From David.
Subject:
BABY TRUST.
I read.
Ms. Duca,
I received the settlement documents.
Please place the funds in trust only after paternity is established.
Do not contact Elena yet.
She has enough problems because of me.
I know that sounds like I’m making another decision for her.
I probably am.
I’m trying to fix one thing without creating five more.
If I disappear again, give her the option to refuse all of this.
Do not make money into a reason she has to deal with me.
David.
I stared.
That sounded exactly like him.
Self-aware enough to know he made bad choices.
Still making them.
At the bottom:
And please tell whoever reviews the final audit that Marco
was not a monster.
He was scared.
He made a bad decision under pressure.
I know what that looks like.
I hated him for blaming me.
I also know dead people don’t get to become simpler just because everyone misses them.
That sentence surprised me.
I read it again.
Alessandro was watching.
“What?”
I handed him the page.
He read.
His expression changed.
My former boyfriend had just offered more grace to Marco than I had expected.
Maybe because he recognized himself.
“David knew Marco’s motive?” Alessandro asked.
Victoria nodded.
“The forensic report suggested Marco was hiding losses because he feared losing control of the division.”
“No personal theft?”
“No.”
“Then he was scared.”
“Yes.”
Alessandro looked at the email.
A dead brother.
A former employee.
Both flawed.
Neither fitting neatly into villain or victim.
Then Anthony said:
“There is another reason we need to locate David.”
I looked at
him.
“No surprises involving secret marriages.”
“No.”
“Good.”
“He never signed the final paternity acknowledgment.”
I frowned.
“So the trust cannot be funded.”
“Correct.”
“What happens if he never signs?”
“Paternity can be established through legal process if you choose.”
“I know he’s Mia’s father.”
“The trust needs proof.”
I looked at Mia through the glass wall in the family room where the childcare worker was reading her a cloth book.
“Do I have to pursue the money?”
“No.”
That answer mattered.
“Can it stay in escrow?”
“For a while.”
“How long?”
“Years, potentially.”
“Then leave it.”
Victoria looked surprised.
“You don’t want the settlement for Mia?”
“I don’t want to make a legal decision today because a number sounds large.”
Good.
Mine.
Not theirs.
Alessandro nodded.
No argument.
I appreciated that more than any offer of help.
Victoria stayed in New York for a week.
