Chapter 15 - The Dinner Party
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Santino tossed the thick manila folder onto the center of his desk.
“Open it,” he commanded softly.
Emily approached the desk, her hands trembling violently. She had spent three years searching for answers, and now, the truth was lying right in front of her. She reached out and flipped open the cardboard cover.
Staring back at her was an eight-by-ten photograph of her brother, Tommy.
Tears instantly blurred her vision. She touched the glossy paper, a choked sob escaping her throat. Beneath the photo were pages of financial records, police reports, and surveillance logs.
“You knew,” Emily whispered, her voice breaking. “You knew who I was the whole time.”
“I run a criminal empire, Emily,” Santino said gently. “Do you really think I let a random girl who saved my life become my personal secretary without running a complete, microscopic background check on her? I knew your real name was Emily Miller. I knew Tommy was your brother. I knew you took a job at the laundromat because it was owned by a man who occasionally washed cash for my lower-level soldiers.”
“Did you kill him?” Emily asked, looking up, her eyes blazing with a mixture of grief and sudden, fierce anger. “Did you order his death?”
“No,” Santino replied, his gaze unwavering. “I did not.”
He pointed to a specific ledger page in the folder.
“Three years ago, Tommy was driving a delivery truck for a front company managed by Victoria. He was a good kid, but he was observant. He noticed that Victoria was skimming money off the top of the shipments to fund her lavish lifestyle in Europe.”
Emily read the highlighted text. It detailed thousands of dollars going missing on Tommy's specific routes.
“Tommy confronted her,” Santino continued, his voice heavy with regret. “He told her he was going to come to me and report the theft. Victoria couldn't allow that. She ordered Rafe to handle it.”
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Emily collapsed into the leather chair, covering her face with her hands as the agonizing truth finally washed over her. It wasn't Santino. It was the sister.
“They killed him in Warehouse Four,” Santino said quietly. “They buried him in the foundation before the concrete was poured. That is why I sealed the warehouse three years ago. I suspected Victoria had done something terrible, but I lacked the definitive proof to move against my own blood. Until tonight.”
