Chapter 5 - The Moretti Secret
Anthony Moretti had been dead for seven years.
That was the first thing Michael said.
Aurora stared at the document.
“Then how can investigators question him?”
“They can't.”
Michael's uncle had helped run the Moretti family's legitimate businesses decades earlier.
According to Michael, Anthony had also been ambitious, violent, and obsessed with expanding into operations Michael's father refused to touch.
Stolen pharmaceuticals.
Human trafficking.
Anything profitable.
“My father forced him out,” Michael explained.
“When?”
“Eleven years ago.”
Aurora understood.
“The year my father died.”
“Yes.”
The evidence suggested Daniel Bennett discovered Anthony Moretti's operation and threatened to expose it.
Victor Hale helped cover the financial trail.
Regina revealed where Daniel stored evidence.
And Anthony arranged what was supposed to look like an accident.
Aurora sat silently.
Her father hadn't died because of weather.
Someone had decided his life was inconvenient.
Michael looked sick.
“My family did this.”
“Your uncle did.”
“My name protected him.”
“You were what? Twenty-something?”
“Twenty-seven.”
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“Then stop taking responsibility for something you didn't know existed.”
Michael looked at her.
“You make that sound easy.”
“It isn't.”
Aurora understood guilt.
She had spent years wondering whether she could have saved her father by asking him not to drive that night.
Childish guilt.
Impossible guilt.
Still guilt.
“You know what my father used to say?”
Michael waited.
“Being related to someone doesn't make you responsible for their sins.”
Michael's mouth curved faintly.
“He sounds smarter than most people I've known.”
“He was.”
The federal investigation expanded.
Victor Hale agreed to cooperate.
Regina faced charges related to conspiracy, extortion, and Aurora's attempted abduction.
Tony Falcone was arrested after several witnesses came forward.
For the first time in months, Aurora could walk outside without looking over her shoulder every ten seconds.
Yet she remained at Michael's house.
Initially because Zach asked.
Then because Rosa insisted.
Eventually because she stopped pretending she wanted to leave.
She returned to work at Bellarosa.
Michael objected.
Aurora ignored him.
“You have enough money to never work again,” he said.
“Wonderful. You have enough money for both of us.”
He stared.
She tied her apron.
“I like working.”
“At Bellarosa?”
“They make excellent lasagna.”
“Aurora.”
“Michael.”
He sighed.
Zach watched them from the breakfast table.
“You argue like married people.”
Both turned.
Rosa burst out laughing.
Life slowly became something Aurora had forgotten it could be.
Ordinary.
She helped Zach with homework.
Michael cooked on Sundays, badly.
Rosa pretended his pasta was edible.
Aurora did not.
One evening Michael found her sitting beside the pool.
“Can't sleep?”
“Habit.”
He sat beside her.
For a while they said nothing.
Then Aurora asked, “Why haven't you asked me to leave?”
Michael looked toward the water.
“Do you want to?”
“No.”
“Then there's your answer.”
“That isn't an answer.”
He turned toward her.
“I spent four years making this house safe.”
Aurora listened.
“Safe isn't the same as alive.”
His voice softened.
“Zach was happy. My mother was here. But everything felt frozen.”
Aurora's heart began beating faster.
“Then you arrived.”
“I arrived holding a frying pan.”
“That was memorable.”
She smiled.
Michael continued.
“You made Zach laugh differently.”
“Differently?”
“More.”
He looked at her.
“You made my mother start planning dinners again. You argue with my security team. You move furniture without asking.”
“The sofa looked terrible there.”
“It had been there twelve years.”
“Exactly.”
Michael laughed quietly.
Then the humor disappeared.
“And you made me remember that protecting someone isn't the same as living with them.”
Aurora stopped breathing.
“Michael…”
He moved closer.
Slowly.
Giving her every opportunity to pull away.
She didn't.
His fingers touched her cheek.
Aurora closed her eyes.
Their first kiss was nothing like she expected from Michael Moretti.
It wasn't demanding.
It wasn't possessive.
It was careful.
Almost hesitant.
When they separated, Aurora whispered, “Your son is going to be furious.”
Michael frowned.
“Why?”
“I'm technically engaged to him.”
Michael laughed.
Behind them came a gasp.
They turned.
Zach stood at the patio door.
His mouth hung open.
“Dad!”
Michael closed his eyes.
“Oh, no.”
“You kissed my fiancée!”
Aurora covered her face.
Zach marched outside.
“You can't steal someone's fiancée!”
Michael remained completely serious.
“My apologies.”
“You should be.”
Aurora was shaking with laughter.
Zach looked at her.
“Do you like him?”
Aurora glanced at Michael.
“Yes.”
Zach considered this carefully.
Then sighed.
“Okay.”
Michael raised an eyebrow.
“Okay?”
“You can marry her.”
Aurora nearly fell out of her chair.
“But,” Zach added, “I get to be best man.”
Michael nodded solemnly.
“Agreed.”
“And Teddy.”
“Teddy too.”
“Deal.”
Zach extended his hand.
Michael shook it.
Aurora stared at them.
“This family is insane.”
Rosa called from inside.
“We know!”
Aurora laughed until tears came.
She didn't realize at first that she was actually crying.
Michael noticed.
“What?”
Aurora wiped her cheek.
“Nothing.”
He waited.
She looked through the windows.
Rosa.
Zach.
A messy kitchen.
A teddy bear abandoned on the floor.
For years Aurora had thought safety meant locked doors.
Changed phone numbers.
Nobody knowing where she lived.
Now she understood.
Safety could also be people knowing exactly where you were—and choosing to stand beside you.
But their peace lasted only two weeks.
One afternoon Aurora returned from Bellarosa and found Michael waiting in the foyer.
His expression was grim.
“What happened?”
He handed her an envelope.
Inside was an official document.
Her father's warehouse trust.
Someone had challenged her ownership.
Aurora frowned.
“Who?”
Michael handed her another page.
The claimant's name made her blood run cold.
Regina Bennett.
And beneath the filing was an allegation even more disturbing.
Regina claimed Daniel Bennett had secretly changed his will before his death.
If the document was authentic, Aurora didn't own the warehouse.
Worse, it suggested Daniel had intended to leave everything to Regina.
Aurora stared at Michael.
“This is fake.”
Michael didn't answer.
“Michael.”
He finally met her eyes.
“We need to prove it.”
Because Regina Bennett, even from behind bars, had found one final way to reach into Aurora's life.
And this time, she wasn't coming for money.
May you like
She was coming for the last thing Aurora had left of her father.
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