Chapter 9
Alessandra did not move.
“First test?”
Vanessa smiled.
The room hated her now.
She seemed to enjoy that.
“Yes.”
Luca stepped closer.
“When?”
“Before Tobin was born.”
“How?”
Vanessa tilted her head.
“Remember all those fertility samples you left at Hale’s clinic?”
Luca’s face hardened.
Hale closed his eyes.
Vanessa looked toward him.
“Tell them.”
The old doctor swallowed.
“There was stored material.”
Alessandra’s breathing changed.
Vanessa continued.
“When I learned Alessandra was pregnant, I wanted certainty.”
“You had no right.”
Luca’s voice was low.
Vanessa laughed.
“Rights?”
She looked around the restaurant.
“This family suddenly cares about permission?”
A few capos shifted.
She smirked.
“Exactly.”
Alessandra stared.
“What was the result?”
Vanessa looked at Tobin.
Then at Luca.
Her arrogance sharpened.
“Compatible.”
Silence.
“Not enough for absolute certainty from the sample they had.”
“But enough.”
Luca went pale.
“You knew he was probably mine.”
“Yes.”
“And you kept him from me.”
“Yes.”
“Why put the bracelet there?”
Vanessa’s expression finally flickered.
Guilt.
Small.
Gone quickly.
“I already answered.”
“No.”
Luca’s eyes hardened.
“You answered for yourself.”
“Answer for him.”
Vanessa’s jaw tightened.
For several seconds she said nothing.
Then:
“Because I knew one day this would come out.”
Alessandra stared.
“And you wanted proof that you weren’t completely cruel.”
Vanessa’s mouth hardened.
“Maybe.”
Ethan scoffed.
His sister turned.
“What?”
He smiled.
“You’re getting sentimental.”
Vanessa’s eyes narrowed.
Ethan continued.
“You didn’t leave the bracelet because of guilt.”
Luca looked at him.
Ethan’s grin widened.
“You left it because you wanted insurance.”
Vanessa froze.
There it was.
Another secret between siblings.
Alessandra noticed.
“What insurance?”
Vanessa snapped:
“Shut up.”
Ethan laughed.
“You used me all night.”
“You can listen now.”
He looked toward Luca.
“Vanessa figured if Alessandra ever returned with the boy, the bracelet could prove somebody inside Luca’s circle knew.”
Luca frowned.
Ethan continued.
“She wanted a way to blame me.”
Vanessa stepped toward him.
“Ethan.”
He ignored her.
“She always planned to say I acted alone.”
Vanessa’s face twisted.
“Because you did most of it!”
“But you started it.”
Their alliance fractured publicly.
Alessandra watched.
Luca too.
Ethan’s arrogance became uglier.
He pointed toward his sister.
“She found Hale.”
“She paid him.”
“She answered the calls.”
“I handled the garage because she was too frightened to face Alessandra herself.”
Vanessa slapped him.
Hard.
Ethan’s head turned.
He slowly looked back.
Then smiled.
“There she is.”
Vanessa’s chest rose quickly.
Ethan continued.
“You want the funniest part?”
She stared.
Ethan looked at Luca.
“She never trusted you either.”
Luca’s eyes narrowed.
“Meaning?”
“She kept recordings.”
Vanessa froze.
Alessandra noticed immediately.
“Of what?”
Ethan laughed.
“Luca.”
The room changed.
Luca’s jaw tightened.
Vanessa tried to interrupt.
“He’s lying.”
Ethan smiled.
“Am I?”
He looked toward one of the private dining-room walls.
“There’s a safe behind the painting upstairs.”
Vanessa went pale.
Luca saw.
“What’s inside?”
Ethan’s eyes gleamed.
“Every ugly thing you said about Alessandra after the diagnosis.”
Silence.
Alessandra looked toward Luca.
His face changed.
Ethan continued.
“She thought if Alessandra ever came back, she might need to remind Luca why he let her go.”
Vanessa had preserved Luca’s own cruelty as insurance.
May you like
Luca could no longer pretend the lie alone ended his marriage.
And Alessandra was about to hear exactly what he had said when he thought she would never return.
