Chapter 5
Vanessa did not deny the approvals.
She sat across from Raffaele in the private library after the children were taken upstairs.
Grant remained with counsel in another room.
Rain had started outside.
The windows darkened.
Raffaele turned each page slowly.
His breathing remained controlled.
“You approved six hundred eighty thousand dollars.”
“Yes.”
“For equipment worth one-third of that.”
“I didn't know the final warehouse value.”
“Did you inspect anything?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Vanessa’s eyes hardened.
“Because Grant is my brother.”
Raffaele leaned back.
There it was.
Simple.
Ugly.
Human.
“You trusted him.”
“Yes.”
“More than you trusted the system.”
Her mouth tightened.
“You’ve done worse for your family.”
Raffaele said nothing.
She was right.
That did not make her innocent.
Vanessa continued.
“Grant’s company was struggling. This contract kept forty people employed.”
“You’re telling me charity money was used to rescue his business.”
“I’m telling you I believed he was supplying what he invoiced.”
Raffaele watched her eyes.
She was telling part of the truth.
Not all.
He could feel it.
“What happened after Luca died?”
Her breathing changed again.
“Nothing.”
Raffaele’s hand stopped on the page.
One word.
Too fast.
He leaned forward.
“What did Grant tell you?”
Vanessa’s gaze moved toward the rain.
“He said the helmet manufacturer had changed materials.”
“When?”
“After the crash.”
“And?”
“He said it didn't matter.”
Raffaele’s voice lowered.
“Did anyone recall the batch?”
Vanessa did not answer.
Raffaele waited.
The clock became audible.
Finally she whispered:
“There was a notice.”
His fingers closed around the edge of the document.
“What notice?”
“A supplier advisory.”
“When?”
Vanessa looked at him.
“Two days after Luca died.”
Raffaele exhaled slowly.
Grant had known enough after the crash for a warning to exist.
Vanessa had received it.
Neither told him.
Then the accountant knocked again.
Raffaele opened the door.
A second financial trail had been found.
The missing $450,000 had not gone to Grant personally.
It had been transferred through three companies and used to quietly replace thousands of pieces of safety equipment after Luca’s death.
Raffaele looked at Vanessa.
May you like
She had not simply been overpaying her brother.
She had been funding a hidden cleanup.
