Chapter 12
Lorenzo Vale stepped forward first.
“We were done with being ignored.”
Cesare nodded.
No denial.
Julian smiled.
“There.”
He looked at the room.
“Listen carefully.”
“Even now they need permission to speak.”
Lorenzo ignored him.
“We agreed to challenge Cesare.”
A pause.
“We did not agree to use Avice.”
The second capo nodded.
The third followed.
Julian’s jaw tightened.
Lorenzo continued.
“And we did not agree to stage a dead child.”
Vanessa looked away.
Julian scoffed.
“You all knew there would be theater.”
“Not this.”
Julian’s voice sharpened.
“Oh, spare me.”
He pointed toward the men.
“You've buried rivals.”
“Broken alliances.”
“Watched men beg over territory.”
Then he pointed toward Avice.
“And now one frightened child makes you delicate?”
Cesare’s eyes hardened.
Julian continued.
“That is exactly what is wrong with this family.”
His voice grew louder.
“We pretend violence is sacred until it enters the nursery.”
The sentence chilled the room.
Lorenzo stared at him.
“No.”
He answered quietly.
“We know exactly why the nursery is different.”
Julian’s mouth tightened.
Power shifted again.
Cesare finally spoke.
“You wanted a challenge.”
He looked at the three men.
“You have one.”
Julian frowned.
Cesare continued.
“Not tonight.”
“Not through Vanessa.”
“Not through Avice.”
“If you believe I should not lead…”
His gaze moved across them.
“…say it when no child is being used to force your courage.”
Silence.
The capos looked at one another.
Julian had expected Cesare to cling to power.
Instead, Cesare opened the door.
That robbed him of his cleanest argument.
Lorenzo finally said:
“I want changes.”
“So do I.”
Julian stared.
Cesare continued.
“No dead man’s chair stays sacred.”
His eyes moved toward Marco’s empty seat.
Avice looked up.
“No surviving son gets compared to a ghost.”
Julian’s expression shifted.
“And no child becomes proof of anyone’s loyalty.”
The room listened.
Cesare looked at Avice.
Then back at the capos.
“This house changes.”
Julian laughed.
“Because you got caught.”
Cesare’s eyes hardened.
“No.”
“Because my son became monstrous enough to show me where I had already failed.”
That struck.
Julian’s smile vanished.
For the first time, his father had acknowledged responsibility without surrendering moral clarity.
Julian could not hide behind grievance as easily anymore.
Then Vanessa spoke.
“I know one more thing.”
Julian turned.
Her smile returned.
Cruel.
“You really should stop making women feel disposable.”
His eyes narrowed.
Vanessa looked at Cesare.
“He didn't only plan tonight.”
Silence.
“He tested it once before.”
Avice looked up.
Cesare’s face changed.
“When?”
Vanessa’s eyes moved toward the child.
“Her birthday.”
Avice froze.
Cesare’s voice became cold.
“What happened at her birthday?”
Vanessa’s smile disappeared.
“Ask Edmund why the balcony door was unlocked.”
Every eye moved toward the butler.
May you like
Edmund went pale.
The current plot had not been the first time Julian used Avice to provoke Cesare.
