Chapter 5 - THE NIGHT BROOKS AND BLOOM WENT DARK
Gabriel Rizzo had worked for Dominic Moretti for fourteen years.
He had been beside Dominic at funerals.
Board meetings.
Hospital visits.
Threat negotiations.
He knew Isabella’s medical history.
Her favorite restaurants.
Which church she attended.
Where she kept emergency medication.
He also knew she sometimes dismissed security when she became frustrated.
That did not prove betrayal.
The payments did.
At least enough to ask questions.
Dominic did something Amelia did not expect.
He called Detective Kim before confronting Gabriel.
“You’re improving,” Amelia said.
“I hate it.”
“Good.”
Gabriel was brought in under the excuse of a security review.
He entered Moretti Holdings believing he would meet Dominic privately.
Instead, detectives waited.
He immediately requested a lawyer.
That told no one anything legally.
It told Amelia enough emotionally.
The $25,000 monthly payments were labeled consulting fees.
Gabriel claimed he advised Larkspur on private security.
“Did Dominic authorize outside work?” Kim asked.
“No.”
“Why conceal it?”
“Privacy.”
“Did you know Larkspur was connected to foundation inventory?”
“No.”
“Did you know Vanessa Clark?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Security work.”
“Romantically?”
Gabriel’s attorney objected.
His phone answered later.
Hundreds of messages.
Some romantic.
Some financial.
Vanessa and Gabriel had been involved for nearly three years.
She sent him Moretti Foundation donor lists.
He sent her family schedules.
Lorenzo coordinated larger payments.
The three formed a network.
But the motive still did not fully fit.
Why risk everything for jewelry?
Then forensic accountants found the real money.
The jewelry laundering was only one stream.
The Moretti Family Foundation owned several valuable commercial buildings donated over decades.
Lorenzo arranged “maintenance contracts” through companies linked to Vanessa.
Invoices inflated.
Gabriel’s security firms verified work that never happened.
Money moved.
Millions.
The luxury boutique converted smaller high-value assets.
The building containing Brooks and Bloom was purchased because someone feared Amelia had received Isabella’s notes.
It was intimidation.
And cleanup.
Dominic sat in Amelia’s shop after closing while she rebuilt a damaged rose arrangement.
“You should go home,” she said.
“I am home.”
She stopped.
“That is deeply unhealthy.”
“I mean my house.”
“Yes. Go there.”
“Mother is staying at my house.”
“Even more reason.”
He watched her trim stems.
“You are not afraid enough.”
Amelia looked at him.
“I’m terrified.”
“You don’t act like it.”
“I have payroll Friday.”
That answer seemed to surprise him.
“Fear does not stop invoices.”
He looked around.
“How bad is the shop financially?”
“No.”
“You brought it up.”
“I did not invite due diligence.”
“You’re behind?”
“Sometimes.”
“How much?”
“Dominic.”
He held up both hands.
“No ownership.”
“Good.”
“I could loan—”
“No.”
“Grant?”
“No.”
“Buy flowers?”
“Yes.”
He frowned.
“How many?”
“As many as you actually need.”
“I have a house with twenty-four rooms.”
“That is disgusting.”
“It is old.”
“Still disgusting.”
He ordered flowers for every public room.
Amelia charged him full price.
Isabella later accused her son of manipulating commerce.
Amelia called it retail.
Their strange friendship deepened while the investigation worsened.
Dominic told Amelia more about his world.
His grandfather built money through illegal gambling and protection rackets.
His father moved toward legitimate shipping but never fully escaped old relationships.
Dominic inherited both.
At twenty-eight, after his father died, he had a choice.
Destroy the illegal parts quickly and risk war inside the organization.
Or change them slowly.
He chose slowly.
Too slowly.
He admitted authorizing intimidation years earlier.
He admitted collecting debts through men who frightened people.
He denied ordering killings.
Amelia believed he was telling the truth because nothing about the truth made him look heroic.
“Why are you telling me this?” she asked.
“Because you asked if I’m dangerous.”
“Are you?”
“To some people.”
“To me?”
“No.”
“That sounded immediate.”
“It was.”
“Why?”
Dominic looked at her.
“Because you said no to me on the first day.”
“That’s your standard?”
“It’s rare.”
Amelia laughed.
Then went quiet.
“I don’t want to become a woman who mistakes a powerful man being gentle with her for proof he is gentle.”
Dominic absorbed the sentence.
“That is fair.”
“Is it?”
“Yes.”
“I need time to see what you do when kindness costs you something.”
His eyes held hers.
“Then watch.”
The next test came faster than either expected.
That evening, Moretti board counsel informed Dominic that Lorenzo had called an emergency executive meeting.
He intended to remove Dominic from operational control.
Grounds:
Instability.
Improper cooperation with police.
Exposure of family business records.
Failure to protect confidential corporate information.
More dangerously, Lorenzo had old allies.
Men who believed Dominic’s shift toward legitimate operations had weakened the Moretti name.
If Dominic wanted to keep control, his easiest path was intimidation.
Call people.
Remind them who he was.
Make votes change before the meeting.
Amelia saw the temptation.
He stood behind the shop counter with his phone in hand.
One call could probably frighten half the board.
“Don’t,” she said.
He looked at her.
“You don’t know what I was going to do.”
“Yes, I do.”
He slowly put the phone down.
“What do you suggest?”
“Evidence.”
“I preferred you before you learned that word.”
“Liar.”
He smiled.
Dominic’s attorneys prepared financial records.
Police reports.
Conflict disclosures.
Independent audit requests.
No threats.
No visits after midnight.
No men waiting beside board members’ cars.
The emergency meeting was scheduled for Monday.
On Sunday evening, Brooks and Bloom lost power.
Only Brooks and Bloom.
Every neighboring business remained lit.
Amelia stood inside the dark shop.
The backup emergency lights flickered.
Her phone had no signal.
That was strange.
Then she heard glass break in the rear corridor.
She froze.
Tessa had gone home.
Amelia was alone.
She reached for the small emergency alarm Dominic’s security consultant had installed after the first break-in.
She pressed it.
Nothing.
Jammed.
Footsteps.
Amelia backed toward the front door.
Locked.
Her own key would open it.
Before she reached the lock, a shadow moved in the back room.
She grabbed the nearest object.
A metal watering can.
“Stay back.”
A man stepped into view.
Not Gabriel.
Someone younger.
Mask.
Gloves.
He said nothing.
Amelia threw the watering can.
It hit his shoulder.
He swore.
She ran.
He caught the back of her coat.
The fabric tore.
Amelia crashed into a table of chrysanthemums.
Pots shattered.
She grabbed a broken wooden display leg and swung it defensively.
The man stepped back.
Then the front window exploded inward.
Amelia screamed.
A second later, lights from the street poured through.
Rafael entered with two police officers.
The masked intruder ran toward the back.
Another officer stopped him in the alley.
Amelia stood among broken flowers, breathing hard.
Dominic arrived less than three minutes later.
He entered fast.
Then stopped when he saw her.
His face changed.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
He approached.
Then stopped again.
Waiting.
Amelia understood.
Permission.
She stepped toward him first.
Dominic wrapped his arms around her.
For several seconds, she let herself shake.
Then she pulled away.
“Someone jammed the alarm.”
Rafael nodded.
“And the phone repeater.”
“Inside access?”
“Possibly.”
Police removed the intruder’s mask.
His name was Anthony Bell.
A former contractor for Moretti security.
Recently fired.
His phone contained one message.
GET THE PAPER FROM THE FLOWER SHOP. NO WITNESSES IF POSSIBLE.
Amelia felt sick.
“From who?”
Detective Kim examined the sender.
Prepaid number.
But the payment to Anthony came through a company they recognized.
North Meridian.
Lorenzo.
Dominic went completely still.
Amelia saw the old version of him return.
The man capable of solving problems in ways that never reached court.
He turned toward Rafael.
“Find Lorenzo.”
Amelia caught his sleeve.
Dominic looked down.
“No.”
“He sent someone into your shop.”
“Police.”
“He said no witnesses.”
“I know.”
“You could have died.”
“I know.”
His control cracked.
“Then do not ask me to be calm.”
“I’m not asking calm.”
She tightened her grip.
“I’m asking you not to become exactly what Lorenzo needs.”
Dominic stared.
She continued.
“If you retaliate outside the law, he walks into that board meeting and tells everyone you’re unstable. He tells police you threatened him. He turns himself into the victim.”
Dominic’s breathing slowed.
Barely.
Amelia looked at the broken shop.
“You said I could watch what you do when kindness costs something.”
His eyes met hers.
“This is the price.”
For a long moment, neither moved.
Then Dominic handed his phone to Detective Kim.
“All communications with Lorenzo go through counsel.”
Kim nodded.
Amelia released his sleeve.
Dominic looked around at the ruined flowers.
“I am paying for this.”
“No.”
“Amelia.”
“The attacker’s restitution can pay.”
“That may take ten years.”
“Then I’ll send him invoices.”
Dominic almost laughed.
Almost.
Then Isabella called.
Rafael answered.
His expression changed immediately.
“What?”
Dominic took the phone.
“Mother?”
Silence.
His face drained.
“Where are you?”
Another silence.
He turned toward the door.
Amelia’s stomach dropped.
“What happened?”
Dominic looked at her.
“Isabella never arrived home.”
Her driver had found the car abandoned two blocks from the Moretti estate.
The rear door open.
Isabella’s phone on the seat.
May you like
And on the leather beside it, a single white rose.
From Brooks and Bloom.
