Chapter 2 - THE MAFIA BOSS DISCOVERED HIS MISTRESS HAD BEEN LYING FOR YEARS—BUT HIS WIFE'S SECRET INVESTIGATION REVEALED A BETRAYAL FAR WORSE THAN AN AFFAIR
At 6:12 the next morning, Damian Volkov learned that money could disappear faster than loyalty.
He stood inside his study staring at three computer screens.
Thirty-six million dollars had moved through a network of holding companies overnight.
Two warehouses were inaccessible.
Four executives had resigned.
And Pierce Lamont, the man Damian had trusted with financial operations for twelve years, had stopped answering his phone.
Celeste Vaughn sat across from him.
Her hands were folded neatly in her lap.
The gold bracelet lay between them.
Damian stared at it.
"Who are you?"
Celeste smiled faintly.
"You already know."
"No."
He leaned forward.
"I know the woman who told me she was twenty-nine, worked in art consulting, and had never been involved with my family before last year."
Celeste looked toward the windows.
"People change."
"Not their entire histories."
She said nothing.
Damian pushed a photograph across the desk.
It showed Celeste entering a restricted financial office three nights earlier.
Her face changed.
"Where did you get that?"
"Vivien's evidence."
Celeste laughed.
"So you finally opened it."
Damian's jaw tightened.
"Answer me."
She leaned back.
"Pierce said you were predictable."
Damian went still.
"What?"
"He said you were brilliant with threats and terrible with people."
She smiled.
"He was right."
Damian felt rage rising.
But beneath it was something worse.
Recognition.
Vivien had warned him about Pierce for months.
She had questioned his financial reports.
His unexplained meetings.
His growing influence.
Damian had dismissed every concern.
Now Pierce was missing.
And Celeste was sitting in his study as if the entire situation amused her.
"Where is Pierce?"
Celeste shrugged.
"Somewhere you can't reach."
Damian stood.
"You're going to tell me everything."
Celeste looked up.
"Or what?"
Silence.
She smiled.
"You're going to threaten me? Lock me in a room? Send men after Pierce?"
Damian stared.
Celeste continued.
"That's what everyone expects from you."
He took a slow breath.
Then reached for his phone.
He called his attorney.
"Get federal investigators here. I have evidence of fraud, financial theft, and an attempted murder conspiracy."
Celeste's smile disappeared.
Damian watched her.
For the first time, she looked genuinely frightened.
"You're involving the authorities?"
"Yes."
"You'll expose your own businesses."
"Then they'll be exposed."
Celeste stared.
"You've changed."
Damian looked at the bracelet.
"No."
He swallowed.
"I'm starting to understand how much I need to."
Meanwhile, Vivien sat in her hospital room reading Garrett's report.
Marcus stood near the door.
He had refused to leave her unprotected.
She had agreed to independent security arrangements, but only after reviewing the plan herself.
"Anything from Damian?" Marcus asked.
Vivien nodded.
"Six messages."
"Did you answer?"
"No."
Marcus studied her.
"Do you want me to tell him you're safe?"
Vivien considered.
"Tell him I'm receiving medical care and that I don't want visitors."
Marcus nodded.
"Understood."
She looked back at the report.
Helena Voss.
Elena Voss.
Celeste Vaughn.
Pierce Lamont.
And Damian.
The names formed a puzzle with missing pieces.
Vivien turned another page.
Then stopped.
There was a financial statement from eleven years earlier.
A company called Voss Maritime had received a substantial investment from Salvatore Volkov, Damian's father.
Three months later, Voss Maritime collapsed.
Helena Voss disappeared from public records.
And an insurance settlement was paid to a trust controlled by Pierce Lamont's former employer.
Vivien frowned.
"Marcus."
He approached.
"Yes?"
"Did Damian ever mention a company called Voss Maritime?"
Marcus shook his head.
"No."
"Did his father?"
"I wasn't working for the family then."
Vivien nodded.
She called Garrett.
"Find out who handled the insurance settlement."
"I'm working on it."
"Garrett."
"Yes?"
"There's something else."
She looked at the photograph again.
"Damian was there."
Garrett went silent.
"At the meeting eleven years ago."
"I know."
"Why didn't he tell me?"
Garrett hesitated.
"Maybe he doesn't remember."
Vivien laughed bitterly.
"Damian remembers the license plate of the car that followed him through Brooklyn fourteen years ago."
She looked down.
"He remembers everything."
But Garrett wasn't convinced.
"Vivien, the photograph doesn't prove he knew Celeste."
She frowned.
"She's standing beside him."
"Near him. Not necessarily with him."
Vivien stared at the image.
He was right.
The photograph showed proximity.
Not knowledge.
And after spending months being dismissed without evidence, she refused to make the same mistake.
"Then we verify it."
Garrett agreed.
"I'll locate the original event records."
Vivien ended the call.
For a moment, she sat quietly.
Then Marcus spoke.
"Mrs. Volkov."
She looked up.
"Yes?"
"There's someone downstairs asking to see you."
Her stomach tightened.
"Damian?"
"No."
"Who?"
Marcus hesitated.
"A woman named Elena Lamont."
Vivien froze.
"Elena?"
He nodded.
"She says she knows who Celeste really is."
Vivien stood.
Pain shot through her ribs.
Marcus moved forward.
"Careful."
She steadied herself.
"Bring her up."
Five minutes later, a woman entered the room.
She was thin, pale, and visibly exhausted.
Her dark hair was tied loosely behind her head.
A faint scar crossed her left eyebrow.
Vivien recognized her immediately.
The woman in the photograph.
Helena Voss.
The woman supposedly dead for eleven years.
Vivien stared.
"You're Helena."
The woman shook her head.
"No."
Vivien frowned.
"Then who are you?"
The woman swallowed.
"I'm Elena."
Silence.
Vivien looked toward Marcus.
Then back at the woman.
"Elena Voss?"
She nodded.
"Pierce Lamont's wife."
Vivien's heart began pounding.
"Where have you been?"
Elena looked down.
"Trying to stay alive."
She sat slowly.
"Eleven years ago, my sister Helena discovered that Voss Maritime was being used to move money through false shipping contracts."
Vivien listened.
"She confronted our father."
Elena swallowed.
"He told her to stay quiet."
"What happened?"
"She refused."
Elena's eyes filled.
"Three weeks later, her boat was found abandoned."
Vivien felt cold.
"Was she killed?"
Elena shook her head.
"I don't know."
"Then why was she declared dead?"
"Because someone needed her identity removed."
Vivien leaned forward.
"Who?"
Elena looked toward the door.
Then whispered:
"Pierce Lamont."
The room became silent.
Elena continued.
"Pierce married me because he thought I knew where Helena hid the original financial records."
Vivien stared.
"Did you?"
"No."
"Then why disappear?"
Elena's eyes filled.
"Because when he realized I didn't have them, he tried to make me disappear permanently."
Marcus's expression hardened.
Elena continued.
"I escaped with help from a woman who worked for Voss Maritime."
Vivien swallowed.
"Who?"
Elena hesitated.
Then whispered:
"Celeste Vaughn."
Vivien stared.
"What?"
Elena nodded.
"Celeste helped me escape."
The room tilted.
Vivien had spent months believing Celeste was Pierce's accomplice.
Now Elena was telling her something different.
"Why would Celeste help you?"
Elena looked down.
"Because Celeste was Helena's closest friend."
Vivien felt her pulse quicken.
"Then why is she working with Pierce?"
Elena's expression changed.
"Because he has something she wants."
"What?"
Elena swallowed.
"Proof that Helena is still alive."
Vivien went still.
"Alive?"
Elena nodded.
"Pierce has been using that possibility to control Celeste for years."
Vivien stared at her.
"Then Celeste isn't simply stealing Damian's money."
Elena shook her head.
"No."
"She's trying to find Helena."
Elena nodded.
"But Pierce has convinced her that Damian's family destroyed Voss Maritime."
Vivien closed her eyes.
Everything was more complicated than she had imagined.
Celeste had betrayed Damian.
She had helped manipulate him.
She had concealed financial crimes.
But she might also have been manipulated herself.
That did not excuse what she had done.
It changed the questions Vivien needed to ask.
"Why come to me?" Vivien asked.
Elena looked directly at her.
"Because Pierce made one mistake."
"What?"
"He underestimated you."
Vivien said nothing.
Elena continued.
"He thought Damian would dismiss your warnings."
"He did."
Elena nodded sadly.
"But Pierce didn't expect you to survive the ambush."
Vivien's stomach tightened.
Elena reached into her bag.
She removed a small envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed Helena Voss standing beside a waterfront warehouse.
The photograph was dated six months earlier.
Vivien stared.
"She's alive."
Elena nodded.
"Yes."
"Where is she?"
Elena looked frightened.
"Pierce moved her."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
Vivien closed her eyes.
Then looked at the photograph again.
A warehouse.
A shipping company.
A woman who had been declared dead.
A financial conspiracy that stretched back eleven years.
And Damian's empire was now trapped inside it.
Vivien took a breath.
"We need independent investigators."
Elena nodded.
"I know."
"And we need to preserve everything."
"Yes."
Vivien looked toward Marcus.
"Call Garrett. Tell him we have a witness."
Marcus nodded.
Then his phone vibrated.
He glanced down.
His expression changed.
"What?" Vivien asked.
Marcus looked at her.
"Pierce Lamont has been found."
Vivien stood.
"Where?"
Marcus swallowed.
"At the old Voss Maritime terminal."
Vivien's heart began pounding.
"And?"
Marcus looked up.
"He's holding someone there."
A pause.
Then:
"Damian."
Vivien froze.
Her husband.
The man who had betrayed her.
The man who had refused to believe her.
The man she still loved despite everything.
Marcus continued.
"Pierce sent a message."
Vivien swallowed.
"What does it say?"
Marcus turned the phone toward her.
The message contained a photograph.
Damian sat in a chair inside a warehouse.
His hands were restrained.
Blood stained the collar of his shirt.
Underneath were seven words.
BRING VIVIEN HAIL OR HE DOESN'T LEAVE.
Vivien stared at the screen.
For a long moment, nobody spoke.
Then she looked at Marcus.
"Call the police."
He nodded.
"And Vivien?"
She took a breath.
"Tell them I'm willing to cooperate."
Elena looked frightened.
"You're not going there."
Vivien stared at the photograph.
"I won't walk into a trap."
She looked toward Marcus.
"But I am going to help bring him home."
May you like
Because despite everything Damian had done, Vivien refused to become the kind of person who abandoned someone simply because they had hurt her.
And somewhere inside that warehouse, Damian Volkov was about to learn that the woman he had dismissed was still the strongest person he had ever known.
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