Chapter 6 - The Woman Who Had Been Waiting Twenty Years
Mrs. Alvarez did not deny it.
She simply closed her eyes.
Roman stared at the woman who had managed his house for fifteen years.
“You knew?”
“I knew Evelyn had a daughter.”
“You knew it was Morgana?”
“Not until she walked through this door.”
Morgana stood beside Roman.
Mrs. Alvarez looked at her.
“You have your mother's eyes.”
Morgana’s voice broke.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I couldn't find you.”
“You were standing in the same house as the most powerful man who could have.”
Mrs. Alvarez accepted the accusation.
“Yes.”
Roman asked, “Where's the ledger?”
Mrs. Alvarez walked toward the pantry.
Behind shelves of canned goods was a small wall safe.
She opened it.
Inside lay a black leather book.
Roman recognized it immediately.
“My father's.”
Mrs. Alvarez handed it to Morgana.
“Evelyn gave it to me the night before she died.”
“Why you?”
“I was working for Salvatore’s sister then.”
Morgana opened the ledger.
Names.
Dates.
Account numbers.
Payments.
Caruso.
Jason.
Police officers.
Judges.
Businesses.
And one series of monthly payments labeled J.H. — SILENCE.
Morgana felt nauseated.
Jason had been paid thousands a month.
For years.
Yet Morgana had grown up wearing thrift-store coats and eating canned soup.
Roman saw her expression.
“Don't.”
“Don't what?”
“Calculate how different your life could have been.”
“How can I not?”
“Because it'll eat years you still have.”
She looked at him.
“Easy for you to say.”
Roman stiffened.
“You grew up here.”
“Yes.”
“You had money.”
“Yes.”
“Security.”
“Yes.”
“A father who wanted you.”
Roman's expression changed.
“You think money made him good?”
Morgana said nothing.
Roman looked away.
“Salvatore loved fiercely. That didn't mean gently.”
Mrs. Alvarez interjected.
“Your brother has scars too.”
Morgana immediately regretted her words.
Roman shook his head.
“You don't owe me an apology.”
“Yes, I do.”
He looked at her.
She said, “Pain isn't a competition.”
Roman gave a small nod.
It was the first truly sibling-like moment between them.
Messy.
Immediate.
Real.
The ledger contained enough evidence to expose Caruso’s network.
Detective Walker copied it.
Federal investigators joined.
Accounts were frozen.
Properties seized.
Former officers questioned.
But Caruso disappeared.
Three days passed.
Then four.
Morgana began helping Roman’s accountants reconstruct her trust.
She discovered something she never expected.
She was good with numbers.
Very good.
Years of balancing diner tips, electricity notices, grocery money, and Jason’s disappearing cash had trained her better than school ever could.
One afternoon, Roman’s chief financial officer stared at her spreadsheet.
“Where did you learn forensic reconciliation?”
Morgana shrugged.
“Being poor.”
The man thought she was joking.
Roman didn’t.
Her reconstructed records uncovered a shell company investigators had missed.
Raven Logistics.
The company had received $612,000 from Morgana’s trust six months before Evelyn died.
Morgana traced the company to a warehouse.
Roman went silent when he saw the address.
“What?”
“That building belonged to Caruso.”
“Still?”
“No.”
“Who owns it?”
Roman looked at her.
“You do.”
The property had been transferred through multiple entities before ending inside Morgana’s trust.
Caruso had apparently forgotten the transfer while looting everything else.
They went with police.
Inside the abandoned warehouse they found a hidden office.
Old photographs.
Bank receipts.
Boxes.
And a video camera.
Detective Walker located several tapes.
One was dated the week Evelyn died.
They played it.
Caruso appeared on screen, twenty years younger.
Jason sat across from him.
The audio was faint.
But clear enough.
Caruso: “She meets Salvatore tomorrow, we lose everything.”
Jason: “Then scare her.”
Caruso: “Scaring her hasn't worked.”
Jason looked nervous.
“What are you saying?”
Caruso leaned closer.
“I’m saying cars fail every day.”
Morgana stopped the tape.
She walked outside.
Cold wind swept across the loading yard.
Roman followed.
She stood with her arms crossed tightly.
“He knew.”
“Yes.”
“He knew before she died.”
“Yes.”
“He let it happen.”
Roman waited.
Morgana began crying.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just twenty years worth of grief arriving all at once.
Roman moved closer.
Then stopped.
Morgana looked at him.
“You can hug me.”
He did.
Awkwardly at first.
Then tightly.
Morgana pressed her face against her brother’s chest and cried for the mother she had lost, the childhood she had survived, and the father she had never known.
Roman said nothing.
He simply stayed.
Eventually Detective Walker appeared.
“Roman.”
He looked over Morgana’s shoulder.
Walker held a phone.
“We found Caruso.”
“Where?”
“Not exactly.”
She looked at Morgana.
“He called.”
Morgana wiped her face.
“What does he want?”
Walker hesitated.
“You.”
Roman immediately said, “No.”
Morgana pulled away.
“What did he say?”
Walker showed them the message.
One sentence.
Bring Morgana to the old Costa packing plant at midnight, or Jason Hale dies with the truth.
Morgana stared.
Roman said, “Absolutely not.”
She looked at him.
“I don't care if Jason dies.”
Roman studied her.
“Then why are you looking like that?”
Morgana pointed to the final three words.
“With the truth.”
Roman's face changed.
Morgana whispered, “Caruso still knows something.”
“And that's exactly how he wants you thinking.”
“He knows something about Mom.”
“He may be bluffing.”
“What if he isn't?”
Roman's jaw tightened.
Morgana met his gaze.
“For twenty-two years, men have decided what I’m allowed to know.”
Roman became silent.
“Don't become another one.”
That landed.
Roman looked toward the dark warehouse.
Then back at her.
“You don't go alone.”
“I wasn't planning to.”
“No heroics.”
“Same for you.”
Roman almost smiled.
“Now you sound like a Costa.”
Morgana shook her head.
“No.”
May you like
She looked down at her mother's ledger.
“I sound like Evelyn’s daughter.”
