Chapter 5 - THE DISAPPEARANCE GIANNA HAD PREPARED
Gianna did not intend Marco’s body to remain in the East Garden forever.
She planned to move him after dark.
Victor Sanz had arranged a maintenance van using credentials from one of Dominic’s companies.
The van would carry Marco to an abandoned coastal property scheduled for demolition.
The official story was already written.
Marco had run away after learning of the engagement.
Security footage showed him leaving through a side gate.
A blue jacket matching his was found near a train station.
An email sent from his school account said:
I hate this house. Do not look for me.
Marco had not written it.
The message used punctuation and vocabulary beyond his age.
The side-gate footage showed only a small figure in a hood.
Investigators enhanced the frame enough to identify Gianna’s assistant, Nina Velez, walking on her knees to mimic a child’s height.
Nina began cooperating after learning Marco had survived.
She claimed Gianna told her they were testing security weaknesses for a custody case.
“Did you believe Marco was being harmed?” Detective Brooks asked.
“No.”
“Why wear his jacket?”
“Gianna said Dominic needed to see how easily someone could remove him from the estate.”
“Did you create the email?”
“Victor did.”
“Did you know the cameras were disabled?”
“Yes.”
“Who asked you to disable them?”
“Gianna.”
Nina had not entered the garden.
She had not known about the trench.
Her actions still supported evidence fabrication and conspiracy charges, but her responsibility differed from Gianna’s.
Accuracy mattered.
Victor’s maintenance van never arrived because Dominic returned earlier than expected.
Rosa’s message brought him back.
Gianna panicked.
She placed Marco inside the trench believing soil would silence him until the estate became quiet.
She intended to return.
Rain collapsed part of the loose earth faster than she expected.
The sedative made him too weak to free himself.
Had Rosa arrived several minutes later, the outcome might have been different.
The prosecution did not need to claim Gianna designed every grain of soil.
She knowingly placed a drugged child inside a trench, covered him, left him unable to breathe freely, and threatened the person rescuing him.
That was enough.
The investigation also uncovered the merger motive.
Gianna’s father’s Naples-based shipping companies owed more than ninety million dollars to lenders and private creditors.
Their financial statements concealed losses.
The proposed Baron-Kanti alliance would have provided access to legitimate American credit.
Dominic had not yet signed.
He planned to announce the engagement first and review the merger later.
Gianna told her family the deal was certain.
Marco’s trust complicated lender guarantees.
More importantly, Dominic’s devotion to his son made him unwilling to relocate operations or pledge family assets.
Gianna wrote to her father:
As long as the boy remains central, Dominic will never become fully ours.
Her father responded:
Then become his mother.
Gianna answered:
He already has one, even dead.
Elena’s memory was not sentimental to Gianna.
It was structural.
The trust.
The house.
Marco’s inheritance.
Rosa’s loyalty.
Dominic’s remaining conscience.
Removing Marco would not only change money.
It would destroy the one relationship capable of making Dominic refuse the Kanti family.
When those messages became public through court filings, reporters described Marco as the heir to a criminal empire.
Dominic’s attorneys objected.
Marco inherited no criminal organization.
He inherited legitimate shares protected from his father’s unlawful activity.
The distinction became central to everything that followed.
To preserve Marco’s assets and prevent Gianna from claiming the case was merely internal warfare, Dominic agreed to place Baron Maritime Holdings under an independent trustee.
He surrendered operational authority over companies connected to the investigation.
He also began cooperating with federal prosecutors regarding criminal activity outside Marco’s trust.
Rosa learned about the decision from television.
She entered Marco’s hospital room and found Dominic packing a small bag.
“Where are you going?”
“To meet attorneys.”
“Are you coming back?”
“Yes.”
“Will you be arrested?”
“Possibly.”
Marco had awakened.
He heard the word.
“Dad?”
Dominic sat beside him.
“I built parts of our life through things I should not have done.”
“Did Gianna make you?”
“No.”
“Will they take you away?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Marco’s eyes filled.
“You said families stay.”
Dominic took his hand.
“Staying does not always mean sleeping in the same house. It means telling you the truth, protecting your rights, and returning whenever the law allows.”
“Are you choosing prison?”
“I am choosing not to make your case depend on everyone being afraid of me.”
Marco looked toward Rosa.
She nodded once.
The decision did not make Dominic innocent.
May you like
It made him accountable.
For the first time, the Baron name would not be used to close a door.
