Chapter 4
Nico did not answer.
Across the lounge, Mila trembled against the couch.
Two hospital security officers stood outside.
One bodyguard had gone after the man in maintenance clothing.
The other remained with Mila.
Nico turned away from his granddaughter.
“What does that mean, Gavin?”
“Mom said Vale needed leverage.”
“Leverage against me.”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
“The company.”
“I understood that part.”
Gavin’s voice shook.
“She said the forged documents would make you look incompetent. Like you’d lost control of the family accounts.”
Nico stared through the glass wall toward the city.
“And the account in Sienna’s name?”
“To make it look like Sienna and I were stealing together.”
Nico almost laughed.
“You agreed to frame your wife?”
“No.”
“No?”
“I didn’t know whose name Mom used until tonight.”
“Do not insult me.”
“I’m not.”
“You knew there was an account.”
“Yes.”
“You knew money was being moved.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my signature was forged.”
“Yes.”
“But the identity of the person being framed was where you suddenly discovered morality?”
Gavin said nothing.
Nico closed his eyes.
His chest hurt.
Not physically.
Something deeper.
Gavin had always been reckless.
Entitled.
Impulsive.
But Nico had believed there was a line his son would never cross.
He was discovering that line had existed only in his imagination.
“Why me?” Nico asked.
“What?”
“You said the real target was me.”
Gavin lowered his voice.
“Mom told Vale you could be forced out if the board believed you were medically compromised.”
Nico frowned.
“I’m not medically compromised.”
“I know.”
“Then?”
Another silence.
“Gavin.”
“They were going to make it look like you were.”
Nico felt cold.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because Mom stopped telling me everything after I started backing out.”
“When did you start backing out?”
“When Sienna got suspicious.”
“Not when you committed fraud.”
“I know how that sounds.”
“It sounds accurate.”
Gavin exhaled.
“Dad, I’m trying to help now.”
“You’re trying to survive now.”
“That too.”
At least that answer was truthful.
Nico looked toward Mila.
“Come to the hospital.”
Gavin hesitated.
“Are you serious?”
“You will remain under security supervision.”
“Dad—”
“You wanted a chance to explain. You have one.”
“What about Mom?”
“I’ll find her.”
Nico ended the call.
Then he returned to Mila.
She had stopped crying.
Her face looked older somehow.
That angered him more than anything.
Children were supposed to become older slowly.
Not in one night.
“Grandpa?”
“Yes?”
“Was that Daddy?”
“Yes.”
“Did he send the man?”
Nico sat beside her.
“He says he didn’t.”
“Do you believe him?”
Nico considered lying.
He decided not to.
“I believe he was surprised.”
“That’s not the same.”
“No.”
Mila looked down at her hands.
“Can I see Mommy?”
“Yes.”
Nico stood.
Before they could leave, the bodyguard returned.
Alone.
“Lost him at the service stairs.”
Nico’s jaw tightened.
“Cameras?”
“Security is pulling footage.”
“Lock down the floor.”
“They already have.”
Nico nodded.
Then the bodyguard handed him something.
“This fell from the man’s pocket.”
A plastic access badge.
Not hospital issued.
Ferrante Holdings.
Nico stared at it.
The badge belonged to an employee named Samuel Price.
Samuel had died two years earlier.
Nico knew because he had attended the funeral.
“What the hell?”
The bodyguard looked disturbed.
“That badge should have been deactivated years ago.”
“It was.”
Nico turned it over.
A small black sticker covered part of the barcode.
Someone had modified it.
This was not improvisation.
It was preparation.
Long preparation.
Nico took Mila’s hand.
“Stay close.”
Inside Sienna’s room, the labor had advanced rapidly.
She was eight centimeters now.
Sweat covered her forehead.
Her fingers crushed the bed rail.
She looked toward the door every few seconds.
When Mila finally entered, Sienna’s face collapsed with relief.
“Oh my God.”
Mila ran to her.
“Mommy.”
Sienna wrapped both arms around her despite the monitors and tubing.
“What happened?”
Nico told her only the necessary part.
“A man approached Mila. Security stopped him from taking her.”
Sienna stared at him.
“Taking her?”
“He didn’t get out of the lounge with her.”
“But he touched her?”
“Yes.”
Sienna looked at Mila.
“Did he hurt you?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Sienna kissed her face over and over.
Then she looked at Nico.
Her expression was no longer frightened.
It was furious.
“I want police here.”
“They’re coming.”
“I want Gavin arrested.”
Mila stiffened.
Sienna saw it.
She closed her eyes.
“Sweetheart, go with Grandpa for one minute.”
“I want to stay.”
“Aunt—”
She stopped herself.
There was no aunt.
No sister.
No trusted relative nearby.
That realization hurt.
Nico signaled to the bodyguard.
“Stay at the door with Mila.”
Mila moved only a few feet away.
Sienna lowered her voice.
“I don’t care whether he claims he sent that man or not. He created this.”
“I agree.”
“And Marjorie.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know where she is?”
“No.”
Sienna’s eyes sharpened.
“That scares me more.”
Nico nodded.
“It should.”
A contraction hit.
Sienna cried out.
The nurse rushed in.
For several minutes, conversation became impossible.
When the pain eased, Sienna lay exhausted against the pillows.
“Nico.”
“Yes.”
“If something happens to me…”
“Nothing is happening to you.”
“Don’t do that.”
He stopped.
“If something happens to me, Mila and the baby do not go to Gavin.”
Nico stared at her.
“He is their father.”
“He is also involved in twelve million dollars of fraud and whatever else this is.”
“I understand.”
“Promise me you’ll fight him.”
Nico’s face changed.
“You won’t have to ask twice.”
Sienna began crying.
“I loved him.”
“I know.”
“I still love him.”
Nico looked away.
That was the cruelty of betrayal.
It did not switch love off.
It poisoned it while leaving it alive.
A police detective arrived fifteen minutes later.
Detective Lena Brooks.
Forties.
Calm voice.
Sharp eyes.
She first spoke to hospital security.
Then Mila.
Then Nico.
The attempt to grab Mila immediately turned the situation from corporate fraud into something far more dangerous.
Brooks examined the modified access badge.
“You know this employee?”
“He’s dead.”
Her gaze lifted.
“How long?”
“Two years.”
“Who has access to old building credentials?”
“Corporate security. IT. Senior facilities management.”
“And your son?”
Nico hesitated.
“He used to.”
“Used to?”
“I removed most of his administrative access after a spending incident.”
“What kind of spending incident?”
“Company aircraft.”
Brooks waited.
Nico sighed.
“He used it to fly friends to Cabo.”
“When?”
“Last year.”
“How old is your son?”
“Thirty-six.”
Brooks wrote something.
Nico almost smiled despite himself.
“I know what you’re thinking.”
“I haven’t said anything.”
“You didn’t need to.”
Brooks looked at Mila.
“Does your granddaughter know the man who approached her?”
“She says no.”
“Did he show a weapon?”
“No.”
“Threaten her?”
“No. He said her father sent him.”
Brooks nodded.
“That was probably meant to make her cooperate quietly.”
Nico’s expression darkened.
“Probably?”
“Mr. Ferrante, whoever did this understood your family well enough to know a seven-year-old might follow someone who claimed to be sent by her father.”
Nico looked toward Sienna’s room.
“That narrows the list less than I’d like.”
Brooks continued.
“I need the recording.”
Nico handed her Mila’s phone.
“Make a copy. She gets the device back.”
Brooks nodded.
Then elevator doors opened.
Gavin arrived.
Two Ferrante security officers escorted him.
Mila saw him first.
“Daddy.”
Gavin stopped.
His face crumpled.
“Mila.”
She did not run to him.
That hurt him visibly.
He moved slowly.
“Are you okay?”
Mila looked at Nico.
Then at Sienna’s door.
“I’m okay.”
Gavin crouched.
“I did not send that man.”
Mila said nothing.
“I swear.”
Detective Brooks approached.
“Gavin Ferrante?”
He stood.
“Yes.”
“I need to speak with you.”
“Am I under arrest?”
“Not at this moment.”
He glanced at Nico.
“Then I want to see my wife.”
Nico blocked the hallway.
“No.”
Gavin’s eyes flashed.
“She is having my son.”
“You should have remembered that in the garage.”
“I made a terrible choice.”
“You made dozens.”
“Dad, get out of my way.”
“No.”
Detective Brooks stepped closer.
“This is a hospital. Nobody is forcing themselves into a patient’s room.”
Gavin looked toward the door.
“Sienna!”
Inside, Sienna heard him.
She closed her eyes.
Her entire body shook.
The nurse looked at her.
“Do you want him removed from the floor?”
Sienna took several breaths.
Then surprised herself.
“No.”
The nurse waited.
“I want to hear him.”
She pressed the call button.
“Tell him he can come in.”
Nico entered first.
“Are you sure?”
“No.”
“That’s different.”
“I need answers.”
Nico nodded.
Gavin entered.
He looked at Sienna in the hospital bed.
For a moment, everything disappeared from his face except grief.
“Sienna.”
She stared at him.
“You have three minutes.”
He stepped closer.
“I’m sorry.”
“Two minutes and fifty-five seconds.”
His eyes filled.
“I never wanted you involved.”
“You let someone open a bank account in my name.”
“I didn’t know it was you.”
“You stole twelve million dollars.”
“I didn’t take it.”
“You moved it.”
“Yes.”
“You forged your father’s signature.”
“Yes.”
“You were going to leave me in this hospital while you completed a takeover.”
His voice cracked.
“Yes.”
Sienna nodded slowly.
“Thank you.”
He blinked.
“For what?”
“For finally answering without making me drag the truth out of you.”
“Sienna, I can fix this.”
“No.”
“I can testify against Mom.”
“No.”
“I can give Dad every document.”
“No.”
Gavin stepped closer.
“Please.”
Sienna’s eyes filled with tears.
“You still think this is about the money.”
“It isn’t.”
“You abandoned me in a parking garage while I was in labor because you were afraid your fraud scheme would collapse.”
He looked down.
“You scared your daughter so badly she secretly recorded you.”
Gavin began crying.
“I know.”
“And someone just tried to take her.”
“That wasn’t me.”
“I believe you.”
He looked up sharply.
Sienna continued.
“And that makes it worse.”
“What?”
“Because it means you helped dangerous people get close enough to our family that you don’t even know what they’re doing anymore.”
Gavin stared at her.
He had no defense.
Then the monitor changed.
The nurse turned.
“Sienna?”
Sienna gripped the bed.
Pressure hit with terrifying force.
“I need to push.”
The nurse hit a button.
People rushed into the room.
Gavin moved toward her.
Sienna screamed.
“GET HIM OUT!”
Nico grabbed Gavin and pulled him backward.
The doors closed.
Gavin stood in the hallway.
He could hear Sienna crying out.
His knees nearly gave way.
Mila watched him.
He turned toward her.
“I’m sorry.”
She whispered, “Did you want me gone?”
Gavin froze.
“What?”
“You said there wouldn’t be room for mistakes after the baby.”
His face collapsed.
“Mila, no.”
“Was I the mistake?”
“No.”
He stepped toward her.
She moved back.
Gavin stopped immediately.
“You were never the mistake.”
“Then who was?”
Gavin looked at his father.
At Detective Brooks.
Then at the closed delivery-room door.
Finally he whispered:
“Me.”
A newborn cried from inside the room.
Everyone stopped.
Gavin’s face broke.
His son had been born.
And he was standing outside the door.
Then Detective Brooks’ phone rang.
She answered.
Listened.
Her eyes shifted toward Gavin.
“Are you sure?”
A pause.
“Send it.”
She lowered the phone.
Nico immediately knew something had changed.
“What?”
Brooks looked at Gavin.
“The hospital found the maintenance worker.”
“Where?”
“Parking structure.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Who is he?”
Brooks’ expression hardened.
“He says Gavin hired him.”
Gavin went white.
“No.”
Brooks continued.
“He has text messages.”
“No.”
“And a wire transfer.”
“No.”
“From an account registered to you.”
Gavin stared at her.
“I didn’t send him.”
May you like
Brooks stepped closer.
“Then somebody is framing you too.”
