Chapter 7 - THE IMPERIAL VAULT
The heavy double doors of Adrian’s private office were shut and locked from the inside by Marcus. The four other lieutenants had been ordered to wait in the adjacent sitting room under heavy guard, leaving only Adrian, Marcus, Elena, Mia, and the sweating, trembling figure of Dominic inside the timber-paneled room.
The atmosphere was suffocating.
Adrian sat back down behind his massive mahogany desk, placing both brass keys side by side on the dark leather blotter. The first key—stamped 417—lay dark and tarnished. The second key—filigreed pale brass—gleamed brightly beneath the desk lamp.
Dominic stood near the center of the carpet, flanked on both sides by Marcus and another armed security officer who had stepped in from the side door.
"Thirty years ago," Adrian began, his gravelly voice low and rhythmic as he stared at the filigree key, "my father told me a story about a secondary vault hidden beneath the old docks in Brooklyn. A vault that contained the names of every man who had ever taken money from our enemies while sitting at our dinner table."
Dominic’s knees shook slightly, his dark suit trousers trembling against his shoes.
"My father lost the master key during the seventy-nine war," Adrian continued, lifting his dark eyes to lock onto Dominic. "He believed it was destroyed in the fire at the warehouse. But it wasn't destroyed, was it, Dominic?"
Dominic kept his mouth clamped shut, his jaw trembling.
"Answer him," Marcus growled, stepping an inch closer, his massive shoulder brushing against Dominic’s coat.
"It was never lost!" Elena suddenly blurted out from the corner of the room.
Everyone turned to look at the housekeeper.
Elena was standing near the drapes, holding Mia tightly against her chest. Tears were streaming down her pale cheeks, but her voice carried a desperate, sudden strength born of sheer survival.
"Tell him the truth, Dominic!" Elena cried out, her eyes fixed on the graying lieutenant. "Tell him before he thinks my husband was involved!"
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Adrian’s gaze snapped back to Elena, his eyebrows knitting together. "Your husband? Marco Rossi?"
"Marco didn't hide those keys!" Elena sobbed, pressing her face into Mia’s curly hair. "My husband was killed three years ago because he found out who brought that filigree key into this house! He died protecting your family, Mr. Moretti! And that man..." She pointed a trembling finger directly at Dominic. "...that man was the one who paid him to keep quiet!"
