Chapter 20
The air inside the Vermont cabin became instantly charged with extreme, high-stakes tension.
Victoria stepped in front of Sarah and Lily, shielding them behind her back near the kitchen counter.
Clara walked down the loft stairs, standing right beside Ethan, her eyes fixed on Dante Moretti.
“Dante Moretti,” Ethan repeated, his grip on the revolver remaining rock-solid.
“Your father helped murder mine twenty-seven years ago.”
“My father was a monster who betrayed everyone he ever worked with,” Dante corrected smoothly without blinking.
“Including your father, and eventually, including me.”
“Why are you here, Dante?” Clara asked, her voice calm and authoritative.
Dante looked at Clara, giving her a respectful, subtle nod.
“I came here to make sure Thomas Montgomery’s secrets died with his trial,” Dante explained.
“My father left a secondary debt clause in the Zurich accounts.”
“A debt clause that automatically triggers a liquidation of my family’s legal assets if those files are released to the press.”
“You came to destroy the hard drive,” Ethan stated.
“I came to offer you a trade,” Dante replied, taking a heavy black leather folder from inside his coat.
He threw the folder onto the mahogany coffee table between them.
“What is that?” Victoria asked from the kitchen entrance.
May you like
“Those are the original land deeds to the entire upper valley of this mountain,” Dante said.
“Four thousand acres of untouched timberland, fully paid and registered in the name of Lily Vance.”
