Chapter 4 - The Betrayal at Belladonna
The next morning, Dominic received a message from Victor Calder.
A photograph of my apartment door.
Beneath it were six words.
SEND THE WAITRESS BACK TO WORK.
Dominic showed it to Marco but tried to hide it from me.
I took the phone from his hand.
“He wants me at Belladonna.”
“You are not going.”
“He already knows I found something.”
“He suspects.”
“And hiding me confirms it.”
Dominic took the phone back.
“No.”
“If I return as though nothing happened, he may reveal who inside the restaurant is reporting to him.”
“You are asking me to use you as bait.”
“I’m offering to help end this before Ava and I spend the rest of our lives hiding in your guest room.”
Dominic stared at me.
Marco spoke carefully.
“She has a point.”
Dominic turned toward him.
“Are you volunteering to explain to her daughter if something happens?”
Marco went silent.
I stepped between them.
“Nothing happens without precautions. Ava stays here with Nora. Marco watches me. You control every entrance.”
“No.”
“You said everyone has a choice,” I reminded him. “This is mine.”
His eyes darkened.
“That was a cruel use of my own words.”
“It was an effective one.”
By noon, Belladonna looked normal again.
Customers arrived. Wine glasses glittered under the chandeliers. A pianist played near the bar.
But nothing felt normal.
Security had doubled. Dominic watched from a private booth. Marco stood near the kitchen entrance pretending to review reservations.
I returned to Leonard’s old office and left the door open.
At 2:15 p.m., Anthony Moretti arrived.
He was Dominic’s cousin, a handsome man in an expensive gray suit with a smile that never touched his eyes.
“So you’re the waitress,” he said.
“I’m the office coordinator.”
“Of course.”
He looked around the office.
“Quite a promotion.”
“I work quickly.”
“So I’ve heard.”
Anthony placed a hand on the back of my chair.
I moved away.
“Can I help you?”
“I need copies of last month’s vendor invoices.”
“Dominic froze access to those files.”
“I’m his partner.”
“Then he can authorize it.”
Anthony’s smile disappeared.
“You don’t understand how this family operates.”
“I understand written authorization.”
His fingers tightened around the chair.
“You found something you weren’t supposed to find.”
My heartbeat accelerated.
“What did I find?”
He leaned closer.
“A woman in your position should learn when to stop asking questions.”
Marco appeared in the doorway.
“Mr. Moretti wants to see you,” he told Anthony.
Anthony straightened.
“Which Mr. Moretti?”
“The one whose name is on the building.”
Anthony left without another word.
I exhaled.
“That felt like a confession,” I whispered.
“It wasn’t enough.”
“What would be enough?”
“A recording.”
At 6:30, the dinner crowd reached its peak.
I was reviewing employee schedules when the fire alarm sounded.
Customers rose in confusion.
Kitchen staff shouted.
Sprinklers did not activate.
Marco entered my office immediately.
“Stay with me.”
The lights went out.
The hallway disappeared into darkness.
Someone grabbed my arm.
I twisted away and screamed.
Marco slammed the attacker against the wall.
Emergency lights flickered on.
The man wore a waiter’s uniform, but I had never seen him before. A knife lay on the floor near his hand.
Marco struck him once and forced him down.
“Who sent you?” Marco demanded.
The man laughed.
Then a gunshot echoed from the dining room.
Marco pushed me behind the desk.
“Stay down.”
He ran toward the sound.
I should have remained where I was.
Instead, I noticed the office safe standing open.
A folder was missing.
The evidence.
I hurried into the hallway.
Anthony was moving toward the rear exit with the folder beneath his jacket.
“Anthony!”
He froze.
I held up my phone and pressed record.
“Where are you going?”
“Get out of my way.”
“You created Calder Imports.”
His face changed.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You approved the invoices. Leonard manipulated employee payroll so no one would notice the missing money.”
Anthony stepped toward me.
“You should have stayed a waitress.”
“You sold access to the private rooms.”
“I saved this family.”
“By stealing from it?”
“Dominic is destroying everything his father built. No gambling. No private collections. No political favors. He thinks he can turn us into respectable businessmen.”
“You wanted the criminal operation back.”
“I wanted power.”
A shadow appeared behind him.
Dominic.
Anthony saw my eyes shift and turned.
Dominic stood ten feet away with Marco and two guards.
His face was expressionless.
Anthony reached inside his jacket.
Dominic moved faster.
He crossed the distance, seized Anthony’s wrist and slammed him against the wall. The folder fell.
A gun clattered across the floor.
Marco kicked it away.
Dominic held his cousin by the collar.
“You brought armed men into my restaurant,” Dominic said.
Anthony struggled.
“You chose a waitress over your own blood.”
“I chose innocent people over a traitor.”
“She’s made you weak.”
Dominic glanced at me.
“No,” he said. “She made me pay attention.”
Police sirens approached outside.
Anthony laughed bitterly.
“You’re calling the police now?”
“Not the officers Calder owns.”
Two federal agents entered through the hallway.
Anthony’s face went white.
Dominic released him.
The agents handcuffed Anthony and recovered the folder.
As they led him away, Anthony turned toward me.
“Calder will kill you for this.”
Dominic stepped between us.
“He will have to go through me.”
May you like
Anthony smiled.
“That’s exactly what he wants.”
