Page 36 of Family Secrets

Chapter Fourteen

Elizabeth woke with the sun shining through the window, a touch of a headache pulling at the sides of her head. Sitting up, she was confused by her surroundings, having some recollection of falling asleep on Gino’s couch and now found herself in an elegant bedroom. Tossing back the covers, she tiptoed down the hall, finding Gino’s penthouse empty. Locating his kitchen, she took one look into his empty refrigerator, her stomach grumbling in protest at the lack of food. Recalling the coffee shop across the street as they pulled in last night, she hoped they sold some form of pastry and perhaps a hot chocolate.

Pulling out her phone as she stood in line waiting her turn to order food, her breath caught as her eyes landed on the Facebook post from last night on Jonah’s wall. It was a picture of him and Karen, a sparkling diamond on the ring finger of her left hand.

Her shock wasn’t of her broken relationship or his lack of patience before jumping into an engagement with Karen, but the life she may never have. Despite Gino’s assurance he wanted to share his world with her, his world screamed bachelor.

With a breakfast sandwich and hot chocolate in hand, Elizabeth exited the shop, taking a moment to savor the first glorious sip. As the scalding liquid burned off a few taste buds, she caught sight of an angry Felicia storming from the front entrance of Gino’s building, her cellphone clenched in her hand as she searched the sidewalk. Not wanting a confrontation with her headache still lingering, Elizabeth stepped back into the shop, watching out the window until Felicia climbed into the back of a black sedan.

Hurrying across the street, Elizabeth took the elevator to her apartment. Shutting the door behind her, she sat hard on the floor as the reasons behind why Felicia would be in the building flooded her head. She’d paid the multiple bills to various utility companies, recalling several of the address belonged in this building. Maybe the girls were right about Gino and his carousing ways. After all, their warning of his compassion reflected his primal needs and not as he claimed of being a good boyfriend.

Rising to her feet, Elizabeth chugged the last of her hot chocolate, reminding herself everything she assumed was circumstantial. While Felicia did present herself in a desperate manner, Elizabeth didn’t miss the expensive purse which hung from her arm the night prior. Lisa had been gifted a similar bag, the price tag giving Elizabeth a reason to pause. Perhaps Felicia came from money? Giovanni did mention her uncle wanted the two of them to marry. Surely with the amount of wealth she’d seen in his business account, his family would associate with like money.

As she walked into her kitchen, her fingers drifting along the polished stone of the granite countertops, her phone pinged with a Facebook update. Tossing the empty cup in the trash, Elizabeth leaned over the counter. Her hand found her mouth as an ultrasound photo with the caption, ‘Kelley baby on the way’ splashed across the black and white picture. Tears sprang to her eyes as she read the announcement posted on Jonah’s wall, the baby due in four short months.

The sound of her door opening and Gino calling her name had her searching the room for somewhere to hide. She couldn’t face him like this, crying over an ex and his baby on the way. Her watery eyes landed on the door in the hall. Moving a quietly as she could, Elizabeth dipped into the dark room, softly closing the door behind her.

“Babe?” Gino called into the room, his voice echoing off the tall ceiling. He’d hoped to return from his meeting before she woke up but found only her lingering perfume and a made bed. Reaching into his pocket, Gino fished out his phone, pressing the necessary buttons before holding it to his ear. Frustration filled him as the call immediately went to voicemail.

Elizabeth watched him through a slit in the door, her heart racing as he pocketed his phone and walked down the hall toward her, stopping short as he stood in front of a painting of a ballerina on the wall.

Gripping the side of the frame, Gino pulled it toward him to reveal the safe hidden behind. Entering the code, he removed several stacks of cash before closing the door and spinning the wheel.

Unable to believe what she’s witnessed, Elizabeth remained hidden in the closet until she heard the closing of the front door and securing lock. Her head was overwhelmed between the baby and now this. Why would he keep money in the apartment he lent to her and not in the safe in his closet? With more questions than answers, Elizabeth opened the door. Checking behind every painting in the apartment, she found three more safes and a suspicious door under a rug near the fireplace. Sitting hard in the center of the floor, she needed not to think, and only one thing would grant her the serenity she so desperately needed.

* * *

Elizabeth foundthe office comfortably quiet, air flowing through the vents overhead the only sound in the room. With everything that happened yesterday, she’d failed to find time to sort through any more boxes as Sully had asked her to.

Entering the storage closet, Elizabeth ripped off the lid of the first box she came to, waving off the dust which flew in her face from the contents. Reaching inside, she pulled out several stacks of canceled checks held together with rubber bands. As she read the information on the first check, the aged rubber band gave way, sending the stack in her hand raining down around her. With a frustrated sigh, she dropped to the floor, Elizabeth began to pick up the checks when she noticed the same name written in the payee line. Comparing the handful in front of her, she saw they were written for varying amounts, the oldest check dated nearly twenty-five years ago. Returning to the box, Elizabeth found at least a dozen more stacks, all addressed to the same man. Digging to the bottom of the box, she found a handful of sealed envelopes, written to the same man addressed to a PO box in Missouri, return to sender stamped in red ink across the front.

Tossing the envelopes into the box, Elizabeth took one of the checks and returned to her desk, entering her password into the computer. With no one in the building, the internet was surprisingly quick, allowing her to open a search engine and enter the name, Morty Rizzoli, in half the time. Elizabeth’s eyes grew wide as a black and white photo of a man appeared on the screen, along with several other familiar faces she saw practically every day. Unable to believe what she saw written on the computer, the single word sending chills down her spine.

Mafia.

Reaching over, she picked up the check, this time more focused on the signature. Just as the name in the payee line was foreign to her, she’d never heard of the man who authorized the check.

Moving to type the name into her browser, a hand on her shoulder pulled a scream from her throat, twisting her around to find a familiar set of brown eyes staring back at her.

“And just what are you looking for?”

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