Chapter 10 - The Secret Serena Was Never Told.
For the first time that morning, Serena did not ask anyone what Victor meant.
She simply looked at her father.
Salvatore Romano looked away.
That was answer enough.
"What did you do?" Serena asked.
Salvatore's jaw tightened.
"This is not the time."
Serena laughed once.
The sound was brittle.
"That's what everyone keeps saying when the truth becomes inconvenient."
"Victor is manipulating you."
"Maybe."
She stepped closer to him.
"But he knew you would react like that."
Lorenzo watched the exchange without interrupting.
Whatever truth existed between father and daughter had been buried long before his engagement.
And buried truths were exactly what Victor had been using as currency.
"Tell her," Lorenzo said.
Salvatore glared at him.
"This is family."
"So was my father."
That ended the objection.
Salvatore walked toward the window.
For several seconds he stared down at the cypress trees lining the estate drive.
When he finally spoke, his voice sounded older.
"Your mother wanted to leave me."
Serena's face became blank.
"When?"
"The year before she died."
"She was sick."
"She was also angry."
"At you?"
Salvatore nodded.
"Why?"
"Because she discovered Victor was using one of our charitable foundations to hide private payments."
Lorenzo's attention sharpened.
"Payments to whom?"
"Doctors, attorneys, accountants, people who made problems disappear on paper."
Serena stared at her father.
"Mom knew?"
"She found the transfers."
"And what did you do?"
Salvatore was silent too long.
"I asked her not to go public until I could investigate."
"That's not what I asked."
"I took her passport."
The sentence landed hard.
Serena stepped back.
"You what?"
"I was afraid she would leave the country and take documents with her."
"So you trapped her."
"For three days."
"You trapped her."
"I was trying to protect the family."
Serena's eyes filled with furious disbelief.
"You all say that."
Her voice cracked.
"Every terrible thing gets called protection after someone powerful does it."
Salvatore flinched.
Lorenzo understood the sentence better than he wanted to.
Serena turned toward him.
"My mother died six months later."
"I know."
"Car accident."
Salvatore immediately spoke.
"It was an accident."
Serena looked at him.
"Was it?"
"Yes."
"Did Victor know she had the records?"
Salvatore did not answer.
"Dad."
"Yes."
Serena closed her eyes.
The room was silent except for the faint hum of the air-conditioning.
Lorenzo could hear it clearly.
For once, that felt cruel.
"Did you ever prove Victor had anything to do with the crash?" Lorenzo asked.
"No."
"Did you look?"
Salvatore turned toward him.
"Every day for two years."
That answer sounded true.
Serena looked at Lorenzo.
"And now Victor wants me at the chapel."
"Yes."
"I'm going."
Salvatore turned sharply.
"No."
"You don't decide that anymore."
"He is dangerous."
"So is everyone in this room, according to everyone else."
Lorenzo stepped between them before the argument escalated.
"We go."
Salvatore stared at him.
"He said no guards."
"Victor also said no brother and no cousin."
"You intend to obey him?"
"I intend to let him believe I did."
Marco understood.
"Remote perimeter."
Lorenzo nodded.
"Far enough that he doesn't see them."
Matteo leaned against the desk.
"And me?"
"You stay here."
"I was tied under a boat floor for half a day because of this man."
"Which is why you're emotional."
Matteo laughed.
"You say that like you're not."
Lorenzo looked at him.
"I say it like only one of us gets to make the plan."
At four thirty, Dr. Vale arrived at the estate with preliminary medical results.
He refused to discuss them in front of the entire family.
Lorenzo ignored him.
"They need to hear it."
Vale looked at Serena.
Then at Salvatore.
Then at Lorenzo.
"Fine."
He placed a folder on the table.
"The substance found in the wine could plausibly contribute to the symptoms you've described."
Serena lowered her eyes.
"Is the damage permanent?"
Vale looked at Lorenzo.
"We don't know yet."
"Best case?"
"Some or most of the hearing change improves after exposure stops."
"Worst case?"
"Some does not."
The answer was simple.
Lorenzo preferred that.
Serena did not.
Her breathing changed.
"I did this."
Vale looked at her.
"I don't know what you administered or at what dose."
"But I put it in his drinks."
Lorenzo spoke before the doctor could.
"Celeste added the substance we found."
"Because I made it easy for her."
Lorenzo had no answer to that.
Sometimes guilt was accurate even when it was incomplete.
Vale left instructions for follow-up testing and departed with a warning Lorenzo promised to ignore only until after the chapel meeting.
At five forty-five, Lorenzo and Serena crossed the estate grounds alone.
The old Duca chapel stood beyond the cypress grove, a small stone building built by Lorenzo's great-grandmother in 1923.
No services had been held there in years.
The stained-glass windows remained.
So did the narrow wooden pews and the smell of cold stone.
Serena stopped before the door.
"If Victor says something about my mother, don't stop him."
"I won't."
"Even if it's ugly."
"Especially then."
She looked at Lorenzo.
"You hate me right now."
He considered the statement.
"No."
"You should."
"I don't know what I feel yet."
"That's worse."
"Probably."
They entered.
Victor Romano stood near the altar.
He wore a gray suit and no tie.
Celeste Moretti stood twenty feet behind him.
She looked exhausted.
Not triumphant.
Not frightened.
Exhausted.
In Victor's hand was Carlo's black envelope.
"Right on time," Victor said.
Lorenzo's gaze moved to Celeste.
"You left something in my wine."
Celeste's face tightened.
"I did."
Serena stared at her.
"Why?"
Celeste looked at Victor.
He smiled.
"Because everyone has a price."
Celeste's eyes flashed.
"Not everyone."
Victor ignored her.
He looked at Serena.
"Did your father tell you about your mother?"
"Some of it."
"Then he left out the best part."
Serena's jaw tightened.
"Say it."
Victor smiled gently.
"Your mother wasn't trying to expose me."
"What?"
"She was trying to expose Salvatore."
Serena went still.
Lorenzo watched Victor's face.
He enjoyed the sentence too much.
That did not make it false.
It only made it weaponized.
"For what?" Serena asked.
Victor lifted the black envelope.
"For ordering Tomas Cruz to move money through a private account after he discovered the payments."
Serena looked at Lorenzo.
Then at Celeste.
Then back to Victor.
"Tomas worked for my father."
"Exactly."
Victor opened the envelope.
Inside was a single page.
He held it up.
"Carlo found the transfer records."
Lorenzo's body became still.
"Where is the ledger?"
Victor smiled.
"Closer than you think."
A faint mechanical click sounded behind Lorenzo.
The chapel door locked.
Serena turned.
Celeste did not move.
Victor looked toward the stained-glass window.
"And before you start threatening me, Lorenzo, you should know something."
He pointed toward the pew beside Serena.
A phone rested there.
Its screen showed a live video feed from inside the Duca mansion.
Elena and Mia were visible in the secure guest suite.
A man Lorenzo did not recognize stood outside their door.
May you like
Victor's smile faded.
"If this conversation ends badly, your little witness disappears for real."
