Chapter 2
Dante called Claire Benton before sunset.
Claire had represented his legitimate companies for twelve years and his personal estate for nearly as long.
She was one of the few people who could tell Dante he was wrong without adjusting her tone first.
She arrived with a forensic accountant and a title attorney.
Dante handed them the lender notice.
Claire read it twice.
“Could this be fake?”
“Yes.”
“Could it be real?”
“That’s why you’re here.”
By eight that evening, they had an answer.
The loan was real.
The lender was real.
The lien against the lake property was real.
The problem was the authorization.
Documents on file showed Dante Romano approving the transaction as manager of the property-holding LLC.
His signature appeared on three pages.
A notarial acknowledgment appeared on one.
Dante stared at it.
“I did not sign this.”
Claire nodded.
“I believe you.”
“That sentence sounds temporary.”
“It is.”
He gave her a look.
She continued.
“We verify. We do not decide because you’re angry.”
The notarization had been performed remotely.
The notary worked for a service company frequently used by Romano Holdings.
That made fraud easier than it should have been.
Dante’s identity documents had already existed in their system from legitimate prior transactions.
Claire tapped the signature page.
“If somebody had access to one of your authenticated digital signature packets, they could build something convincing.”
“Who?”
“Family office. Legal. Certain executives.”
“Javier?”
“Yes.”
“Clara?”
“Not officially.”
That word mattered.
Officially.
Dante looked toward the residence.
Clara had lived in the estate for fourteen months.
She had access to household files.
Wedding planning had required financial disclosures, estate documents, insurance records, and certified identification.
She had seen more paperwork than most outsiders ever would.
Still, access was not guilt.
Claire asked, “Where did the loan proceeds go?”
The accountant answered several hours later.
The lender funded $4.6 million.
Almost the entire amount moved into an account controlled by Romano Development Partners.
Javier owned forty percent.
The remaining sixty belonged to Romano Holdings.
Dante stared at the statement.
Javier had been struggling with a waterfront development in Wisconsin for more than a year.
Dante knew there were delays.
He did not know they were this severe.
Claire said, “At first glance, this looks bad for Javier.”
“Very.”
“But?”
“Money destination is not the same as document origin.”
Dante leaned back.
Again with the careful language.
He was beginning to understand why people hated competent lawyers.
Then Claire pointed to the funding date.
“Where were you?”
Dante checked his calendar.
Miami.
A hotel acquisition.
Three days.
Javier had been in Chicago.
Clara had been at the estate with Leo and Mia.
Dante remembered calling home that evening.
Clara had answered from his study.
She said she was working on wedding guest lists.
The memory meant nothing by itself.
But it stayed with him.
When Dante returned upstairs, Leo was still awake.
Mia had fallen asleep beside him.
Leo looked toward the door.
“Is Javier gone?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because adults are figuring out what happened.”
Leo nodded.
Then asked, “Am I in trouble for taking the letter?”
Dante stared at his son.
“No.”
“He said it was stealing.”
“You found something on the ground.”
“He said family business wasn’t for kids.”
Dante sat beside him.
“Javier doesn’t get to decide whether you deserve to be hurt.”
Leo was quiet.
Then he said, “Clara told him not to do it.”
Dante’s attention sharpened.
“At the barbecue?”
“No.”
“Before.”
Leo looked toward sleeping Mia.
“When they were arguing behind the pool house.”
That did not fit the simple theory.
May you like
If Clara and Javier were partners protecting the same secret, why had Clara been telling him to stop?
And stop what?
