Chapter 7
Miriam finally told Alessia the part she had withheld.
Three days before the gala, she confronted Garrett in his office with copies of the suspicious invoices.
She told him she intended to bring them directly to Alessia after the event if he could not explain them.
“What did he say?”
Miriam hesitated.
“He asked whether I enjoyed interfering in your marriage.”
Alessia’s face hardened.
“And?”
“I told him numbers don’t become marital because your husband stole them.”
Naomi covered a smile with her hand.
Alessia did not.
“What happened next?”
“He told me people had spent years overlooking how embarrassing I was because you loved me.”
Miriam’s eyes dropped.
“He said after enough public embarrassment, even you would eventually stop bringing me into important rooms.”
Alessia felt something inside her break cleanly.
Not because Garrett insulted Miriam.
Because Miriam had heard it and still protected Alessia from knowing.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were happy.”
“No.”
“I thought you were.”
Miriam’s voice softened.
“And I didn’t want every problem between your husband and me to become a loyalty test.”
Alessia sat beside her.
“It already was.”
They stayed quiet for a moment.
Then Naomi received a message from the forensic accountant.
More records had arrived from Garrett’s private event venture.
The company had a major loan payment due twelve days after the gala.
If the payment failed, lenders could begin pursuing guarantees.
The money Garrett had diverted was not enough.
He needed access to another large block of foundation cash—or he needed time to cover the missing transfers before a full audit.
“He was running out of runway,” Naomi said.
Alessia looked at the calendar.
“Twelve days.”
Garrett’s requested emergency business authority in the separation filing would have placed him inside operational systems during almost exactly that period.
Miriam looked at her daughter.
“You think he wanted temporary control.”
“Yes.”
“To take more money?”
“Maybe.”
Alessia shook her head.
“Or to erase what he already did.”
Naomi closed the file.
“Then your next decision matters.”
Alessia understood.
She could fight publicly to retain every position.
That would satisfy the Carbone family.
It would also keep the entire case inside a struggle between husband and wife.
May you like
Or she could do something nobody expected a Mafia boss to do.
Give up control before anyone forced her to.
