All Chapters of I Spoke Before Dad Signed Us Away: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

My father looked annoyed. When a man was cornered, even the sound of a dropped poker chip was too much.Adrian frowned and turned away. Valeria hurried over, picked up the chip, and put it back in my hand."Amalia, go wait for me in the sitting room, okay?"She took a fruit-flavored hard candy from her dress pocket and laid it in my palm.She didn't scold me.Nobody in my family ever did. They just gently ushered me out whenever something important came up.Lorenzo came over too. He crouched in front of me with his usual practiced smile."Amalia, listen to Valeria. There's hot chocolate in the sitting room, along with those almond cookies you like."He turned to Rosa Costa, our maid. "Rosa, take Amalia to the sitting room. Keep the door closed. We don't want anything upsetting her."I looked down at him.Ten years ago, when he first entered this study, he hadn't dared touch the chair across from my father.Now he gave orders in my father's place, and somehow nobody in my family thought

I glanced at the candy in my palm. Its wrapper was damp with sweat.Lorenzo had just pleaded our case, and Victor had agreed without hesitation. But Victor's promise didn't match the terms of the agreement.I started toward the desk.Valeria caught my arm. "Amalia, don't. Listen to me. It'll be over soon."She pulled me back and kept a hand on my shoulder.She really was afraid they'd laugh at me again. And she honestly believed that once my father signed, tonight would be over.With Valeria holding me back, Lorenzo moved the pen closer to my father. "Sign it, Don."At last, my father took it.His hand shook so badly that the pen left a small blot of black ink as soon as it touched the signature line.Victor didn't hurry him. Lorenzo said nothing.They were both waiting for him to write his name.The longer I watched, the more fed up I got.I'd spent years pretending to be an idiot so I'd never have to deal with any of this again.Yet here they were, putting the agreement in front of m

He turned, all pretense of warmth gone. "Are you planning to hold me here against my will, Ms. Romano?""There's the door. You're free to go."I laid the two attachments, the guarantee, and the recorder side by side on the desk."But the moment you leave, these go to the Committee, Seventh Bank, and the oversight tribunal. The Committee will see how you tried to steal our seat. The bank will learn you used an already mortgaged warehouse to trick us into signing. And the tribunal will find out why Lorenzo prepared two different attachments for you."I looked at him."Renegotiate now, or face three investigations tomorrow."Victor stared at me for a long time. Then he put his gloves back on the desk."What do you want?""First, withdraw every application to take our seat. You can't reapply under this agreement. Second, give us a real guarantee, verified by the bank. Third, pay the Romano Foundation 30 percent of North Harbor's revenue as compensation."Victor almost laughed. "Thirty perc

Back at the estate, we focused on the important documents instead of digging through ten years of accounts.If Lorenzo had been working for outsiders, he would have targeted the things our survival depended on.The following evening, Adrian found the first lead.Matteo had also signed off on a casino guarantee three years earlier. Then Valeria found a consulting fee in the foundation's accounts. It had gone to a company owned by his nephew.She went through that company's accounts and soon found two payments that weren't business income at all. They'd come from two Bellini-owned companies.The payments weren't large, and the money had passed through several companies. On their own, they couldn't prove the Bellini family had helped plan the takeover. But they established a financial link to Matteo's nephew.The real breakthrough came from an old recording Lorenzo offered up.This wasn't the recording my father had made of the negotiation. Lorenzo had secretly made it while working for t

Salvatore looked at my father first."You've raised quite a daughter, Marcello."My father didn't offer him a seat. "I know."Only then did Salvatore turn to me."You'd rather give up some of your management rights than let the Bellini family take control, Ms. Romano?""The operating rights are still ours." I met his gaze.He slowly removed one glove. "But you'll lose a great deal of money every year.""Cheaper than handing over the entire harbor."His smile faded.He didn't argue right away. Instead, he approached the desk and glanced at the stamped plan in front of my father."You think the board can protect your family forever?""No."I set a folder of documents on the desk."That's why I'm not counting on them."Salvatore didn't reach for it right away.I opened it for him.Inside were Matteo's accounts, the Ferrante takeover papers, the worthless North Harbor guarantee, and records of the two transfers Valeria had traced. That money had left Bellini-owned companies, passed through