Nick’s POV
Oliver sent us a copy of Irene’s official testimony, and by the ti we got ho, everyone was already waiting. We all gathered in my ho office, Dad, Liam, Ella, Mom, Vicky, every face tight with anticipation.
Georgia had just woken up from her nap, looking a little pale but better. I guided her to the couch beside , keeping her close. When she leaned into my side, I wrapped an arm around her, grounding myself with the subtle warmth of her body.
Only then did I tap play on the recording Oliver forwarded.
A police officer’s voice filled the room. "Is it true that you and your husband Frank took the money from Pacific Manning Services before you left the country a few months back?"
Irene’s voice ca next—tired, shaky, but steady enough to recount the truth.
"Yes... Our lives were in danger because we wanted to get out of Jay Gambino’s group, and that was when I discovered I was pregnant. When David Lewis died, Raymond Davis instructed us to add Jay Gambino’s bank accounts to the payroll to pay off David’s debt, so Jay wouldn’t touch Georgia. And once the debts were cleared, Raymond and Jay were supposed to pay us for our service, which was to pretend to be normal employees in Pacific Manning Services."
Georgia stiffened beside . I tightened my hold.
"But even after the paynts were completed," Irene continued, "Jay didn’t want the money to stop. Raymond was marrying Georgia back then, and he gave us the green light to stop the paynts and take the money so we could get out of the group—he said their company would rge anyway once he and Georgia married. And since Jay was never going to let us leave the group on our own, we took the money so we could escape and start a new life."
A silence spread across the room, heavy and dangerous.
"But Raymond and Georgia didn’t get married. Jay found us. And we think... we think it was Raymond who told Jay where we were. He was the only one who knew how to reach us. It was revenge. Georgia refused to marry him, and his revenge was for Jay to get Georgia. He even helped Jay and Nandy in kidnapping Georgia and her niece."
My jaw locked so tight I felt sothing click. Raymond Davis wasn’t just a bitter ex. He was a traitor. A coward. And sothing much, much darker.
I pressed a kiss to Georgia’s forehead, needing to ease the shock I felt ripple through her.
"You alright?" I murmured.
She nodded, letting out a small yawn—thank God—and rested fully against . A good sign. She wasn’t spiraling anymore. Not over this.
But behind my calm exterior, sothing darker churned.
If Raymond really sold Irene and Frank out... Then he wasn’t just so side character in all this.
He was connected directly to the Gambino brothers. He was involved.
And if he was willing to hand people over to the Gambinos to save his own pride...
What else had he done?
Who else had he betrayed?
And just how far did this chain of danger stretch?
The next question in the recording made my stomach tighten.
"How did you know it was Raymond Davis who helped them?" the police asked.
Irene hesitated—her breath shaky through the speakers.
"I... I didn’t know it at first," she said. "Not until the woman who went with to the hospital told everything before she was killed."
Every head in the room snapped up. A chill crawled down my spine.
"She said Raymond was the one who found that babysitter," Irene continued, voice trembling. "He threatened her family and taught her how to win the little girl’s heart—and Georgia’s trust."
Georgia’s fingers curled around my sleeve. I placed my hand over hers, steadying her even as my own pulse kicked hard.
"He also taught her the ins and outs of the Knight estate," Irene added. "He knew everything because he was friends with Reagan... he had been inside the property many tis. Raymond helped Nancy and Jay plan everything. He coordinated with them. And I have all the proof in the file I gave you. The evidences that my husband collected and the ones that, that woman gave . All of it."
I felt the blood drain from my face.
Raymond.
Inside our father’s ho.
Walking freely through our halls while plotting to destroy us.
Irene’s voice cracked with the final blow.
"He and Jay had an agreent... that once Jay was done with Georgia, she would be handed over to Raymond months later. So it wouldn’t look like Raymond had orchestrated any of it. Raymond agreed to pay a lot of money just to get Georgia back, even if it ans locking her up forever with him in so remote place."
Silence slamd into the room.
Georgia’s breath hitched quietly beside . Dad cursed under his breath. Liam’s fist tightened around the arm of the sofa.
But all I could hear was the echo of Irene’s last sentence.
They were going to hand my wife over—like she was so prize to trade.
And Raymond—soone who pretended to love her, soone who pretended to care for her and her family, was willing to destroy whole families... threaten children... work with criminals... just to get what he believed he was owed.
A cold, dangerous calm spread through my chest.
This wasn’t over.
Not even close.
And now that we knew exactly who had been pulling strings in the dark...
We were going to pull every single one of his secrets into the light.
One way or another.
Dad exhaled slowly, rubbing a hand over his jaw as the recording ended. For a mont, no one moved. The weight of Irene’s words hung thick in the room like smoke.
Then Dad straightened, his voice firm but edged with the kind of worry he rarely showed.
"Listen carefully, all of you," he began. "Dante Gambino might be in police custody now, but that doesn’t an we’re in the clear. n like him don’t operate alone. He has people under him—dangerous n—equally ruthless, if not worse."
*******
Thanks for the Golden Tickets!
KATHLEEN_COLL
ReneeC
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