Chapter 3
Sylvia was discharged after midnight.
She did not return to the condo she shared with Trent.
Alessio offered his Lincoln Park home.
She chose a hotel suite instead.
“I need one place that isn’t yours or his.”
The answer stung.
Alessio respected it.
By morning, Caroline had arranged for an outside forensic accounting firm to preserve the club’s financial records.
Trent’s access to Moretti systems was suspended.
Raymond’s company remained operational temporarily because nearly seventy guards across several properties worked under active contracts.
Firing everyone overnight would create a security problem larger than the one they were investigating.
Alessio hated that practicality required patience.
Trent’s lawyer called before breakfast.
Trent intended to file an assault complaint.
“So let him,” Alessio said.
Caroline stared at him.
“You understand ‘I was angry’ is not a legal defense.”
“He attacked me.”
“And Raymond?”
Alessio said nothing.
He had shoved Raymond after the older man grabbed his shoulder.
Caroline pointed at him.
“That silence right there? Keep practicing it.”
Sylvia’s evidence created a different problem.
Twenty-one questionable payments carried her electronic approval.
Some were large.
Nearly $640,000 in total.
“I didn’t approve those,” Sylvia said.
“Somebody used your credentials?”
“Maybe.”
Caroline shook her head.
“We don’t build a case out of maybe.”
The accountants pulled access logs.
Several approvals occurred while Sylvia was traveling.
That helped.
Others occurred while she was home.
That did not.
Then Caroline found the first one.
Eighteen months earlier.
A $40,000 emergency vendor advance.
Sylvia had definitely authorized it herself.
Alessio stared across the table.
“Tell me why.”
Sylvia twisted her wedding ring.
“Raymond’s company was about to miss payroll.”
“So?”
“Trent said eighty families would go without checks.”
“That company belongs to Raymond.”
“I know.”
“You used Moretti money without telling me.”
“I thought it would be repaid in two weeks.”
“Was it?”
“Yes.”
That surprised him.
Sylvia continued.
“The first time.”
Alessio sat back.
“What happened the second time?”
“I said no.”
May you like
She looked toward her injured arm.
“Trent learned I was harder to control when I stopped feeling guilty.”
