Chapter 10
I asked Elena about the fire.
I had avoided the details long enough.
She looked toward the garden.
“Matteo started it.”
My hands tightened.
“Why?”
“To make everyone believe I died.”
“Were you inside?”
“Yes.”
I had to stand.
Sitting became impossible.
Elena continued before I could interrupt.
“Adrian pulled me out through the service tunnel.”
I looked at him.
He met my eyes.
That part was true.
“You saved her.”
“Yes.”
“And then locked her downstairs.”
His expression twisted.
“Matteo would have killed her.”
Elena shook her head.
“Tell him the rest.”
Adrian said nothing.
I waited.
Elena answered.
“He saved me because I had something Matteo needed.”
“What?”
“A recording.”
My expression changed.
“What recording?”
“Matteo talking about replacing you.”
Of course.
Elena had gathered proof before the fire.
“Where is it?”
She smiled faintly.
“Not with Adrian.”
His face hardened.
Good.
Elena continued.
“I hid it before the fire.”
“Where?”
“In the family chapel.”
I frowned.
“We searched the chapel after Matteo died.”
“You searched Moretti places.”
Her eyes softened.
“I hid it in something Bellandis never examine.”
I almost smiled.
“What?”
“The charity donation box.”
Emma covered a laugh.
Even Elena smiled a little.
For the first time since finding her, I saw the woman I married beneath the fear.
The old captains looked embarrassed.
Good.
Three years of conspirators controlling rooms and none had opened a box meant for poor families.
Elena looked at me.
“The recording names everyone at the first private council.”
I looked toward Samuel, Peter, Raymond.
Their faces confirmed what I expected.
Then Elena added:
“And one more person.”
Adrian’s expression changed.
I noticed.
“Who?”
She looked directly at me.
“Your brother.”
My chest went cold.
May you like
I did not have a living brother.
At least that was what my family had always told me.
