Chapter 3 - The Empire Clara Never Saw
By sunrise, the Bennett brothers were in custody.
Walter was being questioned.
Their businesses were collapsing.
But none of that mattered when Clara finally asked me the question I had avoided throughout our marriage.
“Who are you really?”
We were alone.
I sat beside her bed.
“My name is still Adrian.”
“Don’t.”
I nodded.
Fair.
“My father built an organization controlling shipping routes along the eastern seaboard. When he died, I inherited part of it.”
“Part?”
“I took the rest.”
Clara stared at me.
“Casinos?”
“Yes.”
“Nightclubs?”
“Yes.”
“Ports?”
“Yes.”
“Security companies?”
“Several.”
“How many people work for you?”
“Legitimately?”
“Adrian.”
“Thousands.”
She closed her eyes.
“You lied to me.”
“I hid things.”
“That is lying with better tailoring.”
Despite everything, I almost smiled.
“You’re right.”
“Why?”
“Because when we met, you were the first person in twenty years who spoke to me without wanting something.”
“I wanted you to stop stealing my parking spot.”
“That was deeply important to you.”
“You parked a Lamborghini across two spaces.”
“I’ve matured.”
“You bought the parking lot.”
“It solved the problem.”
She stared at me.
Then her expression became serious again.
“Did you ever hurt people?”
I didn’t insult her with a lie.
“Yes.”
Her eyes filled with disappointment.
“But I have spent years moving the organization away from that world.”
“Why?”
“You.”
Clara looked away.
“And now?”
“Now your family goes through the courts.”
She looked back.
“Really?”
“Really.”
A knock interrupted us.
Detective Collins entered.
“Mrs. Moretti?”
Clara tensed.
“I need your statement when you’re ready.”
“I’m ready.”
I stood.
“I’ll leave.”
Clara grabbed my wrist.
“Stay.”
Collins pulled up a chair.
“What happened yesterday?”
Clara swallowed.
“My father called me.”
“What did he want?”
“Money.”
“How much?”
“Two million dollars.”
I stared at her.
“You never told me.”
“I was going to.”
“When?”
“After I told him no.”
Collins continued.
“Then what happened?”
“He asked me to come to the old Bennett warehouse.”
“Why did you go?”
“My youngest brother, Evan, texted me. He said Dad was threatening him.”
“Was that true?”
Clara shook her head.
“It was a trap.”
My jaw tightened.
“When I arrived, all eight brothers were there.”
Collins asked gently, “Did anyone attempt to leave?”
“Evan did.”
I looked at her.
“Evan?”
“He tried to stop them.”
“That’s not what you said earlier.”
“I said my family attacked me. I was barely conscious.”
“What happened to Evan?”
“My father ordered two of my brothers to hold him back.”
Collins wrote something.
“So eight attacked you?”
Clara shook her head.
“Seven brothers and my father.”
That changed the count.
I stood.
“Where is Evan now?”
Collins looked at me.
“He’s in custody with the others.”
“Get him separated immediately.”
“Why?”
“Because Walter will blame him.”
Clara whispered, “Adrian.”
I looked at her.
“Find him.”
I walked into the hallway and called my consigliere, Vincent.
He answered immediately.
“Boss.”
“Evan Bennett.”
“The youngest?”
“Yes. Nobody touches him. Nobody threatens him. Nothing happens to anything he owns.”
Vincent paused.
“Understood.”
“And Vincent?”
“Yes?”
“We do this legally.”
Another pause.
That instruction was unusual enough that he understood exactly why I was saying it.
“For Mrs. Moretti?”
May you like
I looked through the glass at Clara.
“For us.”
