone.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
He called security.
“Where’s Vincent?”
A pause.
Dominic’s expression changed.
“Since when?”
He ended the call.
Camila waited.
“Vincent left the Moretti headquarters two hours ago.”
“Where did he go?”
“Nobody knows.”
Rebecca laughed softly.
Dominic turned toward her.
“What’s funny?”
“You still think this is about Anthony.”
“What is it about?”
Rebecca’s smile faded.
“Succession.”
Dominic went still.
She explained.
Anthony had spent years believing Dominic would eventually uncover the old fraud.
So he needed another Moretti positioned close enough to replace him.
Vincent.
“You’re lying,” Dominic said.
“I wish.”
“Vincent is my cousin.”
“Anthony is his father.”
Silence.
Dominic’s eyes narrowed.
“Everyone knows that.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“No.”
“Anthony has one son. Vincent.”
“No, Dominic.”
Rebecca leaned forward.
“Anthony has two.”
Camila felt a warning move through her.
Dominic’s voice dropped.
“Who is the second?”
Rebecca looked directly at him.
“You.”
Dominic didn’t blink.
Rebecca continued before either could respond.
“Carlo Moretti wasn’t your biological father.”
May you like
Dominic stared.
“You’re Anthony’s son.”
