🐑 The Little Girl’s Stuffed Lamb Exposed the Secret Behind the Mafia Boss’s Engagement

Chapter 10 - Genevieve Had Already Sent the File

The proffer lasted six hours.

Then another four two days later.

Alessandro described current labor budgets.

Vendors.

Meetings.

What he asked.

What he did not ask.

Which euphemisms he understood.

Which ones he pretended not to.

He did not say:

I was trying to modernize.

Unless directly relevant.

Intent mattered.

Image did not.

He admitted one port-permit payment.

$180,000 routed through a consulting firm.

He knew the money would reach an official’s intermediary.

Bribery.

No decorative language.

He admitted pressuring two independent trucking companies to accept Rienzi contract terms through threats of losing dock access.

Extortion theory.

He had not threatened violence.

Access itself was leverage.

Enough.

He admitted that after learning one subcontractor used intimidation against union stewards, he removed the manager but kept the subcontractor because replacing it would delay peak season.

There.

Benefit after knowledge.

Harder.

Calumet was more complicated.

He did not know about the crack report.

Evidence supported that.

He did tell Dante to keep the accident contained.

He did not ask how.

He signed settlement paperwork without reading the embedded trust acknowledgment.

He benefited from fast closure.

Those facts stayed together.

At the end, the prosecutor asked:

“Why are you telling us this?”

Alessandro almost laughed.

There were several wrong answers.

Because I changed.

Because of a woman.

Because a child warned me.

Instead:

“Because it happened.”

The prosecutor wrote something.

Good.

No redemption performance.

Afterward Marian said:

“You may have just increased your exposure.”

“I know.”

“You also improved your credibility.”

“I don’t care.”

“That is usually when clients start becoming useful.”

He almost smiled.

Then she handed him another document.

Genevieve Ashworth had made a confidential submission to the same office seven months before the engagement gala.

Alessandro froze.

“What?”

“She filed through outside counsel.”

The submission described:

Calumet trust irregularities.

Edmund Ashworth’s role.

Potential Lakeward transfers.

Possible hidden worker evidence.

She did not name Alessandro as knowingly involved.

She did name Silvio.

“She already went to prosecutors.”

“Yes.”

“Before the wedding.”

“Yes.”

Then why use marriage access?

Marian shrugged.

“Ask her lawyer.”

No.

Alessandro respected the no-contact boundary he had imposed.

His lawyer asked.

Genevieve’s response came in writing.

I made the submission because my father’s evidence was incomplete.

Prosecutors said they needed records tying Rienzi-controlled entities to the trust and current control.

I believed the prenup disclosures could expose discrepancies and create lawful discovery paths.

I should have told Alessandro.

I did not.

I was afraid he would protect his uncle or end the relationship before I had enough evidence.

Both fears were about him.

The decision was mine.

Alessandro read that twice.

No claim she had no alternative.

Good.

Then one line:

I also did not trust the government to act quickly.

That did not give me the right to use a marriage as investigative leverage.

Good.

He folded the letter.

Painful.

Clear.

That evening, he drove to Edmund Ashworth’s residence.

Not to see Genevieve.

Her father had requested him.

Edmund sat in the same room.

Speech therapist had improved his words slightly.

“Sit.”

Alessandro did.

Edmund looked at him.

“My daughter.”

Alessandro waited.

“Loves you.”

“I know.”

“Badly.”

Alessandro almost smiled.

“Yes.”

Edmund shook his head.

“No. Loves you badly.”

There.

Different.

“She used what she loved.”

“Yes.”

“Like me.”

Alessandro looked at him.

Edmund continued slowly.

“I loved family. career. reputation.”

He tapped his chest.

“Used law badly.”

Good.

Then:

“Do not marry her because she suffered.”

Alessandro stared.

“I wasn’t planning to.”

“Good.”

The old man breathed.

“Do not refuse her because you want punishment.”

That landed differently.

Alessandro looked out the window.

“I don’t know what I want.”

“Good.”

Edmund smiled.

“Means thinking.”

Annoying.

Then Edmund handed him a copy of the anonymous submission.

At the bottom, one handwritten note from Genevieve to prosecutors:

If Alessandro Rienzi is involved knowingly, follow it wherever it goes.

Alessandro stared.

She had not protected him.

Good.

Strangely.

That mattered.

Then Edmund said:

“Silvio called me.”

“When?”

“Before arrest.”

“What did he want?”

Edmund’s face tightened.

“To blame Genevieve.”

“For?”

“Everything.”

Of course.

Silvio claimed Genevieve manipulated Amara.

No evidence.

Claimed she planted the memory card.

Impossible chain? Maybe not impossible but lab documented age and file metadata.

He claimed Edmund created false records to save himself.

Some records were his.

Others independent.

Silvio’s defense would be complicated.

Fine.

Then Edmund said something else.

“Your father knew.”

Alessandro went still.

“About Calumet?”

Edmund shook his head.

“Signature.”

Alessandro leaned forward.

“How?”

“Months later.”

Victor had recovered enough speech by then to make himself understood, though his right side remained badly impaired.

Edmund continued.

“He saw trust paper.”

“What did he say?”

Edmund’s mouth twisted.

“Not mine.”

Alessandro’s chest tightened.

“Did he report it?”

“No.”

“Why?”

Edmund looked at him.

“Asked Silvio privately.”

“And?”

“Silvio said family protection.”

Of course.

“What did my father do?”

“Nothing.”

There.

Victor knew his signature had been forged.

He stayed silent.

Maybe dependence.

Maybe loyalty.

Maybe shame.

Not victim only.

Again.

Alessandro closed his eyes.

The dead would not stay simple either.

When he left the residence, Genevieve stood across the parking lot.

She had not known he was coming.

Apparently.

They saw each other.

Neither moved.

Then Genevieve walked toward her car.

Alessandro almost called her.

Did not.

Good.

The next morning, Marian called with the offer.

Not a plea yet.

A framework.

If Alessandro continued cooperation and accepted responsibility for current extortion and bribery conduct, prosecutors would not pursue broader racketeering theories unsupported by direct evidence.

Likely custodial recommendation:

Twelve to eighteen months.

Alessandro listened.

Then asked:

“And Silvio?”

“Separate case.”

“Dante?”

“Still negotiating.”

He looked at the signet ring still lying on his desk.

“How long do I have?”

“Two weeks.”