Chapter 5
Marcus’s arrogance returned in self-defense.
“Cross Strategic has hundreds of contracts.”
Dominic did not answer.
Marcus straightened his jacket.
“Elena could have been asking about anything.”
Vivienne looked at him.
For the first time, she looked unconvinced.
Dominic noticed.
“What did your company do with Elena?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why did she consult counsel about you?”
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
“I don't know.”
Dominic waited.
Silence pressed against him.
Marcus looked away first.
Dominic turned to his attorney.
“Find the transactions.”
It took the rest of the night.
Cross Strategic Holdings had provided security logistics, transport coordination, and event staffing for several Ravello-controlled charities.
Nothing unusual.
Until the numbers were compared.
Certain invoices doubled.
Then tripled.
Equipment billed twice.
Contractors who did not exist.
Vehicles charged to events that never occurred.
The first confirmed irregularity appeared twenty-two months earlier.
The total reached $1.3 million.
Marcus stared at the figures when they were placed in front of him.
“You're calling billing disputes theft now?”
Dominic watched his hands.
Marcus’s left thumb pressed repeatedly into his palm.
Nerves.
“Did Elena discover this?”
“No.”
“Did she question you?”
Marcus looked toward Vivienne.
A mistake.
Dominic saw it.
Vivienne's eyes lowered.
“Yes,” she whispered.
Marcus turned.
“Stop.”
Her breathing quickened.
“She found invoices.”
“Vivienne.”
“She asked me because she knew you were my brother.”
Marcus stepped toward her.
Dominic moved once.
Marcus stopped.
Vivienne looked at Dominic.
“She thought maybe it was accounting error.”
“Was it?”
Her lips trembled.
“No.”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“Oh, now you're innocent?”
Vivienne flinched.
There.
More history.
Dominic watched.
Marcus continued.
“She signed two vendor approvals.”
Dominic looked at her.
Vivienne went pale.
“Why?”
“I didn't know.”
Marcus scoffed.
“You knew they were inflated.”
“Not by how much.”
“So you knew.”
Vivienne’s breathing became rougher.
She pressed both hands together.
The motive began to appear.
Their father had died leaving Cross Strategic buried in debt.
Marcus inherited the company.
Dozens of employees.
Loans personally guaranteed.
A collapsing commercial real-estate portfolio.
He began overbilling Ravello-connected organizations to stabilize cash flow.
At first, small amounts.
He told himself it was temporary.
Vivienne helped approve two invoices because she believed keeping the company alive protected hundreds of jobs and their mother’s remaining assets.
Then the amounts grew.
Elena found the pattern.
Dominic stared at Marcus.
“You stole from my charities to save your business.”
Marcus’s eyes hardened.
“I moved money from a family that could absorb it to a company that couldn't.”
Dominic’s voice lowered.
“You decided what other people could afford to lose.”
Marcus said nothing.
Then Vivienne whispered:
“Elena was going to tell you.”
Dominic turned.
“When?”
“The week she died.”
Marcus looked at her sharply.
Vivienne continued anyway.
“She gave me the red envelope because she wanted me to take it to you if she lost her nerve.”
Dominic’s chest tightened.
“You destroyed it.”
Her eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Vivienne’s gaze dropped to the ring.
“Because the letter wasn't only about Marcus.”
Dominic waited.
May you like
She slowly raised her eyes.
“It was about you too.”
