Chapter 9
Raffaele refused to tell Adrian until the auditors confirmed more.
The boy had already lost his father once.
Raffaele would not destroy his memory on a spreadsheet.
The records showed Matteo approved inflated invoices from a motorcycle-parts company connected to Grant.
At first glance, it looked like the theft began with him.
Grant’s attorney seized on it immediately.
His position changed.
Grant was no longer the man who invented the scheme.
He claimed he had inherited an arrangement Matteo created.
Vanessa believed him.
Raffaele did not know what to believe.
The family reacted badly.
Some defended Matteo because he was dead.
Others blamed him because blaming the dead was convenient.
Adrian noticed everyone whispering.
Finally he cornered Raffaele in the garage.
“Was my dad stealing?”
Raffaele hated the question because the truthful answer was not comforting.
“I don’t know.”
“You know something.”
“There are invoices with his approval.”
Adrian stared at the motorcycle lift where Matteo used to work on bikes with him.
“How much?”
“We’re still checking.”
“You thought you could hide it from me?”
“I thought I could confirm it first.”
“That’s hiding it.”
Adrian left before Raffaele could answer.
He did not come to dinner.
He did not sit with Lily.
The next morning, Denise found him asleep on the couch in Matteo’s old workshop office.
Beside him was a cardboard file box.
Raffaele recognized it.
Matteo’s personal racing records.
Adrian had spent half the night searching.
Inside were old receipts, charity schedules, insurance papers, and handwritten notes.
One notebook contained dates matching the suspicious payments.
But beside several invoices Matteo had written:
G.C. reimbursement — hospital.
Another:
Grant covering Claire expenses.
Raffaele read it twice.
Claire.
Lily’s biological mother.
He looked at Adrian.
“What hospital?”
“I don’t know.”
Raffaele did.
During Claire’s pregnancy, there had been complications insurance did not fully cover.
Matteo had helped Raffaele manage bills because Raffaele was spending nights at the hospital.
Grant had apparently paid some expenses.
Why?
Adrian pulled another receipt from the box.
The payment dates aligned almost exactly.
Inflated charity invoices.
Private medical expenses.
Money had been moving between Grant, Matteo, and Raffaele’s household before Vanessa ever joined the family.
The theft was older than Grant’s current debt.
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And suddenly Raffaele was no longer investigating what Vanessa and Grant had done.
He was investigating what his dead brother had hidden from him.
