Chapter 5
Lucia suspended Dominic’s access to the Ferraro family office.
He did not argue.
“Temporary?” he asked.
“That depends.”
“On Celina?”
“No.”
Lucia looked directly at him.
“On you.”
He flinched.
“You think I helped her.”
“I think you handed your wife documents belonging to Mom because checking what she was doing felt like an insult to your marriage.”
Dominic looked down.
“That is not the same as helping her mortgage the building.”
“No.”
Lucia’s voice softened slightly.
“But enablers always want credit for not being the person who did the worst thing.”
Rosa looked at her daughter.
That sentence landed on more than Dominic.
The Ferraro family had spent decades forgiving dangerous behavior because someone else had behaved worse.
Lucia was trying to stop that.
Dominic surrendered passwords.
Family-office cards.
Vendor authority.
He also hired his own lawyer.
Not because Lucia told him to.
Because he realized Celina may have used his identity too.
The review found three questionable documents bearing Dominic’s electronic signature.
One approved the birthday contracts.
Real.
One authorized Celina to negotiate short-term event financing.
Dominic admitted signing it.
The third stated he had reviewed and approved the use of Rosa’s Kitchen as security.
He had not.
The signature was copied from the second document.
The metadata showed the PDF had been assembled on Celina’s laptop.
Dominic stared at it.
“She used my signature.”
Rebecca corrected him.
“She appears to have copied it. A forensic examiner will determine exactly what happened.”
Dominic looked toward Rosa.
“I’m sorry.”
Rosa answered:
“Not yet.”
He frowned.
“Not yet what?”
“Don’t apologize because you’re frightened.”
She removed her bandage and examined the healing burns.
“Figure out what you’re apologizing for.”
Dominic went quiet.
That evening, Lucia reviewed Celina’s financial history with Marco.
Celina did not appear desperate.
She had her own investment accounts.
Dominic earned well.
No hidden gambling debt.
No catastrophic medical bills.
No secret child.
Nothing that explained risking prison for a half-million-dollar loan.
Then Marco found a new company:
Celia Luxe Hospitality Advisors LLC.
Created six months earlier.
Sole owner:
Celina Ferraro.
No public clients.
No employees.
One consulting agreement.
Harborstone Development.
The agreement itself was not yet available.
But the payment schedule was.
Celina would receive a $75,000 “site advisory fee” upon completion of an undisclosed property assembly.
Lucia stared.
“How much did she already receive?”
“Twenty-five thousand.”
“When?”
“Two weeks after the restaurant appraisal.”
May you like
The money did not yet prove which site.
But Lucia no longer believed coincidence was doing this much work.
